Middle East Wars SS7H2 The student will analyze continuity and change in Southwest Asia (Middle East) leading to the 21st century.. c. Describe how land and religion are reasons for continuing

conflicts in Southwest Asia (Middle East). d. Explain U.S. presence and interest in Southwest Asia;

include the Persian Gulf conflict and invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

9/11

• On the morning of September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda (a group of Islamic extremists) hijacked four planes and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center, crashed one into the Pentagon, and the fourth one crashed in a rural area.

Al Qaeda

Osama Bin Laden• Al Qaeda was headed by

a man named Osama Bin Laden.

• Bin Laden was a man born in Saudi that made his way into Afghanistan.

The Taliban• Afghanistan had no real

government and a group of people called the Taliban had controlled much of the country.

• President Bush had demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama Bin Laden for ordering the attacks on America.

• The Taliban refused

Women’s dress under Taliban rule

War with AfghanistanOctober 2001 the United States invaded Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden.By November the capital of Kabul had fallen.Many of the Taliban forces were forced to retreat into the countryside.

Results

• The U.S. to this day still has troops in Afghanistan to hold back the Taliban.

• May 2011 Bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan and was killed by U.S. forces.

Iraq War• When the Persian Gulf war

ended Iraq was told it could not produce weapons of mass destruction.

• After the war with Afghanistan the U.S. believed it had information that Saddam Hussein was producing WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction)

• They also believed that Saddam may have had connections with Al Qaeda.

• The United States had the United Nations probe Iraq for WMDs.

• Iraq would not produce any weapons by their March 17, 2003 deadline.

• Congress then passed a resolution allowing the United States to lead an attack on Iraq.

• The United States invaded Iraq and Saddam Hussein was captured.

Results• Saddam Hussein was put

on trial for killing thousands of his own people and using chemical weapons on the Kurds and Iranians

• As of today no weapons of mass destruction have been found and the US government is still in Iraq but no longer in combat. Saddam Hussein was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2006.

• The U.S. officially ended combat in Iraq in 2010.

• "Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country," the president said in a newly remodeled Oval Office. "Only Iraqis can resolve their differences and police their streets. Only Iraqis can build a democracy within their borders. What America can do, and will do, is provide support for the Iraqi people as both a friend and a partner."

•

• 1- What do you think President Obama is inferring about the future of Iraq?