al-Qaeda
Osama bin Laden
Afghanistan “Graveyard of Empires”
Taliban government
U.S. operations begin October 19, 2001
1) Who were the “neo-conservatives” in the George W. Bush administration? (pp. 60-62)
Why did they push for an invasion of Iraq in the 1990s?
2) How was the U.S. decision to end the policy of containment and go to war against Iraq made from 2002 to 2003?
What “national interests” did the neo-conservatives claim were involved after 9/11?
Why were expert critics of an invasion, such as the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, ignored (p. 125)?
3) How did the Bush administration “market” the war to the U.S. public and international community?
What was the diplomatic strategy to gain international support for the war? How successful was it?
What roles did the media and congress play in evaluating the evidence for and against an invasion?
4) Why did George W. Bush decide to end the policy of containment and go to war against Iraq from 2002 to 2003?
Is the “SOAR method” feasible for presidents and their top advisors?
“[A]dvocated a tough military policy while using American power for ‘moral good’ in the world” (Anderson, p. 61)
Criticized George H. W. Bush for not removing Saddam Hussein
U.S. National interests?
Iraq-al-Qaeda cooperation?
WMDs in Iraq?
*Cherry-picking of evidence
CIA manager quote in Jan. 2003 (Anderson, p. 120)
Middle East and military experts ignored
U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute (Anderson, p. 125)
Ethnocentric assumptions about Iraq (Anderson, p. 128)
Scott McClennan quote (Anderson, p. 101)
Diplomacy downplayed
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1441 empowers weapons inspectors (p. 118)
Inspections never completed (p. 126)
No U.N. Security Council vote on war
No support of NATO, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia or Egypt
“Freedom Fries” (Anderson, p. 126)
U.S. Media generally uncritical (Anderson, p. 124)
False “Leaks”: New York Times reports “fake news” on page 1 (Anderson, p. 105)
Congress votes to authorize war “to defend the national security of the U.S. against the continuing threat posed by Iraq” on Oct. 11, 2002 (Anderson, p. 117)
Senate 77-23
House 296-133
*Isolationism (1920-40)
Cold War (1949-89)
“New World Order” or Pax Americana (1990-2000)
Economic stability
Humanitarian interventions
*“War on Terror” (2001-2008? or 2021?)
al-Qaeda’s role in 9/11
Foreign policy based on emotion (Anderson, p. 124)
2.65 million civilian employees
Walmart is next largest employer with 1.9 million employees
1.36 million active duty military personnel
800,000 military reservists
✓Vice President (*Dick Cheney)
✓Secretary of Defense (*Donald Rumsfeld)
✓Defense Department Intelligence
Joint Chiefs of Staff (Eric Shinseki, Army Chief of Staff)
U.S. Army War College
Secretary of State (*Colin Powell)
National Security Advisor (Condoleeza Rice)
Intelligence agencies
CIA
George Tenant: “Slam Dunk,” (Anderson, p. 119)
NSA
Foreign
International hot spots
Afghanistan
al-Qaeda
Relations with Allies (Britain vs. Germany and France)
Domestic affairs
Economy, crime, education, etc.
Political pressures
Reelection of president and congress
Revenge for Saddam’s attempted assassination of George H. W. Bush?
Father-Son competition?
Under spell of Dick Cheney?
Texan Hubris?
Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush
Bush's “fear of another attack, pride in American values," and hubris that America could change foreign countries (Leffler, Confronting Saddam, Oxford, 2023)?
| Gulf War, 1990-91 | Invasion of Iraq, 2003 | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. National interests | Publicized
Unpublicized
|
Publicized
Unpublicized
|
| Diplomatic Strategy |
U.N. Security Council support Arab allies
Western European support
|
U.N. Security Council opposed Arab countries opposed
Britain lone major ally |
| Military Strategy |
Overwhelming force
|
High tech warfare
|