US Conflicts in Southwest Asia Crash Course

​Return to Iraq

​Following the Persian Gulf War and Saddam Hussein’s defeat in 1991, the U.S. government came to believe that Iraq had an active nuclear weapons program. Given Hussein’s dislike of the U.S. following the 1991 war, the U.S. demanded that Saddam Hussein dismantle the Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Saddam Hussein refused, saying no such program existed.

​Rumor has it...

​It was rumored that Hussein was developing WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). Because of pressure from the United Nations and the rest of the world, Hussein allowed inspectors from the UN to search Iraq for these weapons. However, some inspectors claimed that Iraq was not fully cooperating with the inspections.

U.S. and British officials threatened to disarm Iraq by force since they felt Iraq was not fully cooperating with the weapons inspectors. President George W. Bush declared Hussein "a great threat in an age of increased terrorism". On March 17th, 2003, President Bush gave Saddam and his top aides 48 hours to leave Iraq or face a military strike. When Hussein and his aides refused to leave, a coalition led by the U.S. and Britain launched air attacks in and around Baghdad on March 19th.

Baghdad Falls

​Almost a month later, Baghdad had fallen and Saddam Hussein and his regime had collapsed. No WMDs were ever found. U.S. forces stayed in Iraq to help rebuild the country and keep peace between the country's religious and ethnic groups. However, violence continues to this very day between Iraq's Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds. These continued conflicts in the nation threatens the democratic government that is currently in place.

​Operation Iraqi Freedom Ends

​Although Saddam Hussein went missing during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom), he was eventually captured and brought to justice in Iraq where he tried, convicted, and executed for his crimes in December 2006.

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​Finally in August 2010, the U.S. declared an end to combat operations in Iraq and American forces were completely withdrawn from the country by December 2011.

Multiple Choice

A United Nation's inspection team was in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, with the purpose of finding and destroying ___________________________.

• Oil fields

• Weapons of mass destruction

• Military helicopters

• Desalination plants

Multiple Choice

What was one reason the United States had for going to war in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom)?

• They wanted to stop Iraq from invading Saudi Arabia.

• They suspected the Iraqi government of developing weapons of mass destruction.

• They were responding to Iraqi attacks on the World Trade Center.

• They thought that Osama Bin Laden was hiding in Iraq.

Multiple Choice

What happened to Saddam Hussein after the war in Iraq (2003 Operation Iraqi Freedom)?

• He was left in power

• He was imprisoned

• He was captured and executed for his crimes

• He invaded Afghanistan

Multiple Choice

When the Iraqi leader refused to leave, where did the coalition led by the U.S. and Great Britain launched airstrikes?

• Kuwait City

• The Persian Gulf

• Baghdad

• Mecca

The Arab Spring events were a series of pro-democracy uprisings that occurred in several mainly Muslim countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain). The events in these nations happened around the spring of 2010 and 2011, which led to the name, Arab Spring.

The Arab Spring first began in December 2010 when a Tunisian street vendor, Mohammed Bouazizi, set himself on fire to protest the police seizing his vegetable cart because he failed to obtain a permit. Street protest continued throughout Tunisia, which eventually led the authoritarian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia. This eventually led to other Arabs to protest similar authoritarian governments in their own nations.

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Multiple Choice

What is the term for a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the 2010's ?

• Arab Spring

• Persian Summer

• Kurdish Winter

• Arab Summer