Very quickly a number of countries (most notably Britain, but also fellow NATO members ... and others) indicated a willingness to join with America in going after the al-Qaeda groups training in Afghanistan. Bush thus informed the Taliban that if they did not surrender the al-Qaeda operatives to America, America and its allies would be forced to do the job themselves. But the Taliban refused to cooperate. But instead of simply setting up a strike team ready to go quickly after the al-Qaeda trainees, Bush decided to expand matters considerably with his "Bush Doctrine" aimed more broadly at any authority, any government, openly supporting such behavior as al-Qaeda's ... any society allowing the tyranny of such Muslim fanaticism to exist in its territory. Such a country was destined to find itself in direct conflict with America. How exactly Bush planned to enforce his Bush Doctrine remained something of a mystery. As for Afghanistan, that was fairly clear. Bush and America's allies were intending to invade Afghanistan and "liberate " that country from Taliban-backed fanaticism. But what about nuclear armed, and supposedly American-allied Pakistan? Pakistan made it very clear that it too was not going to simply turn al-Qaeda operatives over to America. Did Bush intend to invade Pakistan as well? And al-Qaeda operatives were to be found all around the Middle East, such as the Egyptian group that made the first attempt on the Twin Towers in 1993. Was Bush going to take on the entire Arab World ... which seemed to be in fair sympathy with al-Qaeda's goals of crippling Western society? In any case, it quickly became clear that Bush had not carefully thought through his Bush Doctrine. But now he was going to have to put some meat on his boast to be this tough guy president ... with grand plans to straighten out the world. At first, the CIA prepared itself for immediate action against al-Qaeda, by mobilizing operatives and by paying local Afghan tribal lords to get them to help their operatives find and bring down al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. But then when in early October Bush amplified the operation to the remaking of the whole of Afghanistan, the matter was turned over to the Defense Department – which would then need some time to get itself ready for a massive military operation against Taliban Afghanistan. THE AFGHAN "CONQUEST" However, working in favor of Bush's goal was the Northern Alliance. It had just lost its leader (assassinated) Ahmad Massoud just two days prior to 9/11 – probably in anticipation by al-Qaeda or the Taliban of how the Western reaction to what they had planned for 9/11 might play out.  But the Northern Alliance did not fall apart and, with the help of American (and NATO) firepower, was able to take control in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in early November and then use its airport to bring in military supplies and even food for its troops and people.  Then they marched on Kabul, and quickly sent the Taliban into flight. Thus it all seemed to be over so quickly, so grandly. Celebrations were held in Kabul – and around the Western world. Laura Bush, the president's wife, even addressed the nation with a speech rejoicing how such freedom was greatly received by the Afghans ... and especially by its women, freed from Taliban oppression. Of course the Taliban had not capitulated ... but instead had simply retreated to a more defensible position in the Tora Bora Mountains ... and were also able to hold their position at the southern city of Kandahar in the heart of Pashtun territory ... which would then become their new headquarters. Thus the Afghan war was hardly over. In any case, American and NATO troops (and other smaller support troops) were able to take position in the non-Pashtun lands of central and northern Afghanistan ... and install in Kabul's Presidential Palace a new Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. But exactly how much authority Karzai would exercise outside of Kabul itself depended on two factors ... not necessarily connected: the ability of Western forces to secure militarily various areas of the country, and the ability of Karzai to enter into some kind of political relationship with the various tribal chiefs located around the country ... at least in the North – outside of Taliban-Pashtun territory. Efforts would be made to roll back the Taliban from their position in the south of the country. But these efforts would come to little ... except the loss of life. And it became clear that the Western troops would have to remain in place for the foreseeable future in order to protect the part of Afghanistan that was "free." Thus a very expensive settling in became part of the grand Afghan outcome. October 7, 2001 - President Bush announces invasion of Afghanistan October 7, 2001 - The New York Times carries the full story Osama Bin Laden November 1 - The Taliban in Kandahar November 10 - The Northern Alliance advances against the Taliban A Portable laser designator being used by a Special Operations captain in Afghanistan 2001directing Air Force and Navy bombs U.S. special forces troops ride horseback as they work with members of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom on Nov. 12, 2001 November 12 - The Northern Alliance enters Kabul November 14 - The Northern Alliance takes more ground General Tommy Franks meeting with members of Army Special Forces November 15 - The bombing of Taliban positions at Kandahar November 21 - The Northern Alliance enters the Kunduz Province December 5 - Taliban prisoners - Mazar December 9 - Marine Camp Rhino services December 14 - To Kandahar Airport December 22 - Hamid Karzai sworn in as Afghan Interim Prime Minister January , 2002 - British Marines - Kabul US Chinook helicopters at Baghram Air Force Base outside Kabul in Afghanistan March 2002 March 2002 Special Forces scouring Afghanistan from a Chinook helicopter during Operation Anaconda  - April 2002 June 13, 2002 - Hamid Karzai wins the elections for President of the Afghan Loya Jirga (Parliament) An Afghani voter being instructed on how the voting works  July 6, 2002 - Afghanistan Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir and his driver are assassinated in a Kabul Street during daring daytime attack July 7 - His funeral in Kabul September 5, 2002 - US Special Forces secure area after attempted assassination of Karzai Hamid Karzai - Afghan President Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets with tribal leaders from the Kunduz province But tragically, despite the "democratic process" brought to Afghanistan, the fighting continues Scouts from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), pull overwatch during Operation Destined Strike while 2nd Platoon, Able Company searches a village below in the Chowkay Valley in Kunar Province, Afghanistan British Royal Marine Commandos in Southeastern Afghanistan - May 2004 US General Tommy Franks greets Canadian troops - Kandahar - May 2004 German door gunner - Kabul airport - May 2004  Turkish Troops arrive at Kabul Airport to replace British Soldiers in the Afghan Capital - June 4, 2004 BUSH DECIDES TO TAKE ON SADDAM'S IRAQ For reasons known only to Bush, Jr., he soon decided that the world would be a much better place if Saddam Hussein would simply disappear.  The only problem was that he found he had no good excuse for undertaking such a move.  At first he tried to use his Bush Doctrine, claiming that Saddam had to go because of his support of al-Qaeda.   But he had no actual evidence of such a connection ... and he found that convincing the world otherwise was going nowhere.  Then he went back to the old weapons-of-mass-destruction (WMDs) accusation leveled against Saddam.   But coming up with evidence for this proved to be more confusing than confirming.   And as time went along, he found his NATO partners not interested in supporting him ... except for the British Prime Minister Tony Blair – who had long cultivated a very close relationship with both Presidents Clinton and Bush, Jr. ... and who seemed ready to go with Bush on this matter.   Sadly in doing so it would eventually turn out to be Blair's political downfall. Tony Blair - British Prime Minister Not even Bush's cabinet was in one accord on this move against Saddam. The CIA chief, George Tenet, Secretary of State (and former military man) Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condeleezza Rice were very hesitant about going after Saddam.  Where was the evidence that would justify such an aggressive action as taking down the leader of a foreign country? But Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was all for such a military action.  He was eager to show what his new "professional military" was capable of accomplishing.  And Bush's closest advisor, his Vice President Dick Cheney, was willing to overlook his 1994 assurance to the press that going after Saddam would be to fall into a quagmire ... because it was very clear that Bush had his heart set on the matter.  Thus Cheney chose to support the President rather than warn him of what clearly were the huge problems that would surely come their way in undertaking this action. Vice President Dick Cheney Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of State Colin Powell National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice George Tenet – CIA Director Backing up his assurance that all would go well with the Iraqi program, Rumsfeld assured Bush that he had a perfect candidate to assume power in Iraq once Saddam was out of the way, Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi hated Saddam intensely (Saddam was Sunni, Chalabi was Shi'ite) and would do everything he could to undo Saddam and his political legacy. Chalabi had a Ph.D. in mathematics ... and was a full Westerner (or so his loyalties were supposed to run) – having lived in the West since 1956. But that very fact should have raised serious doubts about his strong political foundations in a post-Saddam Iraq. Powell's State Department was certain that Chalabi had absolutely no standing in Iraq. And the CIA even considered the thought that he might actually be a Shi'ite agent working for Iran. But Bush was not interested in what the CIA or the State Department had to say on this matter. In any case, in September of 2002, Bush went before the United Nations to lay his case for Saddam's violation of Iraq's WMD prohibition ... but came away only with the decision of the Security Council in November to undertake renewed inspections in Iraq in the search for such WMDs. This was not what Bush wanted. But for the moment he settled with that agreement. Then he went before Congress to get backing for his plans ... claiming that Rumsfeld's Pentagon had come up with conclusive evidence that Saddam was developing nuclear weapons. Supposedly Niger had sold Saddam yellow cake uranium – vital to such weapons development (the whole affair would later prove to have been untrue). At first the CIA would not give a similar backing on the matter to Bush. But then Tenet simply caved to pressure and offered additional "evidence" sought by Bush, certifying that aluminum tubes had been discovered in Iraq, ones certainly designed to be used as centrifuges in enriching uranium. Finally, on the basis of this "evidence," Congress finally supported Bush's program.1 President George Bush introduces the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, October 2, 2002. The resolution was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law two weeks later. Meanwhile, Bush's frustration with the U.N. WMDs search mounted ... as the search came up with no evidence of any such development. Thus Bush used his one last card to play in sending in February of 2003 the highly respected Powell to the U.N., armed with photos, charts, etc. "proving" conclusively that such WMDs in fact did exist in Iraq. But even this seemed not to move the opinions of America's allies – except, again, Blair's Britain. Then when an American resolution calling for the execution of the "serious consequences" part of the earlier agreement with Saddam looked as if it was going to run into the stiff opposition of France, Germany, and Russia, Bush simply withdrew his proposal. It was clear that he was going to get no backing from the U.N. (or NATO as well). At the UN, Colin Powell holds a model vial of anthrax, while arguing that Iraq is likely to possess WMDs - 5 February 2003. Some of America's key allies decide that they are not with the US on the decision to invade Iraq (Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and France's President Jacques Chirac) 1In the House: 297 in support (215 Republicans and 81 Democrats) and 133 opposed (6 Republicans, 126 Democrats and 1 Independent). In the Senate: 77 in support (48 Republicans and 29 Democrats) and 23 against (only 1 Republican, 21 Democrats and 1 Independent). Notably, those in support were Democratic Senators Biden, Clinton and Schumer ... who would later come to regret their decision. "Shock and Awe" (March 2003) Bush was now ready to move on his own (with Blair's British cooperation) – based on Rumsfeld's assurances that things would move as swiftly in Iraq as they had in Afghanistan. They would quickly knock out the Saddam government and then let Chalabi and his supporters immediately form a new ruling team ... so that America could then back out of Iraq before a stunned international community would even know what just hit them! The first part of Rumsfeld's assurances proved to be right – in that a massive aerial bombardment of Baghdad2 sent Saddam fleeing ... thus immediately collapsing his Ba'athist government. But the second part of Rumsfeld's assurance was not even close to having any real weight to it. Very quickly it was revealed that Chalabi had no support group ready to take control in Iraq. In fact, he was a quite unknown figure in that country. Consequently, America now had a "quagmire" to deal with. 2The American attack produced a very graphic picture of Baghdad in flames ... and thus the label "shock and awe" came to be assigned to the event. US President George W. Bush meets with his top advisors on March 19, 2003 just before the invasion. President George W. Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office at the White House Wednesday evening, March 19, 2003, announcing the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. "My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger ..." Prime Minister Tony Blair shaking hands with President Bush, after they conclude a joint news conference at the Camp David - 27 March 2003. Saddam's Oil trenches burning April 2, 2003 to cover and protect Baghdad just prior to the US attack "Shock and Awe" over Baghdad by US bombers U.S. Forces preparing for the ground invasion of Iraq U.S. Forces going house to house in search of Iraqi resistance Refugees flee the fighting in Basra, Iraq's second largest city. U.S. Army soldiers appraoch a wounded Iraqi woman on a bridge over the Euphrates River in Hindiyah.  The woman had been caught in cross fire with Iraqi forces. "Mission Accomplished" President Bush, after declaring the end of major combat in Iraq, spoke on May 1, 2003, aboard the carrier Abraham Lincoln off the California coast. Saddam Hussein (14 December 2003) shortly after his capture From very bad to catastrophic With their dictator gone and Iraq now presumably a free country, the Iraqis poured into the streets to celebrate their liberation. But liberation also meant the disappearance of a regime of law and order, which reflected itself in the rash of thefts ... such as ancient items taken from the Iraqi Museum. But American military commanders were quick to call on elements of the Iraqi army to help get things back in order on the streets. Worse, long-standing Sunni and Shi'ite hatreds now sparked religious reprisals, first by the Shi'ites against Sunnis, the Shi'ites glad to be out from under Sunni control enforced by Saddam's Ba'athist Party. Then the Sunnis responded in kind ... and thus Iraq found itself in a state of civil war. Then in early May Bush sent to Iraq a new U.S. Administrator, Jerry Bremer – a Rumsfeld appointee ... who had the intention of bringing Iraq under his own personal mastery. Despite the warnings of the previous Administrator not to do this, Bremer issued Order No. 1 .... calling for the "deBaathification" of Iraq. Since no professional positions were open to Iraqis unless they became members of the Ba'athist Party, Bremer's Order No 1 removed every teacher, doctor, civil engineer, civil servant, etc. from their jobs ... leaving the country without any kind of local leadership or even professional service. Then a week later he disregarded military advice and issued Order No. 2 ... calling on all Iraqi military to surrender their guns to American authorities. This these men were most unwilling to do ... with the result that, on his very own, Bremer turned a huge number of experienced Iraqi soldiers into bitterly anti-American fighters. Within a few days the first attacks on the occupying American soldiers began. And thus, General Franks and all the top military command – in complete disgust over the way Bremer was handling matters in Iraq – chose to "retire" ... leaving command in the hands of an inexperienced one-star American general. Also, the Shi'ites found themselves under a young leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, who – instead of being grateful for the way the Americans had freed their community from Sunni dominance – chose to turn his "Mahdi Army" on the occupying troops (British as well as Americans) in order to demonstrate his own personal coming-to-glory as the Shi'ite community's new leader. And in this he was getting considerable support from the bitterly anti-American Shi'ite Iran next door. Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr And the Kurds in the north saw this as an opportunity to pull out of Iraq and set up their own independent Kurdish nation... a move destined to plunge the Kurdish region into its own war, as Kurdish leaders fought among themselves to take control.  But it also infuriated America's ally Turkey – where a huge Kurdish section of Turkey now looked to the possibility of breaking away from Turkey in order to join the Kurdish development. What a catastrophe this all turned out to be. And tragically it was entirely predictable ... for Iraq was always destined to be a "quagmire, as Cheney himself knew beforehand.  America now had a very expensive war on multiple fronts in the region to contend with ... with nothing really to gain from it all.3 A small bit of good news was that finally in June of 2004 Bremer was able to announce the formation of a provisional Iraqi government and an interim constitution. And Rumsfeld also announced that his troops would now pursue a "small footprint" strategy of serving mostly as trainers of Iraqi troops ... who would then take over as soon as possible America's policing role in the country. This was supposed to be part of his original idea that America would quickly depart once Saddam was overthrown (he was actually found and arrested the previous December). But this would not turn out to be the case, despite Rumsfeld's efforts to bring things to a satisfactory resolution. And he would find it necessary to depart from this strategy in order to hit hard local opposition – as in Sunni Fallujah or constantly against al-Sadr's Shi'ite Mahdi Army – and then return to base. But the "good news" was enough to get Bush reelected to a second term as president. Bremer signing over limited sovereignty to the appointed Iraqi interim government – June 28, 2004 3In December of 2004, an incredibly ill-informed President Bush presented Bremer America's highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, stating: "For fourteen months Jerry Bremer worked day and night in difficult and dangerous conditions to stabilize the country, to help its people rebuild and to establish a political process that would lead to justice and liberty." However, at this point Iraq was hardly "stabilized" nor experiencing justice and liberty – due mostly to Bremer's massive political ineptitude. Bremer, however, blamed the very obvious Iraqi catastrophe on the inadequate American military support he was expected to work with. Working with the Iraqis themselves was way beyond Bremer's understanding or abilities. Ahmed Chalabi – who originally had the ear of the US Department of Defense and supplied the (false) info on the build-up of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq (and who may have been working for the Iranians) Iraqis in Fallujah dragging through the streets the charred body of a US security contractor US and British soldiers being held captive by al Zarqawi (the US troops were beheaded in front of the camera) A picture of an Iraqi prisoner at Abu Ghraib prison who was told that he would be electrocuted if he stepped off the box (not true -- but convincing torture to a hooded prisoner nonetheless) Private Lynndie England with an Iraqi prisoner on a leash at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad Naked Iraqis naked and bound together under US troop supervision Another car bombing in Baghdad US troops in Samarra sweep past dead insurgents US Marines cross a road in Fallujah while others provide covering fire during Operation Phantom Fury/Operation Al Fajr (New Dawn)." Things drag on The following year (October 2005) a national election was held for the new Provisional Government … with the outraged Sunnis mostly boycotting the election. The Shi’ites now controlled Iraq … enraging the Sunnis even more. Thus the elections failed to bring democratic harmony (“Iraqi Freedom” as Bush entitled the whole enterprise) to Iraq … but only a deepening of the civil war. Things only worsened in 2006, with the blowing up of one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest mosques, the al-Askari or Golden Dome Mosque in Samarra … bringing al-Sadr and his Shi’ite death squads out to kill Sunnis … including their clerics. Then when the announcement was made of a partial American and British withdrawal, al-Sadr boasted this development as his forces kicking out the imperialist invaders. And for Bush’s Republican Party, things were looking grim as the November elections approached. The results were that the Democrats now became the majority party in the House and the Republicans were reduced to a mere tie with the Democrats in the Senate … but with two independent Senators tending to vote with the Democrats. Then a day after the elections, Bush announced that Rumsfeld would be replaced by CIA director Robert Gates. The Republicans were upset that this had not been done before the elections … when it might have made the Republican Party loss much smaller. The 2007 "troop surge" At the beginning of the new year (2007) a desperate Bush announced that he was stopping the troop drawdown in Iraq and was in fact sending an additional 20,000 troops to Iraq to hit Iraqi insurgents hard and retake the villages lost to them. He was also relaxing the anti-Ba'athist policy and diverting Iraqi funding in the direction of new reconstruction and jobs in Iraq. Democrats in Congress were outraged and supported a resolution (non-binding however) disapproving Bush's "troop surge." Nonetheless, the surge worked, villages were retaken and even al-Sadr had become more cooperative. And by the end of the year the level of violence in Iraq had subsided considerably. Finally, in the last months of his presidency (late 2008), he announced the beginning of a new round of troop withdrawals from Iraq.  Iraqi Soviet-built T-72 tanks assigned to the Iraqi Army 9th Mechanized Division drive through a checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Camp Taji, Iraq - 18 May 2006. Blair resigns as British Prime Minister (2007) Sadly for Blair, his alliance with Bush in this Iraqi affair proved to be his undoing. In 1987, when he became British Prime Minister, he was the youngest of the 20th century prime ministers, and the leader of the Labour Party in the largest electoral victory in the party's history. His popularity continued as he introduced a number of widely popular and rather "centrist" social reforms … and his foreign policy moves such as his intervention in Kosovo and Sierra Leone were also widely appreciated. Thus he led his party in 2001 to a massive victory in the national elections of that year. But his popularity would begin to drop with his involvement in the Iraqi mess. Thus he was reelected in 2005, but by a substantially reduced margin … but even then gaining the support he did because at the time his country was still doing very well economically. The next year (2006), now suffering very low performance ratings, he announced that he would be stepping down within a year … and did so the following June.  Sad.    Inside of the Baghdad Convention Center, where the Council of Representatives of Iraq meets. This photo shows delegates from all over Iraq convening for the Iraqi National Conference  - 30 December 2008 Go on to the next section:  Mounting Domestic Problems   Miles H. Hodges