On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed.
Shortly following the incident, President George W. Bush accused the Iraqi dictator Saadam Hussein of building and stockpiling WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction). Hussein denied this.
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UN Security Council Resolution 1441, passed on November 8, 2002, demanded that Iraq admit inspectors to make sure it had no WMDs. Iraq appeared to comply with the resolution, but in early 2003 President Bush declared that Iraq was actually continuing to hinder UN inspections and that it still retained weapons. Bush accused the Iraqi government of having connections with a number of terror groups including Al Qaeda. He also accused Iraq of collaborating with Bin Laden regarding 9/11 and on March 20, 2003, war was declared.
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"We consider the American people, as represented by the American soldiers who fight against us, as war criminals. We saw how they were cruel and savage, how tanks ran over innocent people. It became normal for households to lose loved ones. We saw terrorists, whom we caught and handed over to the U.S. troops, later released. Many wrongs are credited to Islam. The U.S. was wrong to bring terrorism to Iraq."
Supporters of the war can claim that one of the world’s cruelest regimes has been brought to an end, that the possibility that that regime might develop a strategically threatening WMD arsenal or supply such weapons to terrorists has been removed, and that new prospects and hope for political change in the Middle East have been generated.
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1. Block, Herbert, Artist. "This savage war against Iraq". 2/8. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2012642634/>.
2. Bruni, Frank. “Pope Voices Opposition, His Strongest, To Iraq War.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/world/threats-responses-vatican-pope-voices-opposition-his-strongest-iraq-war.html.
3. Stuelke, Patricia R. “Loving in the Iraq War Years.” College Literature, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 14 Jan. 2016, muse.jhu.edu/article/606844.
1. Block, Herbert, Artist. "This savage war against Iraq". 2/8. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <https://www.loc.gov/item/2012642634/>.
2. Bruni, Frank. “Pope Voices Opposition, His Strongest, To Iraq War.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2003, www.nytimes.com/2003/01/14/world/threats-responses-vatican-pope-voices-opposition-his-strongest-iraq-war.html.
3. Stuelke, Patricia R. “Loving in the Iraq War Years.” College Literature, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 14 Jan. 2016, muse.jhu.edu/article/606844.