Conflict+in+the+Middle+East


 * Conflict in the Middle East **

After the September 11 attacks, President Bush began a war with Afghanistan, seeking out Al-Qaeda bases and Taliban centers of operation. In 2003, Bush enforced his plans to continue fighting "until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated" (Morelock) by moving troops into Iraq in search of weapons of mass destruction. The wars seemed to have concluded quickly. In Afghanistan, the capital city of Kabul fell in 2001, leaving the Taliban scattered. Although weapons of mass destruction were not found in Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom decimated Saddam Hussein's army, taking the capital city and sending the dictator into hiding until his capture in December 2003. President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in 2003:

However, this was not as it seemed. Remnants of Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, remained in Afghanistan, launching guerilla attacks on American troops and civilians in both Afghanistan and Iraq. In Iraq, radical Sunni, Shiite, and jihadist Muslims began attacks on American troops as well. What should have been a brief military action grew into a long, extremely costly period of occupation. At the time of this textbook's completion in September 2010, President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan for Iraq had recently been completed, and still more troops were being funneled into Afghanistan. The war was a major point of division between political parties, as most Republicans supported the continuation of the war until bin Laden is captured or killed, while the majority of Democrats oppose the war's exorbitant cost in money and lives. As America enters the 2010s, the wars in the Middle East remain a major worry on the horizon.