Who’s Who In The Iraq War?

1. Who’s Who In The Iraq War?

2. George W. Bush • President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of US Military Forces • Son of George H.W. Bush, who served in the Oval Office during the 1991 Gulf War.

3. 2002 State of the Union • President Bush described Iraq as part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iran and North Korea in his 2002 State of the Union address • “Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. . .”

4. 2002 State of the Union • “. . . This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens—leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections—then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.”

5. Colin Powell • Former Secretary of State, responsible for US foreign policy • Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position, during the Persian Gulf War in 1991

6. Colin Powell • Testified before the United Nations to convince the world Iraq had not met the UN’s demands for Iraq to disarm, as stated un Resolution 1441 • “My colleagues, we have an obligation to our citizens, we have an obligation to this body to see that our resolutions are complied with. We wrote 1441 not in order to go to war, we wrote 1441 to try to preserve the peace. We wrote 1441 to give Iraq one last chance. Iraq is not so far taking that one last chance.”

7. Donald Rumsfeld • Secretary of Defense from 2001-2006 • Responsible for managing the war campaign. • CBS reported he proposed invading Iraq as early as the 9/11 attacks

8. Donald Rumsfeld • Critics claim Rumsfeld did not send enough forces into Iraq during the initial invasion. • While Americans easily took over the country, they did not follow the precedent set by Colin Powell in the Gulf War to send an overwhelming force to win the immediate peace

9. George Tenet • Director of the CIA from 1997-2004 • Responsible for intelligence reports which suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq • Resigned amid controversy of Iraq

10. Hans Blix • United Nations Weapons inspector who investigated claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction • Began inspections in November 2002, after Resolution 1441

11. Hans Blix • Accused Saddam Hussein of playing “cat and mouse” games • “Iraq appears not to have come to genuine acceptance — not even today — of the disarmament which was demanded of it and which it needs to carry out to win the confidence of the world and live in peace” - Blix’s UN Report February 2003 • Despite this, he reported in February that inspections would need more time in order to justify a military response.

12. Hans Blix • Despite these criticisms of Iraq’s actions, Blix could not identify hard evidence that Iraq had actively

13. Saddam Hussein • ‘President’ of Iraq from 1979 - 2003 • Harsh dictator who violated agreements on human rights • Used chemical weapons on his own citizens who rebelled

14. Saddam Hussein • Invaded Kuwait in 1991, which led to the Persian Gulf War • Refused to cooperate with United Nations weapons inspections throughout the 1990’s • Economic sanctions placed on Iraq for Saddam’s actions crippled standard of living in Iraq

15. Summary • No matter how hard you try to simplify an explanation of the Iraq War, one must understand the wide range of people involved in the conflict • This sampling only reflects a few of the lead characters in America’s road towards war, but exhibits the variety of backgrounds and influence on the invasion.