Iraq A VIDEO HISTORY OF THE IRAQ WAR AND IT’S AFTERMATH

AMERICA IN

part 1

AMERICA IN IRAQ 2003 – 2014 / WHAT HAPPENED?

A VIDEO EXPLORATION OF A DECADE OF WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH

PART 1: THE DECISION

Iraq

IRAQ IS ABOUT THE

SAME SIZE AS CA.

IRAQ HAS ALWAYS BEEN A NATION OF MULTIPLE TRIBES WITH ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DIVISIONS.

THE EVENTS OF 9-11 CHANGED THE

PARADIGM OF THE GOVERNMENT.

You will recall that following 9/11 President BUSH and his advisors would

craft the American response to the attack. It was developed over a

series of meetings.

THE PRESIDENT chaired two meetings with THE NATIONAL SECUIRITY COUNCIL (NSC) on SEPTEMBER 12th 2001

SEPTEMBER 12TH 2001

COLIN POWELL

SECRETARY OF STATE

G.W. BUSH

PRESIDENT

DICK CHENEY

VICE PRESIDENT

HENRY SHELTON

CHAIR, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

SEPTEMBER 12TH 2001

The weekend following the attacks the

President would convene a group

he called the THE WAR COUNCIL

for a meeting at Camp David

to discuss plans for a U.S. response.

First, he would

need authorization to use military

force. He sought it from Congress on Friday, 9/14...

ATTACK

On Friday, 9/14 Congress

passed the

AUMF THE

AUTHORIAZATION TO USE MILITARY

FORCE

It authorized the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001. It granted the

President the authority to use all "necessary and appropriate force" against those whom he determined "planned, authorized,

committed or aided" the September 11th attacks, or who harbored said persons or groups.”

In the Senate it passed 98-0.

In the House of

Representatives it passed

420-1.

The sole dissenting vote came from BARBARA LEE

a Democrat from California.

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEETINGS

AUMF APPROVED BY CONGRESS

CAMP DAVID MEETINGS

CAMP DAVID

ROUTE 40

THE COZY

On the weekend of September 15th and 16th President BUSH convened the WAR COUNCIL at CAMP DAVID in Thurmont, Maryland.

THE PRESIDENT’S WAR COUNCIL: NOTE WHO IS PRESENT.

AT THE MEETING,

PAUL WOLFOWITZ, 2ND IN

COMMAND AT THE

PENTAGON, ARGUED TO

ATTACK AFGHANISTAN

AND IRAQ SIMULTANIOUSLY.

COLIN POWELL ARGUED AGAINST THE IDEA.

HE ORDERED A DOSSIER TO

BE PREPARED THAT WOULD

BUILD THE CASE AGAINST

SADDAM.

BACKGROUND

CONTAINMENT

PREEMPTION

The 2 Basic Policies of the BUSH Administration

WOLFOWITZ CHENEY RUMSFELD POWELL RICE

VS. • USES ATTACK TO CONTROL

AGGRESSION AND IS USUALLY

DONE AS A RESPONSE TO

A PREVIOUS ACTION.

•DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE

A REGIEME FROM POWER.

•RICE WOULD MOVE TO PREEMPTION.

•USES AN ATTACK TO KEEP

ANOTHER NATION FROM

ATTACKING FIRST. IT IS

BASED ON INTELLIGENCE

AND WHAT WE THINK THE

OTHER NATION WILL DO.

•MAY TRY FOR REGIEME

CHANGE.

THE POLICY OF

PREEMPTION BECAME

KNOWN AS THE BUSH

DOCTRINE.

The Bush Administration

believed that IRAQ was

holding WMD (Weapons of

Mass Destruction) that

might make their way

into the hands of Al Qaeda.

Under the “Bush Doctrine” of pre-emption, it was not necessary to wait for an attack in order to act against Iraq.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2002

PRESIDENT BUSH ADDRESSES THE UN AND

WARNS THEM OF THE ‘GRAVE AND

GATHERING DANGER’ OF IRAQ. HE

ASKS THEM TO JOIN OR “STAND

ASIDE AS THE US ACTS.”

6 MONTHS

TO INVASION

2002

SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

JULY

JUNE

MAY

APRIL

HE WAS SEEKING A U.N RESOLUTION THAT

WOULD FORCE WEAPONS INSPECTORS BACK INTO IRAQ.

HE WAS SEEKING A U.N RESOLUTION THAT

WOULD FORCE WEAPONS INSPECTORS BACK INTO IRAQ.

THE BACKGROUND • From 1980 to 1988 Iraq and Iran were at war. The U.S. sided with Iraq (Saddam Hussein) and

supplied the nation with WMD.

• In Feb. of 1994, Senator Donald Riegle (R – Michigan) delivered the

REIGLE REPORT to congress. In it he outlined the sales deals

made to Iraq in 1985. It read...

"Records available from the supplier for the period from 1985 until the present show that during this time, pathogenic, toxigenic, and other biological research materials were exported to Iraq pursuant to application and licensing by the U.S. Department of Commerce. These exported biological materials were not attenuated or weakened and were capable of reproduction."

NEW YORK TIMES – Jan 25, 1992

The IRAN-IRAQ war ended in 1998.

In 1990 IRAQ invaded KUWAIT, resulting in the “Persian Gulf War.”

The USA began “Operation Desert Storm” in 1991. A coalition of 34

nations ejected Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait.

Many soldiers in the coalition developed illnesses commonly called

GULF WAR SYNDROME. It was determined in the REIGLE REPORT that

soldiers were exposed to chemical agents (including Sarin) during the war.

A cease fire was negotiated by

the UN. It contained a provision

to eliminate WMD from Iraq.

Security Council Resolution 687

deployed UN weapons inspectors

to Iraq in 1991.

Iraq filed a series of reports from

1991-1998. Some facilities were

destroyed and Iraq claimed to have

suspended production in several

facilities. The Iraqis were often

uncooperative.

In 1998, Iraq halted cooperation with the U.N. forcing all inspectors out of the country.

2002

SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

JULY

JUNE

MAY

APRIL

6 MONTHS

TO INVASION

SEPTEMBER 19, 2002

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri

delivered a letter to the UN from

Saddam Hussein stating that Iraq

had no chemical, nuclear or

biological weapons.

The letter came 7 days after

the Bush address.

ON NOVEMBER 8, 2002

THE UNITED NATIONS

ISSUED SECURITY

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

#1441.

IT REQUIRED WEAPONS

INSPECTORS TO

RE-ENTER IRAQ.

THE CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR

WAS THIS MAN...

HANS BLIX Under him, inspections resumed

on Nov. 27, with the cooperation of

Iraq. They supplied a 12,000 page

report on their WMD programs on

December 7th 2002.

2003

JUNE

MAY

APRIL

MARCH

FEBRUARY

JANUARY

2 MONTHS

TO INVASION

JANUARY 28, 2003

PRESIDENT BUSH’S STATE

OF THE UNION ADDRESS

LAYS THE FOUNDATION

FOR WAR...

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS President George W. Bush -January 28, 2003 – 8 Minutes

AS THE ADMINISTRATION PREPARED

A CASE FOR WAR AGAINST IRAQ, SECRETARY

OF STATE COLIN POWELL WAS DISPATCHED

TO THE UN ON FEB. 5, 2003 TO GIVE A SPEECH

LINKING IRAQ TO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

HE SUGGESTED IRAQ WAS PRODUCING ANTHRAX.

2003

JUNE

MAY

APRIL

MARCH

FEBRUARY

JANUARY

1 MONTH

TO INVASION

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN

POWELL ADDRESS THE U.N.

SECURITY COUNCIL.

In the presentation Powell claimed

Iraq had mobile production

facilities that could be concealed

on trucks.

He stated

Iraq was

creating

Anthrax

and Boxulinum Toxin and could

produce enough in a single month

to kill thousands.

Holding up a test tube, he claimed Iraq could

dry the agents making them easier to

disperse.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE

AT THE UNITED NATIONS, FEBRUARY 6TH

, 2003

–

Iraq A VIDEO HISTORY OF THE IRAQ WAR AND IT’S AFTERMATH

AMERICA IN

part 2

PART 2: SHOCK AND AWE Iraq

MARCH 7TH 2003

UN WEAPONS INSPECTOR

HANS BLIX SAYS IRAQ HAS

ACCELERATED COOPERATION

BUT HE NEEDS MORE TIME

TO FILE HIS REPORT.

2003

MARCH

FEBRUARY

JANUARY

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

12 DAYS

TO INVASION

Dr. Blix headed U.N. teams that

searched hundreds of sites in

Iraq for WMD in the months prior

to the March 2003 invasion. They

found no active programs and no

stockpile of weapons. Blix, though

he personally suspected that

Saddam might possess banned

weapons, came under fire from

the U.S. for failing to find

stockpiles of anthrax and other

weapons right away.

On March 7, 2003 President Bush addressed the nation to warn them war was immanent.

In his address, he gave Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Baghdad.

He warned journalists to leave the country.

View key points...

THE WAR BEGAN MARCH 19, 2003

AMERICANS WATCHED LIVE ON TV...

CBS NEWS – DAN RATHER REPORTING

March 19, 2003

AS HANS BLIX

WAS FINISHING

HIS TOUR AS CHIEF

WEAPONS INSPECTOR

HE WAS BEING

REPLACED BY THIS

MAN...

DAVID KAY

Dr. Kay is a former U.N.

weapons inspector who

helped uncover and

destroy Iraq's nuclear

weapons program after

the 1991 Gulf War. He

replaced Hans Blix as

the head of the Iraq

Survey Group (ISG), a

U.S.-led coalition team

numbering more than

1,000 military and

intelligence personnel.

In January, 2004

KAY resigned, stating

that Iraq did not have

WMD and that "I think

there were stockpiles at

the end of the first Gulf

War and a combination

of U.N. inspectors and

unilateral Iraqi action

got rid of them.".

He did, however maintain support for Bush’s invasion of Iraq, stating the regime was dangerous...

KAY’S FINDINGS

MIRRORED THAT

OF HIS

PREDACESSOR,

HANS BLIX...

Prior to the start of the war HANS BLIX stated that he had found “no weapons of mass destruction... only a small number of empty chemical munitions.

In 2004 Blix said “there were about 700 inspections and in no case did we find weapons of mass destruction.”

IN an interview on BBC 1 on 8 February 2004, Blix accused the

US and British governments of

dramatizing the threat of weapons

of mass destruction in Iraq, in

order to strengthen the case for

the 2003 war against the

government of Saddam Hussein.

According to THE WASHINGTON

POST (4-14-02) the CIA was

ordered to investigate BLIX so as

to gather “sufficient ammunition

to undermine him” in order to

bolster support for the

Iraqi invasion.

In 2003, JOE WILSON and his wife would have

a similar experience after he openly criticized

BUSH’s invasion of Iraq.

In 2002, Wilson’s wife VALERIE PLAME, an undercover

CIA agent was helping to determine whether Iraq was

in possession of WMD.

Some believed that Saddam Hussein had attempted to buy

Uranium from the African nation of NIGER.

From 1996-1998 JOE

WILSON served as a

diplomat to five

African nations

including NIGER.

His wife, Valarie was asked by

her superiors if he would be

interested in traveling to NIGER

to determine the likelihood that

Saddam Hussein had attempted

to purchase enriched YELLOW-

CAKE Uranium.

Wilson concluded

he had not.

Wilson was horrified to hear President BUSH claim they had in his 2003 State of the Union address...

President Bush - 2003

These “16 WORDS” were used as proof that Iraq had nuclear capability...

On July 6, 2003 Wilson wrote an

editorial in the New York Times

criticizing Bush’s rush

to war...

I was convinced before the war that the threat of weapons of mass

destruction in the hands of Saddam Hussein required a vigorous and

sustained international response to disarm him. Iraq possessed and

had used chemical weapons; it had an active biological weapons

program and quite possibly a nuclear research program—all of

which were in violation of United Nations resolutions. Having

encountered Mr. Hussein and his thugs in the run-up to the Persian

Gulf war of 1991, I was only too aware of the dangers he posed. But

were these dangers the same ones the administration told us about?

We have to find out. America's foreign policy depends on the

sanctity of its information. For this reason, questioning the selective

use of intelligence to justify the war in Iraq is neither idle sniping nor

"revisionist history", as Mr. Bush has suggested. The act of war is

the last option of a democracy, taken when there is a grave threat to

our national security. More than 200 American soldiers have lost

their lives in Iraq already. We have a duty to ensure that their

sacrifice came for the right reasons.

The week after the publication

of Wilson's New York Times op

ed, Robert Novak, in his

syndicated Washington Post

column, disclosed that

Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame,

worked for the CIA as an

agency operative.

Subsequently, former

Ambassador Wilson and

others alleged that the

disclosure was part of the

Bush administration's

attempts to discredit his

report about his investigations

in Africa and the op-ed

describing his findings

because they did not support

the government's rationale for

the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

DICK ARMATIGE

Deputy Secretary of State admitted to being the leaker – although

he said it was inadvertent. He did not know of her undercover status when

he mentioned her to Robert Novak of the

Washington Post. No charges filed.

SCOTTER LIBBY

He was VP Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff. He had also leaked Plame’s name to a journalist with the NY Times,

w/o publication. Libby was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

Bush commuted his sentence.

KARL ROVE / CHRIS MATTHEWS

Two weeks after Joe Wilson’s article appeared and one week after Robert

Novak betrayed Plame’s identity, President Bush’s senior political advisor phoned

MSNBC’s talk show host Chris Matthews and told him “Wilson’s wife is FAIR GAME.

They then created a narrative that suggested Plame sent her husband to

Niger to further his career, and thus his report was tainted and invalid.

FAIR GAME, based on the book by the

same name offers

great insight into how

the CIA gathered info

about WMD in Iraq

and the lengths the

government would go

to discredit those who

disagreed with them.

END PART ONE