Question

What was the George W. Bush administration’s rationale for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003? Make sure to provide specific details and some kind of time line.

Answer 1

In 2002, the new U.S. president, George W. Bush, argued that the vulnerability of the U.S. following the September 11 attacks of 2001, combined with the alleged continued possession and manufacture of weapons of mass destruction (an accusation that later proved to be erroneous) and its support for terrorist groups — including al-Qaeda, the perpetrator, according to the Bush administration. Resolution 1441 of the UN Security Council, passed on 8 November 2002, demanded Iraq's readmission of inspectors and compliance with all previous resolutions.

Iraq appeared to comply with the resolution, but President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared in early 2003 that Iraq was in fact continuing to hinder UN inspections and that it was still retaining banned weapons. Other leaders around the world such as French Pres. Citing what they thought was enhanced Iraqi cooperation, Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder sought to extend the inspections and give Iraq more time to comply with them.

On March 17, however, seeking no further UN resolutions and deeming the Security Council's further diplomatic efforts futile, Bush declared an end to diplomacy and issued an ultimatum to aladdām, giving the Iraqi president 48 hours to leave Iraq. France, Germany, Russia, and other countries had objected to this war buildup.

When Aladdam refused to leave Iraq, the U.S. and allied forces launched an attack on the morning of March 20; it started when U.S. aircraft dropped several precision-guided bombs on a bunker complex where the Iraqi president was supposed to meet with senior personnel. This was followed by a series of air strikes aimed at government and military installations, and within days U.S. forces had invaded Iraq from southern Kuwait (the U.S. Special Forces had previously been deployed to northern Kurdish-controlled areas). Despite fears that Iraqi forces will pursue a policy of scorched earth-destroying bridges and dams and setting fire to Iraq's southern oil wells