New Tensions Emerge Flashcards
(20 cards)
Rise of the Taliban
After the USSR left Afghanistan, various warlords took over the country and would be challenged by new Jihadist groups born out of the Mujahideen, one of them being the Taliban.
They would win a very brutal civil war in Afghanistan and impose their own strict interpretation of Sharia or Islamic Law.
Who was Osama Bin Laden?
He was born into a wealthy family and followed a strict religious and social code which shaped his political beliefs and influenced every decision he made.
When the UUSR invaded Afghanistan, he joined the Afghan resistance believing it was his duty as a Muslim to fight against the USSR, using money and weapons from the US to train Mujahideen fighters.
Origin of Al-Qaeda
When the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan he returned to to Saudi Arabia as a hero, he started an organisation to help ex-soldiers who had fought in the Afghan war.
Al-Qaeda was funded by Bin Laden’s family and he recruited Muslims from mosques around the world and developed Al-Qaeda into a militant organisation.
Al-Qaeda’s first action
On return to Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden was disappointed with what he believed was a corrupt government, he was outraged when the government allowed American troops to be stationed there ahead of the first Gulf War in 1991, the Saudis then banished him after trying to silence him.
He established headquarters in Sudan, but they forced him to leave under pressure from Saudi and USA, he moved to Afghanistan, as the ‘guest’ of the Taliban, he setup Al-Qaeda training camps.
Their first action were attacks on American servicemen in Somalia and Bin Laden issued a fatwa or “Declaration of War” against the US in 1996.
Reasons for the 9/11 attacks
New age of conflict - many new Islamic fundamentalist groups have arisen after the war in Afghanistan, many of these groups are Jihadists and have declared a ‘Holy war’ against non-Muslim states.
Hatred of American- after the Gulf war, the US kept troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, it is the home of the holiest sites in Islam and many Muslims were upset at the US permanent military presence there, a Fatwa was signed by Bin Laden and provided religious authorisation for killing Americans everywhere.
More reasons for the 9/11 attacks
To start a war - some historians have suggested that the attack was designed to provoke the USA into attacking the Muslim world, this would then help radicalise Muslims into joining the jihadist movement.
Growing Al-Qaeda activity - in 1993, Al-Qaeda tried to bomb the Twin Towers, in 1996 they tried to assassinate Bill Clinton, in 1998 they used suicide bombers to drive trucks into US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, in 2000, they also tried to attack a US destroyer.
What happened in the Gulf War?
Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq from 1979 - 2003, used violence to rule his country. The Kurdish peoples and others in the north suffere badly. The West saw him as a friend against the fundamentalist Muslim government or Iran, the West supplied Saddam with chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. In 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait, George Bush organised a coalition which drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait.
The 9/11 attacks
The attacks were carried out by nineteen men associated with the Al-Qaeda who hijacked four airliners which they used to launch suicide attacks on the targets.
Two planes were flown into the towers in New York, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C, a fourth plane was heading towards the White House and came down early due to heroic actions of passengers on board.
The attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism, over 3,000 were killed.
After the 9/11 attacks
Bin Laden went on to claim that Al-Qaeda was solely responsible for 9/11.
In Nov 2002, Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” stated that Al-Qaeda’s motives for their attacks in the US and elsewhere included Western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia, Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon, presence of US troops in Saudi, US support of Israel and sanctions against Iraq.
US response to 9/11 - “War on Terror”
‘War on terror’ was first used by President George W. Bush to explain the military, political, legal and ideological struggle against organisations which had been labelled as terrorist.
It also refers to the actions of the US and its allies against governments that provided these organisations with support.
Aim of it were, defeat those who had been associated with terrorist attacks like Bin Laden, identify, locate and destroy terrorists organisations, undertake ‘regime change’ in certain countries that support terrorism, to defend the citizens of the US and its allies, stop those who gave support to terrorists.
Invasion of Afghanistan, 2001
George W. Bush gave the Taliban an ultimatum: either hand over Bin Laden and his organisation, or the US would strike with full force
Operation Enduring Freedom was used and its aim was to find Bin Laden, remove the Taliban from power and prevent the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist haven, attacks were launched by Western coalition forces along with the anti-Taliban Afghan Northern Alliance, these forces were called the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and included 18 countries.
By mid-November the Afghan capital of Kabul fell and by Mid-December air attacks with ground forces toppled the Taliban regime while Bin Laden was believed to have escaped to Pakistani, much of the Taliban had been destroyed or driven away by the end of 2001.
Reasons for the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001
The Taliban, the ruling power in Afghanistan were accused by the US of protecting Bin Laden.
There was a lot of international pressure of the Afghan leaders to hand over Bin Laden.
The Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden.
Taliban requests for negotiations with the US were rejected.
Impact on international relations due to the invasion of Afghanistan, 2001 and 9/11
People around the world had been affected by the attacks and horrified by the actions of those involved in acts of terrorism.
Countries around the world gave their support to the US and believed that a united front was essential if this new type of enemy was to be destroyed.
By 2016, more than 4,000 ISAF as well as some 15,000 Afghan soldiers were killed in the war and over 20,000 civilians.
War also resulted in more Muslims joining the extremist Islamic terrorist groups.
The Taliban was never truly destroyed and regrouped in Pakistani.
Invasion of Iraq 2003
The US previously went to war with Saddam Hussein in 1991 to force his invading armies out of Kuwait, at the end of the Gulf War, a truce was signed leaving Saddam in power.
There truce was sealed by the United Nations which established the conditions by which the US would allow Saddam to retain his position, the UN drew up a list of requirements which required Saddam to disarm and stop his programs to develop WMD.
Reasons for the invasion of Iraq, 2003
Without any occupying army in Iraq, Saddam got round the economic sanctions placed on him, threw out UN inspectors and avoided the terms of the resolutions in 1998 and in response President Clinton fired 450 missiles into Iraq, known as Operation Desert Fox, Clinton also got the go ahead to use military means to help the Iraqis trying to overthrow Saddam, Clinton warned governments around the world about the threat that Saddam presented to international peace.
In 2002 after 9/11, George W. Bush called Iraq part of an “axis of evil”, also suggested that he soon turn his foreign-policy toward Saddam’s regime, which continued to “flaunt its hostility toward America, and break its international agreements.
Events before the invasion of Iraq
The US placed around 200,000 troops on Iraq’s border as a warning to Saddam, in response, Saddam agreed to allow UN inspectors to return and the UN voted to present Iraq with an ultimatum and a 30-day deadline.
In 2002, both Bush and PM Tony Blair told the public that Iraq had WMDs that could be deployed at attack, they both got support from Congress and Parliament to go to war with Iraq, they also argued that Iraq had links to Al-Qaeda and that Saddam was an evil tyrant who was dangerous to peace.
What were the other reasons that the USA felt threatened by Saddam Hussein?
He was the only head of state to openly celebrate the destruction of the Twin Towers.
The war was tied in to the wider ‘war on terror as argued that Saddam’s regime created the conditions that aided the growth of terrorists.
Every major intelligence agency in the world believed that Saddam had WMD.
There appeared to be links between international terrorists and the Saddam regime.
Saddam had murdered thousands of his own people and ruled with brutality and force.
The downfall of Saddam Hussein
Hundreds of thousands of troops entered Iraq in 2003 and were able to topple Saddam’s regime and capture Iraq’s major cities in just three weeks and President Bush declared the end of major combat operations.
Saddam fled but was captured in 2003 and hung by his own people in 2006
Why did the new Iraq democratic state fail?
The new government was largely Shia Muslims, but the majority of Iraq are Sunni Muslims and many refused to support this new government.
The US insisted that much of the rebuilding of Iraq was given to US companies, this created economic and social hardship in Iraq.
There was a rise in jihadists terrorists in Iraq after the war, they began to attack the US and Iraqi forces and some would go on to form ISIS and would take over large parts of Iraq.
Impact of Iraq war on international relations
Saddam was overthrown.
Thousands of military deaths.
Civilian deaths between 100,000 - one million.
The decision to invade Iraq caused tensions in the NATO alliance.
Many in the Middle East saw it was anti-Arab and Arab leaders spoke out against the occupation of a fellow Arab country by foreign troops.
Iraq was plunged into a civil war which allowed groups including Al-Qaeda to thrive, eventually they merged into Islamic State which seized control of parts of Iraq.
There were never any WMD found from Saddam Hussein.
