Key Figures of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Key Figures of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — page 3
KEY FIGURES OF 8 THE WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN and 40 in Pennsylvania All 19 terrorists died Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network were believed to be responsible for the attacks the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in U S history In response to the attacks U S President George W Bush announced that the country would fight terrorism as the first war of the 21st century The United States also called on other governments to join it in an alliance against terrorism by sharing information and supporting each other s efforts to combat terrorist organizations Soon thereafter the United Nations UN Security Council passed a bind ing resolution requiring its member nations to pursue terrorists and their political and financial supporters Within a month the United States declared war on Afghanistan whose Taliban government it accused of sheltering bin Laden and his terrorist group By the end of the year the Taliban government had col lapsed but the fighting there continued In 2002 President Bush turned the world s attention to Iraq He accused the government of Iraq of having ties to terrorists and of ignoring a weapons ban that had been imposed on Iraq at the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 After the United States brought the matter before the UN in November 2002 Bush declared that Iraq was not cooperating with UN weapons inspectors While several member countries of the UN Security Council called for fur ther talks between the two sides the United States and Great Britain threatened to take military action against Iraq In March 2003 the talks came to an end and U S led troops invaded