1. History 171ME The United States and the Middle East 1900 to the Present

2. The Iraq War and Beyond

3. October 2002—Supplied with misleading intelligence, Congress passed Iraq War Resolution CIA “White Paper” on Iraq and WMD

4. November 2002—UN Security Council passed Resolution 1441, calling on Iraq to disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction, warning of “serious consequences” if it failed to do so

5. Late 2002—UN inspectors started operating in Iraq

6. December 2002-January 2003—US deployed more troops to Persian Gulf; France and Germany opposed use of force without subsequent UN resolution German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer

7. Early 2003—UN weapons inspectors found no evidence of WMD programs but asked for more time to continue investigation Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix

8. March 2003—US, Britain, and “coalition of the willing” launched Iraq War without second UN resolution

9. April 2003—Saddam Hussein regime fell; but US forces failed to provide adequate security, permitting widespread looting and violence

10. Looting of Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad

12. Summer 2003—Iraqi Insurgency broke out

13. 2003-2008—Iraqi civil war

14. 2007-2008—US “troop surge,” combined with “Sunni Awakening,” helped to stabilize country

15. December 2011—US troops withdrawn from Iraq

16. 2012-2014—Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki (Shiite) discriminated against Iraqi Sunnis and failed to include them in power sharing, arousing renewed Sunni opposition

17. Al-Qa‘ida-affiliated Iraqi Sunnis regained power and influence

18. Syrian civil war Sunni jihadists in Syria

19. Rise of ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham)

21. New US strategy since 2014: airstirikes against ISIS positions; change of leadership in Baghdad Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi, 2014-

22. In early aftermath of 9/11 there were prospects for better relations between United States and Iran Mohammad Khatami

23. But relations soon soured due to Iran’s nuclear program and Bush’s inclusion of Iran in “Axis of Evil”

24. 2005—Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hard-line Islamist, elected president of Iran, causing relations to deteriorate further

25. Ongoing controversy over Iran’s nuclear program

26. Mahmoud AhmadenijadBenjamin Netanyahu

27. Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, 2013-