Transcript PRESIDENT BUSH II ppt

GEORGE W. BUSH & 2000 ELECTION
• Vice President Al Gore Democrat v. Republican George W. Bush, son
of former President George H. W. Bush.
• Battle for the undecided independent voters
• Both candidates promised to cut taxes + made education & health
care central issues in their campaigns.
• Ralph Nader of the Green Party was the only major challenge to the
party candidates.
FLORIDA & 2000 ELECTION
• Voters split almost evenly & election came down to the state of
Florida where results were so close that state law required a recount
of the ballots using vote-counting machines
– machines threw out thousands of ballots because they could not
determine a vote for president, so Gore asked for a hand recount,
but not all of the recounts would be finished on time ,so Gore
went to Florida Supreme Court to overturn the deadline & set
new deadline when recounts would be finished.
• Bush v. Gore: United States Supreme Court overturned the Florida
Supreme Court decision to extend the deadline, & George W. Bush
was named president.
What is terrorism?
• Terrorist acts are designed to instill fear in people and force their
governments to change policies out of fright.
• Systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a
population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective.
– It has been used throughout history by political organizations of both the left &
the right, by nationalist & ethnic groups, & by revolutionaries.
– Although usually thought of as a means of destabilizing or overthrowing
existing political institutions, terror also has been employed by govs. against
their own people to suppress dissent; EX: reigns of certain Roman emperors,
the French Revolution (Reign of Terror), Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union under
Stalin.
– Terrorism's impact has been magnified by the deadliness + technological
sophistication of modern-day weapons & the capability of the media to
disseminate news of such attacks instantaneously throughout the world. The
deadliest terrorist attack ever occurred in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
Oil & problems in the Middle East
• Oil became important to the American economy in the 1920s, so the U.S.
invested in the oil industry in the Middle East.
– Some Middle Easterners became angry at the U.S. for helping ruling
families in Middle Eastern kingdoms become very wealthy, while most
of the people remained poor.
– The growth of the oil industry increased the Middle East’s contact with
Western society.
• Western ideas spread through the region, and devout Muslims feared their
traditional values and beliefs were being weakened.
Fundamentalism
• = “a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of
basic principles”
• In response to increasing Western influence, new movements arose calling
for a return to traditional Muslim religious laws & a strict interpretation of
the Quran–the Muslim holy book.
– Sought to overthrow pro-Western governments in the Middle East & to
establish a pure Islamic society
• Muslim supporters of these movements = fundamentalist militants
• Most Muslims believe terrorism is against their faith & are against
fundamentalism.
Problems in the Middle East - Israel
• American support of Israel angered many in the Middle East.
• In 1947 the UN divided Palestine into two territories–one part became Israel, the
other part was supposed to be a Palestinian state.
– Instead, fighting between Israel & Arab states left this territory under control of
Israel, Jordan, & Egypt.
• In the 1950s, Palestinians began holding guerrilla raids and terrorist attacks against
Israel.
– U.S. became a target because it gave military & econ. aid to Israel
• The governments of Libya, Syria, Iraq, & Iran have secretly supported statesponsored terrorism.
PROBLEMS WITH
ISRAEL(PLO) Palestine
Liberation Organization
• Israel dominating the region  Palestinians pushed into Jordan 
Palestinians build their own nationalist resistance movement (Arab regimes
not succeeding)
• Mid-1960s: organized Palestinian groups under the umbrella of Yasser
Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) were carrying out border
raids into Israel from Jordan and Syria
• Israel retaliated against the guerrillas, striking at them in Jordan at first,
then more decisively and extensively into Lebanon, where the Palestinian
organizations fled after King Hussein of Jordan crushed/expelled them in
1970.
• The PLO gained more and more international recognition, in the Arab world
and beyond, even in the West, as the official representative of the
Palestinian people.
BUSH POST-COLD WAR
• Bush called for a new military program designed to meet the needs of
the post-Cold War world.
• He strongly favored strategic defense–the effort to develop missiles
and other devices that can shoot down nuclear missiles before they
hit the United States.
• On September 11, 2001, terrorists struck the United States, and the
event changed everything.
September 11, 2001
• On September 11, 2001, hijackers seized four passenger jets in the
U.S.
• Two of the jets were deliberately crashed into the towers of the
World Trade Center in New York City.
• Another jet crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
• A fourth jet crashed when some of the passengers resisted the
hijacking, causing the jet to crash in western Pennsylvania.
• Thousands of people died in these acts of terrorism–the use of
violence by nongovernmental groups against civilians to achieve a
political goal.
Response to 9-11
• When terrorists attacked U.S. on September 11, 2001, Americans
responded rapidly to the crisis by donating money, blood, & supplies.
• Across the nation, flags were flown to show unity & resolve.
• The American government put the armed forces on high alert. Airport
security greatly increased.
• The FBI began a massive investigation, which soon identified the
attacks as the work of Osama bin Laden & the al-Qaeda network.
War on Terror
• President Bush declared a national emergency & Congress voted to use
force to fight al-Qaeda and terrorists worldwide.
• Secretary of State Colin Powell built an international coalition to support
the U.S.’s fight against terrorism.
• Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld deployed American troops, aircraft,
& warships to the Middle East.
• President Bush announced that the war on terrorism would start against alQaeda, but would also be waged against every terrorist group around the
globe, including states that aided or harbored terrorists.
Changes at Home After 9-11
• President Bush issued an executive order
freezing the financial assets of several
individuals & organizations suspected of
terrorism.
• Bush announced the creation of a new federal
agency–the Office of Homeland Security–to
coordinate the dozens of federal agencies &
departments working to prevent terrorism.
• Congress drafted a new antiterrorist law, the
Patriot Act, in late October 2001 that
permitted secret searches, allowed authorities
to obtain a single nationwide search warrant,
made it easier to wiretap suspects, & allowed
authorities to track Internet communications &
seize voice mail.
• As the Office of Homeland Security struggled
to coordinate all of the federal agencies
fighting terrorism, President Bush asked
Congress to combine all the agencies into the
Department of Homeland Security.
Al-Qaeda
• In 1979 Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian, joined the
struggle in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union’s invasion of the
country.
– Used wealth to support the Afghani resistance, & 1988 founded
al-Qaeda, or “the Base,” which recruited Muslims to fight in
Afghanistan & channeled money & arms to the Afghani resistance.
• After the war in Afghanistan he pledged himself and his followers to
push Western influence from the Middle East. This often included
violence against America and American interests (embassies, ships,
and cities).
Bin Laden
• Bin Laden believed Western ideas had contaminated Muslim society.
– Outraged when Saudi Arabia allowed American troops on Saudi
soil when Iraq invaded Kuwait
• Changed al-Qaeda into a terrorist organization
• 1998 issued a statement calling on Muslims to kill Americans
anywhere in the world – jihad = holy war
• (1998) after simultaneous bombings of American embassies in Kenya
& Tanzania, U.S. began air strikes against training bases connected
with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan & Sudan
• (2000) terrorists attacked the USS Cole, an American warship, while it
was docked in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen
War in Afghanistan
• (2001) U.S. launched 1st military operations of the war on terrorism
when warplanes began bombing targets in Afghanistan to attack alQaeda and the Taliban
• U.S. also began sending military aid to a coalition of Afghan groups
known as the Northern Alliance, who had been fighting the Taliban
for several years
– Taliban government collapsed & U.S./allies worked with Afghan
leaders to create a new government
• This fighting bled over into nearby Pakistan as well but Taliban
fighters eventually scattered and a manhunt ensued.
• Thousands of American soldiers began arriving to hunt for al-Qaeda
and act as peacekeepers.
• Though Osama bin Laden has been eliminated, other insurgents
remain. American troops continue to search.
“Axis of Evil”
• (Jan. 2002) President Bush warned of the grave threat to the world posed
by Iraq, Iran, & North Korea.
– All 3 countries had sponsored terrorists & were suspected of developing
weapons of mass destruction.
• (Oct. 2002) North Korea announced it had resumed its nuclear weapons
program.
– Bush administration was not able to persuade North Korea to stop the
program.
– 2013 NK at “war” with SK– armistice from Korean War ignored, nuclear
arms tested, China mobilizes troops on behalf of NK
BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL
WARFARE & WMDs
• Terrorists posed a new threat when they began to use the mail to
spread anthrax, a type of bacteria that can become lethal if left
undetected.
– Several occurrences of anthrax were found, but no suspects were
publicly recognized.
• The September 11, 2001, attacks led to fears that al-Qaeda & other
terrorist groups could acquire weapons of mass destruction (nuclear,
chemical, or biological weapons), which could kill tens of thousands
of people all at once.
Confronting Iraq
• President Bush considered Iraq a more immediate threat than North Korea
in developing & distributing weapons of mass destruction.
• Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, had used chemical weapons twice in the
1980s, & after the Gulf War, UN inspectors had found evidence that Iraq
had biological weapons & was working on a nuclear bomb.
• 2002 Bush pressured Iraq for a regime change, asking the United Nations to
demand that Iraq give up its WMDs.
– While the UN was still debating the issue, Congress authorized the use
of force against Iraq.
– A new UN resolution threatened “serious consequences” if Iraq did not
declare all of its WMDs, stop supporting terrorism, &stop oppressing its
people.
The U.N. & Iraq
• Weapons inspectors returned to Iraq. The Bush administration
pushed for a war resolution in the UN Security Council.
• France & Russia refused to back it, but the U.S. & about 30 other
countries prepared for war as many antiwar protests took place
around the world.
• March 20, 2003, the U.S.-led coalition forces attacked Iraq & quickly
seized control. May 1 President Bush declared that the major combat
was over.
Problems in Iraq
• Fighting & controversy continued. During the first six months of the
occupation of Iraq, Americans found no evidence of WMDs, but bombings,
sniper attacks, & battles plagued American troops, and American deaths &
expenses were mounting.
• President Bush began to seek support from the UN to help stabilize &
rebuild Iraq. The path toward a free, stable Iraq was proving to be long and
difficult.