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 The
Path to War
Iraq's Forces
Coalition Forces
Weapons of War
Allied
bases
Where
Iraq's missiles can hit
Humourous
look at Crisis
As part of the 'War on Terror', begun after the destruction
of the World Trade Centre in New York, America has set its
sights upon Iraq.
Washington says the Iraqi leadership, under President Saddam
Hussein, has weapons of mass destruction - chemical, biological
and possibly nuclear warheads - and this potentially disastrous
arsenal must be destroyed.
Saddam Hussein has long been a thorn in the side of the United
States, despite having been backed by Washington in his 1980s
war with Mulism-fundamentalist Iran, and after Iraq invaded
Kuwait in 1990 America headed a multi-national army to push
him back within his own borders.
The 1991 Gulf War began with a five-week air campaign that
bombed strategic and military targets around the clock.
On 24 February the Allies began a ground assault into Iraq
and only four days later Iraq agreed to surrender.
Defeat meant Iraq had to submit to United Nations' weapons
inspections that were meant to end Saddam Hussein's weapons-of-mass-destruction
programme. However, the Iraqi leader put as many stumbling
blocks as he could in front of the inspectors and they were
withdrawn in the late 1990s.
Iraq only recently allowed the UN inspectors back into the
country.
Aside from disarming Iraq, Washington wants the UN to bring
an end to repression of minorities within Iraq, pay war reparations
to Kuwait, account for missing military personnel 1991 Gulf
War and deal with the issue of using money raised from the
oil-for-food program for humanitarian purposes.
And there is a more personal reason for President George
W. Bush's determination to deal with Saddam Hussein once and
for all.
His father, President George Bush snr, despite having won
the Gulf War, was thrown out of office because Americans thought
he had ignored local issues and the US economy in order to
win it.
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