Today’s Agenda

• Attendance• Notes on Afghanistan

Why is Iran so upset with America?

• Iran and America’s relationship began around the 1900s when Iran began to look for new trading partners other than the Russians and the British. They did not trust either state because Russia is practically their neighbor and Britain had been creating unequal trade relations with Iran since the fall of the Ottoman empire.

• Iran trusted the United States very much in the early 1900s the Persian state, the predecessor to Iran, voted for American William Shuster to be their “general treasurer” .

• During WWII the Russians and British invaded Iran under what the Iran believed to be false pretenses. Though after WWII Iran and America had a stable relationship.

What is Iran and America’s relationship like today?

• http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=LKjEv3g0_hg&p=n#/46;383

• three examples of animosity (strong hostility) between Iran and America.

The Iran Revolution of 1979

• The western back Iran leadership was corrupt and used state resources to advance his own agenda.

• By the 1970s Iranians were done with the west. They had lost all faith in their partnerships with America and Britain. They installed a theocracy where a supreme leader speaks as the voice of God.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY0ixG94cHE

• This led to Iran becoming the state that it is today.

Iran’s relationship with outside powers since

• Iraq which is neighbors of Iran, became threatened of the Islamic revolution and seized The Shatt Al Arab, a water way in Iran. Why are water ways important in this region?

• America stayed neutral most of the 8 years of the war, but they began to support Iraq when Iran threatened Kuwaiti oil tankers. Where is Kuwait? President Reagan Decided that the United States cold not let Iraq to lose the war and the United states “would do whatever was necessary to prevent Iraq from losing.

• The Iran and Iraq war ended in 1988 with a lot of devastation.

War in Afghanistan• Reasons for War

1. Military operation was launched in response to the 9/11 attacks

2. Remove the safe-haven of al-Qaeda

3. Remove the Taliban gov. that harbored al-Qaeda terrorists

4. Capture high ranking al-Qaeda officers like Osama bin Laden

War in Afghanistan• Results of the War in Afghanistan

1. The Taliban was removed from government power in 2001

2. The new Afghanistan gov. has little influence outside of Kabul (the capital)

3. Osama bin Laden was captured and killed in Pakistan

4. U.S. plans to remove troops in 2014

Persian Gulf WarCodenamed “Operation Desert Storm”

a.

-Disputes over money and oil led Iraq to launch an invasion of Kuwait.

-Major U.S. concerns included Kuwait’s sovereignty (independence) and the safety of the oil fields.

Persian Gulf War

b. - President George H.W. Bush ordered

intense bombing in 1991 and quickly expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

- Iraqi troops set fire to Kuwait oil fields as they exited the country…an environmental disaster

- U.S. still has troops in Saudi Arabia today

Iraq War• Reasons for the Iraq War

1. The U.S. and U.K. claimed Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s)

2. Some U.S. officials also accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of supporting al-Qaeda

• Reasons # 1 & 2 were proven false

3. Stop Iraq’s human rights abuse & spread democracy.

Iraq War

• Results of Iraq War1. Hussein’s regime topples in the first months of

the invasion, but Iraqi insurgency organizes to fight U.S.

2. In 2005 Iraq holds first democratic elections

3. Sectarian violence increases between Sunni and Shiite (2 main sects of Islam)

4. New faction of al-Qaeda develops in Iraq

Iraq War

• Results continuedThere was never any evidence found of WMD’s or

the harboring of al-Qaeda prior to the 2003 invasion. The U.S. had used incorrect intelligence to make the case for war in front of the United Nations.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2010/11/15/exp.lkl.powell.un.speech.iraq.cnn.html

The Arab Spring• 2010 may not have been one of the most

historic years for the US, but in the Arab world it was the start of a revolution that has swept through many nations.

• Arab Spring – A revolutionary wave of demonstrations, protests and wars in the Arab world that began on Dec. 18, 2010.– Arab citizens demonstrated against things like

autocracies, human rights violations, government corruption, and poverty.