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| Profiles of the key players in the Iraq war |
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| By Andrea Domanick, 15, Harvard-Westlake School |
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Bush Administration
George W. Bush, President and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military
? after 9/11 attacks, declared North Korea, Iran and Iraq an "Axis of Evil" (America's and the world's enemies)
? said Saddam Hussein was a dictator whose weapons of mass destruction threatened the United States and the world
? said Iraq would have to disarm or the United States would go to war
? received permission from Congress to send troops to Iraq
? Bush administration has been working with other countries in the United Nations to try to get other countries to force Iraq to disarm, particularly by threatening military invasion.
? if Iraq doesn't disarm, Bush supports a "regime change" meaning a new government.
Colin Powell, Secretary of State
? Is primary adviser on U.S. foreign policy and heads the State Department, i.e., relations with other countries throughout the world in accordance with the President
? when Bush wanted to invade last year to force the Iraqi government to disarm, Powell advised seeking the approval and support of the United Nations Security Council
? spoke to convince the United Nations to support the U.S. military action against Iraq's government; Security Council is still undecided
Richard "Dick" Cheney, Vice President of The United States
? can take place of president in an emergency
? extremely influential member of the Bush adminstration
? previously secretary of defense under former President George Bush
? strong advocate of invading Iraq
Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense
? chief adviser to the president about U.S. military, also writes military policy
? one of strongest and most outspoken advocates of invading and disarming Iraq by force.
? he was ready to invade last summer without U.N. support.
? chooses generals, weapons, etc. that will be used if/when we go to war
Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor
? advises president on decisions he needs to make about other countries as they relate to the security of the United States
? supports the president in wanting to invade and overthrow Saddam Hussein
John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General
? top law enforcer in U.S. government
? runs Justice Department
? leading investigations into Al Qaeda and trying to find suspected terrorists in the U.S.; trying to stop terrorism against the U.S.
Tom Ridge, Secretary of Homeland Security
? The Office of Homeland Security was created after 9/11 to coordinate the prevention ofa and response to terrorism in the United States
Other Key Figures
Saddam Hussein, President of Iraq
? basically, everyone in Iraq needs to do what he says, or they could face imprisonment or even death
? claims that Iraq has already disarmed (gotten rid of all weapons of mass destruction like nuclear and chemical weapons)
Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England
? has been one of Bush's strongest supporters in Europe
? supports Bush's wanting to use military force to disarm Iraq, although a majority of England is against it
? along with United States, England has sent thousands of troops to the Middle East, ready to invade
United Nations Inspectors
? sent by the United Nations to Iraq to verify that the country is disarming
? there are two chief inspectors:
Mohamed ElBaradei is in charge of making sure Iraq has no more nuclear weapons or the ability to make them
Hans Blix is in charge of making sure Iraq has gotten rid of all chemical and biological weapons
Important Organizations
United Nations Security Council
? powerful group within the United Nations
? composed of 15 countries that decide whether the United Nations should use collective force, such as invading to force Iraq to disarm
? there are 5 permanent members which are the most powerful?the United States, China, Russia, France and England
? all five have veto power?if one of these countries votes against using force, then the United Nations cannot use collective force
Al Qaeda
? An Islamic terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden
? launched the 9/11 attacks
? members come from several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Egypt, among others
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
? U.S. government agency that gathers information about other countries and spies on them
? criticized for not having enough information about Al Qaeda prior to 9/11
"Special Forces"
? elite U.S. military division highly trained in military tactics and educated in the customs of other countries
? called upon as one of the first groups to arrive when the United States wants to fight or occupy a country
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