Bush’s Foreign Policy Assignment PDF

Bush’s Foreign Policy (2001-2009)
Bush's main foreign policy advisors were Secretaries of State Colin
Powell and Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Vice
President Dick Cheney. Critical geopolitical developments that occurred during Bush's
presidency include the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11,
2001, and the subsequent Global War on Terror.
oSeptember 11 attacks (Mayor turning point – 11/09/2001)
Series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Wahhabi terrorist group Al-
Qaeda. The attacks resulted in 2977 fatalities and at least $10 billion in
infrastructure and property damage. That evening, Bush addressed the nation from
the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks. On September 20,
2001 address to congress, Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and his
organization Al-Qaeda, and issued an ultimatum to the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan, where bin Laden was operating, to "hand over the terrorists”
oBush Doctrine
After the September 11 attacks, Bush decided to use his newfound political capital
to fundamentally change U.S. foreign policy. He became increasingly focused on
the possibility of a hostile country providing weapons of mass destruction to
terrorist organization. During the State of the Union Address of 2002, Bush set
forth what has become known as the Bush Doctrine, which held that the United
States would implement a policy of preemptive military strikes against nation
known to be harboring or aiding a terrorist organization hostile to the U.S. Bush
outlined what he called the he called “Axis of Evil”, consisting of three nations
(Iraq, North Korea and Iran) that, he argued, posed the greatest threat to world
peace due to their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and potential to aid
terrorists.
Principles of the doctrine:
1. The “regime change”
2. The unilateralism and the military interventionism
3. The preemptive war
4. The pressure on the allied nations
Nevertheless, the American doctrine of interventionism sparks number of critics-
specially abroad, development of an American phobia- which ends up with a
tarnished image of America, whereas the issues on the ground cause defections
within the coalition
oNational Missile Defense
On December 13, 2001, President Bush announced the withdrawal of the U.S
from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a bedrock of U.S.- Soviet nuclear
stability during the Cold War era. Bush thought that the treaty hinders the
government’s ability to develop ways to protect the American people from future
terrorist or rogue state missile attacks. The Bush administration pursued a
national missile defense. The National Missile Defense project that Clinton
introduced, and Bush supported was designed to detect intercontinental ballistic
missiles and destroy them in flight. Critics doubted that the project could ever
work and said that it would be expensive.

Operation “Enduring Freedom” (Global War on Terrorism)
Operation Enduring Freedom as originally planned was a response to the September 11,
2001 attacks on the United States. It was, in its first manifestation, a military operation
against the Taliban government of Afghanistan and the network of foreign groups,
including al-Qaeda, believed responsible for the September 11 attacks.
The U.S.-led coalition’s initial military operations in Afghanistan, from September through
December 2001, were directed at the Taliban forces and their foreign allies. In late
September, CIA forces entered Afghanistan to organize existing Afghan anti-Taliban forces
(primarily the loose coalition of groups called the Northern Alliance) and assist covert U.S.
Army and Air Force units to transport equipment into the country.
Throughout the first phase of the conflict, millions of dollars in cash and significant
amounts of weapons, communications equipment, and other military supplies were
ferried into Afghanistan and given to anti-Taliban forces. As the war progressed, the
U.S. advance teams were joined by Army Special Forces and Special Forces units from the
Navy and Air Force, and ultimately, regular army ground troops and units from coalition
partners such as the United Kingdom and Australia. Over the next two months, the
U.S.-led coalition carried out an extensive air campaign against the Taliban and its allies.
Anti-Taliban forces on the ground initially assisted in identifying targets for the air
campaign and later advanced and seized areas held by Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.
Since December 2001, the U.S.-led coalition’s primary military focus has been on locating
remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda which did no surrender and fled into remote areas of
the country.
However, there was and is more to Operation Enduring Freedom than military operations
against Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants. Coalition operations have included investigative
and intelligence-gathering components aimed at locating or uncovering threats to the
United States and other coalition members and disrupting or eliminating those
threats. Operations have also included efforts to capture terrorist suspects a gather
intelligence in Afghanistan as part of the global campaign to disrupt the worldwide
operations of al-Qaeda.
oFor a decade, Western coalition and international organizations rhetoric is
dominated by the announcement of the future progress of the Afghan state.
However, the regime installed after the September 2001 invasion does not reach the
level of territorial control reached by the Taliban before their fall.
oFraud, corruption, opium trafficking, social inequalities were presented after the
American intervention.
oThe return of insurrection: strong attrition among the army, ambiguous role of
Pakistan, anti-American sentiment, etc.
Zero Dark Thirty
On May 2, 2011, a US special forces team stormed a walled compound in the northeastern
Pakistani city of Abbottabad, near a Pakistani military base, and shot dead Osama bin
Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, adding growing American mistrust with the army of this
country.
The operation, carried out in the early hours of the morning, brought an end to a 10-year
hunt for the world’s most-wanted terrorist, responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on the US in
2001 and numerous other terrorist outrages.

Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003)
19 March (air) 20 March 2003 (ground) marked the beginning of Operation Iraqi
Freedom with preemptive airstrikes on Saddam Hussein’s Presidential Palace and military
targets followed by approximately 67,700 “boots on the ground” with 15,000 Navy
personnel on ships in the region. U.S, U.K, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq.
Iraqi forces were overwhelmed quickly, and Baghdad fell a mere five weeks after the
invasion began. With the invasion complete, an insurgency and influx of al Qaeda
inspired fighters poured into the country which sparked guerilla warfare tactics
against U.S. troops and civil war between the Sunni and Shia tribes. On 15 December
2011, “The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other top U.S. military leaders
observed the official end of U.S. Forces Iraq’s mission after nearly nine years of conflict
that claimed the lives of nearly 4,500 troops”
After U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)
invaded areas of Syria and Iraq causing widespread causalities, destruction of the
country’s infrastructure and barbaric practices against citizens. In response to the terrorists’
group, Operation Inherent Resolve began 17 October 2014.
Obama Foreign Policy
Cairo Speech: Barack Obama opens another chapter in the Muslim World. On June 4, 2009,
President Obama proposed a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the
world, based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.
29 June 2014Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi proclamed the rebirth of the caliphate taing the name of caliph Ibrahim
End of 2011The total disengagement end
August 2010The American troops withdraw from Iraq, as planned by Washington agenda and adopted by Baghdad in
November 2008.
30 December 2006Saddam Hussein is hanged in Bagdad. Arrested and had been charged with "crimes against humanity", "war
crimes" and "genocide" by Iraqi special court and condemmed to death penalty
15 October 2005Iraqi adopt the new Constitution establishing Iraq as a federal state with a parliamentary democratic regime
2004Clashes between the US-British coalition, supporters of Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadrs and those of the Sunnite
leader Abou Al-Zarkaoui.
09 April 2003Baghdad falls
20 March 2003Beginnig of the US-British military intervention in Iraq.
IRAQ-U.S Key Dates

- He seeks a more comprehensive engagement with Muslim-majority countries by expanding
partnerships in areas like education, economic development, science and technology,
health, among others, while continuing to work together to address issues of common
concern.
- Egypt was chosen because it is a country that in many ways represents the heart of the Arab
World.
- It was the end of the ideological rhetoric of the war of Good versus Evil and the Axis of
Evil.
- They wanted to recover the American legitimacy and credibility in the Middle East.
Some changes were identified in the continuity such as:
- The willingness to normalize the relation with Syria and Iran throughout a nuclear
agreement on July 14th, 2015 by the P5+1 and the Islamic Republic of Ian in Vienna.
P5+1, refers to the UN Security Council ́s five permanent members (China, France, Russia,
the United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany), who joined together in
diplomatic efforts with Iran with regard to its nuclear program.
- The revival of the centrality process in the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Obama declared
himself in favor of the future Palestinian state creation.
The leaders overthrown by the Arab Spring (2011): The Arab Spring was a series of anti-
government protests, uprising, and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab World in
the early 2010s. it began in response to oppressive regimes and a low standard of living, starting
with protests in Tunisia.
Major events:
- Tunisia (18 December 2010 – 14 January 2011): Overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
(1989 – 2011), Ben Ali flees into exile in Saudi Arabia.
- Egypt (25 January 2011): Overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, who is later convicted of
corruption and ordered to stand trial for ordering the killing of protesters. It was followed
by another government overthrow in July 2013 and the Egyptian Crisis until 2014.
- Yemen (27 January 2011): Overthrow of Ali Abdullah Saleh, Saleh granted immunity from
prosecution.
- Libya (15 February 2011): The major protests began on 17 February 2011, government
overthrown of Muammar Gaddafi on 23 August 2011.
From Al – Qaeda to Daech
“The Base” (Al-Qaeda) was founded in August 1988 in the suburban Peshawar (Pakistan) by
Osama bin Laden.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was founded in 1999 by Jordanian Salafi jihadist Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi. It gathered Al-Qaeda veterans and former Saddam Hussein army, and from a
group of Syrian rebels. Its first actions took place in April 2013, then in 2014 after having extended
its control on a significant part of Iraq territory, ISIS proclaims the new caliphate led by his leader
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was born in Samarra northern Iraq in 1971. In 2013 he formed the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In June 2014, proclaims a “caliphate” and the
ISIL becomes the Islamic State Group (IS). On October 31, 2019 his death was confirmed
by IS a new leader was designated: Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi.
Syria, a big headache in Barack Obama foreign policy outcome