- The decision to begin this split the Western alliance and inspired a massive antiwar movement throughout the world. - Ex: between 10-15 million people across the globe demonstrated against the impending war. - Ex: both traditional foes of the US, like Russia and China, and traditional allies of the US, like Germany and France, refused to support this unnecessary strike against Iraq. - The US began this war anyway despite opposition in 2003 with Great Britain as its sole significant ally. - Bush called this war "Operation Iraqi Freedom." - Bush justified it by claiming into was attempt to defend US freedom and bring freedom to others. - The Hussein regime proved no match for American armed forces with their precision bombing, satellite-guided missiles, and well-trained soldiers. - Within a month of this American troops occupied Baghdad.. - After hiding out for several months, Hussein was captured by American forces and put on trial before an Iraqi court - found guilty of ordering to kill many Iraqis during his reign (nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction) and was executed. - Everything seemed to go wrong after Americas "victory." - Ex: rather than parades to welcome American liberators, looting and chaos ensued after the fall of the Iraqi regime. - Ex: Sectarian violence swept through Iraq with militias of Shiite and Sunni Muslims fighting each other - Sunni's were aligned with Hussein and Shiite now sought to exercise there power and get revenge. - Marked a new departure in American foreign policy - never both had the US occupied a nation in the center of the world's most volatile region and rarely in history had they found themselves so isolated form the world public opinion. - Initially it proved to be popular in the US, but the realization that Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction discredited the administration's justification for this war.- By 2007 polls showed that a large majority of Americans considered this a mistake and a lost cause.

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