US - IRAQ WAR

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Historical Timeline, Pre-History - 1989
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Maps of Iraq, the Middle East, and the Arab League
Coalition Forces in Iraq
26 Countries' WMD Programs; A Global History of WMD Use
United Nations Reference
United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Iraq
US-Iraq Relations by US President, 1981-Mar. 19, 2003
Bush Administration Quotes on Iraq
Pros and Cons by Issue
Issue: CORE QUESTION
          Q:  Should the US have attacked Iraq?
Issue: Justifications for Invading Iraq
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein and his regime pose a threat to the United States and its allies?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein and his regime pose an immediate or imminent threat?
          Q:  Was the phrase "imminent threat" used or implied by the Bush Administration before the invasion?
          Q:  What is a weapon of mass destruction (WMD)?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction after the 1st Gulf War?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein try to acquire uranium yellowcake or aluminum tubes for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein develop and maintain mobile labs for the purpose of biological and chemical weapon production?
          Q:  What was known about Saddam Hussein's use of weapons of mass destruction prior to the US invasion in 2003?
          Q:  What was Saddam Hussein's involvement with terrorist groups?
          Q:  Was Saddam Hussein involved in 9/11?
          Q:  Did Iraq under Saddam Hussein support Al Qaeda?
          Q:  Did Sep. 11, 2001 justify the Bush Administration's decision to attack Iraq?
       Human Rights Abuses
          Q:  What human rights abuses did Saddam Hussein and his regime commit?
          Q:  Did the humanitarian crisis in Iraq warrant intervention?
       Iraq's Oil
          Q:  Was control of Iraq's oil a reason for the US to attack Iraq?
          Q:  Was Iraq's decision to change payment for its oil from dollars to euros a reason for the US to attack Iraq?
       Spreading Democracy
          Q:  What did George W. Bush say were the plans to establish democracy in Iraq?
          Q:  Could plans for democracy in Iraq succeed?
          Q:  Could regime change in Iraq promote the spread of democracy in the Middle East?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein's violation of United Nation resolutions justify the invasion of Iraq?
          Q:  Did the UN Security Council Resolution 1441 provide sufficient legal basis for military action against Iraq?
       Preemption
          Q:  Was the preemptive invasion of Iraq a violation of international law?
          Q:  What is the difference between preemptive and preventive military action?
          Q:  What was the Bush administration's National Security Strategy (aka the Bush Doctrine)?
          Q:  What constituted preemptive military action according to the Bush Doctrine?
       Intelligence
          Q:  What is a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE)?
          Q:  What did the 2002, 2004, 2006, Jan. 2007, and Aug. 2007 National Intelligence Estimates (NIE) report?
          Q:  Which classified intelligence information products are routinely shared with Congress and which ones are not?
          Q:  Did Congress have the same intelligence information as the White House prior to the October 2002 congressional vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq?
Issue: Saddam Hussein
          Q:  What was Saddam Hussein's personal and political background?
          Q:  What is the Ba'ath Party?
       Support and Backing
          Q:  To what extent did Saddam Hussein receive aid and support from the United States?
       Human Rights Abuses
          Q:  What human rights abuses did Saddam Hussein and his regime commit?
          Q:  Did the humanitarian crisis in Iraq warrant intervention?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein and his regime pose a threat to the United States and its allies?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein and his regime pose an immediate or imminent threat?
          Q:  Was the phrase "imminent threat" used by the Bush Administration to reference Iraq before the war?
Issue: Weapons in Iraq
          Q:  What is a weapon of mass destruction (WMD)?
          Q:  To what extent did the US supply Iraq with materials used to create weapons of mass destruction?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein try to acquire uranium yellowcake or aluminum tubes for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein develop and maintain mobile labs for the purpose of biological and chemical weapon production?
       Possession of Weapons
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction after the 1st Gulf War?
       Use of Weapons
          Q:  What was known about Saddam Hussein's use of weapons of mass destruction prior to the US invasion in 2003?
Issue: US - Iraq Relations
          Q:  To what extent did Saddam Hussein receive aid and support from the United States?
          Q:  To what extent did the US supply Iraq with materials used to create weapons of mass destruction?
          Q:  To what extent was the US involved with the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)?
          Q:  What was the relationship between Iraq and Kuwait prior to the 1990 invasion?
          Q:  What disputes existed between Iraq and Kuwait prior to the 1990 invasion?
          Q:  Did the US initially attempt to resolve the Iraq-Kuwait conflict peacefully?
          Q:  Which statements concerning Iraq were made during the 2004 US Presidential debates between George W. Bush and John Kerry?
Issue: Iraq's Oil
          Q:  What is the history of oil in Iraq?
          Q:  Which countries obtained oil from Iraq before March 19, 2003?
          Q:  What agreements were made between Saddam Hussein and foreign companies for access to Iraq's oil?
       Political Impact
          Q:  Was control of Iraq's oil a reason for the US to attack Iraq?
          Q:  Was Iraq's decision to change payment for its oil from dollars to euros a reason for the US to attack Iraq?
          Q:  Where did the US obtain its oil prior to the Iraq War?
       Post-War Issues
          Q:  What were the potential prospects for post-war oil exploration in Iraq?
          Q:  What were the initial plans for the distribution of post-war Iraqi oil and its revenues?
Issue: Iraqi Sectarianism
          Q:  What are the different ethnic groups in Iraq?
          Q:  What are the different religious groups in Iraq?
          Q:  Should Iraq have been partitioned into a federal country with separate, semi-autonomous regions?
       Sectarian Violence
          Q:  Were sectarian differences a problem in Iraq before the 2003 US invasion?
          Q:  Should the sectarian violence in Iraq in 2006 and 2007 have been described as a civil war?
Issue: Safety and Security
          Q:  Has the Iraq War made America safer?
          Q:  How has the Iraq War affected the safety and security of Iraqis?
          Q:  What is a US National Security Strategy?
          Q:  What are the 2002 and 2006 US National Security Strategies?
          Q:  What is the role of private security companies in Iraq?
          Q:  How many private security contractors were in Iraq and how much did they cost?
          Q:  What are the pros and cons of private contractors, such as Blackwater and Halliburton, in Iraq?
          Q:  Does the US government provide adequate oversight for private contractors in Iraq?
Issue: Insurgency and Terrorism
       Insurgency
          Q:  What was the insurgency in Iraq?
          Q:  What is the difference between insurgency and terrorism?
       Terrorism
          Q:  What is terrorism?
          Q:  How was the war in Iraq expected to impact global terrorism?
Issue: Prisoners of War
          Q:  What is the difference between an enemy combatant, an unlawful combatant, and a prisoner of war?
          Q:  Should the US apply the Geneva Conventions to prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay?
          Q:  Should the prison at Guantanamo Bay be closed?
          Q:  [Editor's Note: In 2003, the Pentagon stated that the US did not intend on sending Iraqi prisoners of war (POWs) to Guantanamo Bay. ProCon.org research in 2007 found no evidence that POWs from the Iraq War had been sent to Guantanamo Bay. Since people continue to equate the Iraq War with Guantanamo Bay, we decided to include two questions on Guantanamo Bay as an interesting but tangential issue.]
       Abu Ghraib
          Q:  What was the Abu Ghraib prison during the reign of Saddam Hussein?
          Q:  What happened at Abu Ghraib prison after the US military took over the facility in 2003?
       Torture
          Q:  What is the definition of torture?
          Q:  Has the United States condoned the use of torture tactics on prisoners captured in Iraq?
          Q:  Background information on waterboarding (PDF format 2.3 MB)
Issue: Cost of the War
          Q:  Can the cost of war with Iraq (and its aftermath) be estimated?
          Q:  What are the cost estimates of the Iraq War?
          Q:  How much did past wars cost and how do those figures relate to the Iraq conflict as of Sep. 2004?
       Reconstruction Costs
          Q:  How were the reconstruction funds for Iraq initially allocated?
          Q:  Will the revenue from Iraqi oil production pay for reconstruction?
       Casualties
          Q:  What are the difficulties in reporting casualties in the Iraq War?
          Q:  Is the October 2006 Lancet study reporting 654,965 Iraqi deaths reliable?
Issue: The United Nations (UN)
       Background of the UN
          Q:  What is the purpose of the UN?
       Sanctions and Embargo
          Q:  Why did the UN impose sanctions on Iraq, and how long were they to last?
          Q:  Were there nations that did not comply with the UN sanctions on Iraq?
       Oil-For-Food Program
          Q:  Did the Oil-for-Food program benefit the people of Iraq?
       Weapons Inspections
          Q:  What UN weapon inspections occurred in Iraq between 1991 and Mar. 19, 2003?
          Q:  Was the Iraqi government cooperative with the UN weapons inspectors in 2002 and 2003?
          Q:  Did Saddam Hussein's violation of United Nation Security Council resolutions justify Iraq's invasion?
          Q:  Did the UN Security Council Resolution 1441 provide sufficient legal basis for military action against Iraq?
Issue: US Troop Reduction or Withdrawal
          Q:  Did the Bush Administration support the idea of troop reduction or withdrawal?
          Q:  Should the US have set a timetable or deadline for troop withdrawal?
          Q:  Was the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to withdraw US troops from Iraq by 2011 a good agreement?
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