1. U.S. presence and interest in
Southwest Asia
Persian Gulf conflict
Invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq

2. U.S. and the Middle East
• The U.S. has had a significant political and
economic interests in the Middle East
since the 1800’s.
• Huge supplies of oil are found in the
Middle East area; oil that is very important
to the United States and its energy
supplies.

3. U.S. & Oil in the Middle East

4. Persian Gulf War
Operation Desert Storm
• August 1990, Iraq invades Kuwait to control Kuwait’s
large supplies of oil.
• Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, claims that Kuwait was
taking more than their share of oil from shared fields and
Hussein also claims that Kuwait should have been part
of Iraq when the Ottoman Empire was broken apart.
• Since Kuwait was apart of the United Nations, the UN
decided to come to the aid of Kuwait with military force
and drive out Hussein and Iraqi forces.
• The United States joined the cause because the US gets
large amounts of imported oil from Kuwait.
• 39 other nations joined the effort against Iraq, and within
3 months, Feb. 1991, a truce was made and Iraq
withdrew from Kuwait.

5. War on Terror: Afghanistan
• In 2001, after the destruction of 9/11, the U.S. launched
a military operation aimed at the capturing the people
responsible for the terrorists attacks.
• U.S. intelligence sources believed that Al-Qaeda, or the
Force, was the group that planned and carried out the
9/11 attacks.
• Al-Qaeda was led by Osama Bin Laden, who was
believed to have financed and planned the attacks on
9/11.
• U.S. sources believed that the Taliban, radical Muslim
government of Afghanistan, allowed Al-Qaeda to live,
hide, and train in the mountains of Afghanistan.
• October 2001, the U.S. launched attacks on mountain
hideouts in Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama
Bin Laden and destroy Al-Qaeda.
• With U.S. military assistance the Taliban government in
Afghanistan collapsed and U.S. troops are still there
fighting today to secure the country and allow for
reorganization of the Afghan government.

6. Invasion of Iraq
Operation Iraqi Freedom
• 2003- U.S. invaded Iraq after claiming Saddam
Hussein and the Iraqi government was
developing nuclear weapons and helping
terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda
• Saddam Hussein’s government collapsed
quickly because his own people felt he was a
cruel leader.
• U.S. troops are still in Iraq today trying to control
the fighting between different ethnic and
religious groups who are competing for power in
Iraq as a new government is being installed.

7. Pop Quiz
1. What is the United States’ main
economic interest in Southwest Asia?
a. Oil
b. Tourism
c. Trade routes
d. Selling American-made products

8. 2. Why did the United Nations try to stop
Iraq from taking over Kuwait in 1990?
a. The United Nations wanted to destroy
the country of Iraq
b. The only job of the United Nations is
military action around the world
c. The economies of many countries
depend on oil and Iraq’s actions
threatened that supply
d. The United Nations has to intervene
whenever any member nation has a
conflict with another country.

9. 3. Who are the “Taliban”?
a. The government of Iraq
b. The government of Kuwait
c. A group of radical Muslims
d. A part of the United Nations

10. 4. Why did the United States bomb and invade
Afghanistan in 2001?
a. Afghanistan invaded the country of Kuwait and
threatened the United States supply of oil
b. The United Nations asked the United States to
overthrow the Taliban government of
Afghanistan.
c. The United States was afraid that Afghanistan
was working to develop nuclear weapons and
they wanted to put a stop to the program.
d. They believed the government was offering
safety to al-Qaeda, the organization that
attacked the United States on September 11,
2001

11. 5. Why did the United States go to war
against Iraq in 2003?
a. Iraq was threatening Afghanistan with
nuclear weapons
b. The United Nations believed Iraq was
about to invade Kuwait a second time.
c. Iraqi troops launched an attack on Saudi
Arabia, a close ally of the United States
d. The United States government saw the
Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, as a
threat to peace and United States
interest in the region.