World History

1. 9/11
• Al Qaeda operatives managed to take control of 4 American
passenger jets and fly two into the World Trade Center in New York,
NY, one into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and one into a field in
Pennsylvania.

2. Al Qaeda
• An international terrorist network which has a serious distaste for
Saudi Arabia and the United States.

3. Osama bin Laden
• Saudi leader of Al Qaeda that was killed in 2011.

4. Taliban
• An Islamic fundamentalist regime that imposed strict Islamic law in
Afghanistan that was removed by U.S. and U.N. forces.

5. Holy Warriors
• Resistors of Communism and Soviet intervention in Afghanistan
during the Civil War in the country.

6. Nur Muhammad Taraki
• Marxist military leader of Afghanistan that tried to install Communism
and Soviet intervention in the country.

7. Jala Talabani
• Elected Kurdish President of Iraq in 2006.

8. Nouri al-Maliki
• Shi'ite Prime Minister of Iraq under President Talabani.

9. Persian Gulf War
• War between Iraq and Kuwait (with U.N. & U.S. forces) when Iraq
invaded Kuwait in an effort to double Iraq's oil reserves. Resulted in
Iraq being drove out, UN monitoring, severe limitations on its military
activities, and economic sanctions.

10. Saddam Hussein
• Dictator of Iraq that caused the Persian Gulf War.

11. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• Tehran's ultra conservative mayor that was President of Iran between
2005-2013.

12. Ayatollah Khamenei
• Successor of Ayatollah Khomeini.

13. Iran-Iraq War
• War between Iran and U.S. backed Iraq that resulted in neither side
gaining much ground until a cease-fire was signed.

14. Ayatollah
• Literally means "Mirror of God". The Shi'ite Caliph.

15. Ayatollah Khomeini
• Leader that sent Iran back into a theocracy after the Iranian
Revolution.

16. President Jimmy Carter
• President of the United States that visited Iran to congratulate it on its
programs of modernization and Westernization.

17. Reza Shan Phalavi
• Shan of Iran who attempted to modernize and Westernize Iran.

18. Hezbollah
• A militant Shi'ite group backed by Syria and Iran, that operates the
Israel border region near Lebanon and Syria.

19. The Middle East
• Comprised of old Ottoman lands.