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the three-day operation, missiles were fired at strategic Iraqi mili-
tary targets and suspected weapons sites. However, U.N. inspectors
were not permitted to return to Iraq after this attack.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks
against the United States, the U.S. government revised its policy
toward Iraq, replacing “containment” with “regime change.”
President George W. Bush, who had taken office in January
2001, and key members of his administration argued that the
United Nations would become “irrelevant” if it did not respond to
Saddam Hussein’s flouting of its many resolutions regarding dis-
armament.
In November 2002, the United Nations Security Council voted
unanimously to adopt Resolution 1441. The resolution gave Iraq “a
I
RAQ AT
W
AR AND
R
EBUILDING
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President George W. Bush (left) and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, two of the archi-
tects of the war to topple Saddam Hussein, hoped that the establishment of a democratic
Iraq would lead to wide-ranging reforms among the Arab regimes of the Middle East.