George W. Bush and the War on Terror

Insurgents

A rebel group.

Who won the popular vote in 2000?

Al Gore with Joseph Lieberman as his running mate.

How did George Bush win the presidency, but lose the popular vote?

Because of the electoral college, Bush won state electoral votes that he needed to become president, but the polls showed that the majority of the country voted for Gore.

Why did the United States go to war with Iraq in 2003?

Because president Bush thought that Iraq, which was controlled by Saddam Hussein, had or was close to acquiring WMDs, so he wanted to try and stop them and take Hussein out of power.

What domestic reforms was George W. Bush focused on?

Cutting taxes, improving public education, reforming Social Security and Medicare, and strengthening the nation's defenses.

Who were the republican and democratic presidential nominees for the 2000 election?

George W. Bush (running for president) and Richard "Dick" Cheney (running with Bush as vice president) were running for the republicans, and Al Gore (running for president) and Joseph Lieberman (running for vice president) were running for the democrats.

Who won the 2000 election?

George W. Bush with Richard Cheney as his running mate.

What was George W. Bush's policy on education?

He called for public schools to hold yearly tests to measure student performance. It was eventually passed in congress and held yearly tests for grades 3 through 8. This policy was called the No Child Left Behind Act.

Richard "Dick" Cheney

He was a Republican and was president Bush's vice president and won the 2000 election with him.

Osama Bin Laden

He was a fundamentalist, Saudi Arabian man who led and formed the terrorist organization called al-Qaeda. He was the one who ordered the attacks on 9/11 as well as many other attacks around the world.

Al Gore

He was the Democratic nominee for the 2000 election and his running mate was Joseph Lieberman.

George W. Bush

He was the Republican president from 2000-2008, and won the 2000 election.

Counterterrorism

Military or political activities intended to combat terrorism

Were WMDs ever found?

No

Who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks?

Osama Bin Laden and his organization called Al-Qaeda.

Condoleezza Rice

She was the first woman in history to hold the job of national security adviser, which she did during the Bush presidency.

How are the 9/11 attacks and our support of Israel connected?

The Muslims fundamentalists and the Christians in Israel have been enemies for thousands of years, so when the U.S. supported and became allies with Israel, this caused many Muslim fundamentalists to think of the U.S. as an enemy.

How did the United States respond to the 9/11 attacks?

The U.S. blocked the use of funds by individuals and groups suspeced of supporting terrorism, created the Department of Homeland Security, and made into law the USA Patriot Act (of 2001). The U.S. also sent the military out of the country to fight terrorists in Afghanistan and other countries.

Fundamentalist

The general definition for a fundamentalist is a person who believes in the literal meaning of religious texts and follows strict obedience to religious laws. As in the War On Terror, a Muslim fundamentalist is someone who calls for a return to traditional Muslim ways. Osama Bin Laden was a fundamentalist.

WMD

This is a Weapon of Mass Destruction. Some examples are nuclear bombs, chemical weapons, and biological weapons.

Terrorist

This is a person who uses violence against civilians to reacha political goal.

al-Qaeda

This is a terrorist organization formed and led by Osama Bin Laden.

Popular Vote

This is how many people voted for a certain person in an election.

Terrorism

This is the use of violence against civilians to reach a political goal.

Electoral College

This is the way of voting where each state is worth a certain number of points depending on the population of that state. This is used to add up the score of each candidate which determines if they win the election or not.

Taliban

This was a Muslim fundamentalist group like al-Qaeda that took power in Afghanistan. This organization helped and harbored Osama Bin Laden when he was hiding.

Why did the United States go to war with Afghanistan?

To find, capture, and possibly kill terrorists, but mainly to find Osama Bin Laden.

How are the 9/11 attacks and Operation Desert Storm connected?

When Osama Bin Laden asked to have his Al-Qaeda army help to fight in the Persian Gulf War, he was turned down because the U.S. was going to to help instead. This made him very angry and was one of the reasons he attacked on 9/11. The second reason he was angered by Operation Desert Storm was when the U.S. troops came to help fight the war and went on the Muslim "holy land". He felt that this undermined traditional Islamic values for the U.S. to be there. Also, he was angry because of America's support of the Christian Israel.