The Watergate Scandal
The Watergate Scandal was a series of political scandals that took place in the 1970's. These scandals happened at The Democratic National Headquarters. The Democratic National Headquarters are located in Washinton D.C at the Watergate Hotel. These scandals all started on June 17, 1972 when five men went into the Watergate Hotel and broke in to The Democratic National Headquarters. Once the men were in the Headquarters office they began to intercept calls. The men were in a group call the "Plumbers". They were former FBI agents, CIA agents, and among all stongly against the Republican Party.
The five men were all arrested once a security guard had found all the latches of the doors taped shut. Shortly after removing the tape he noticed it was on there once again. The security guard then call police and this is when the men were arrested. Richard Nixon's Attorny General, John Mitchell, denied that he knew nothing nor the the people involved in the Watergate break-in. On September 15 1972 the grand jury charged the original five men plus two others for conspiracy, burglary, and violation of federal wiretapping laws. After much investigation the men were all found to have ties to the 1972 Re-election committee.
Later it was found out that secret video camras in the White house had cought everything on tape. The videos showed everything including a conversation bewteen Richard Nixon and his counsel, John Dean. In this video Nixon and Dean talk about the burlery and then about the cover up.
In July of 1974 the House of Represenitives decided to impeach president Nixon. On August 8, 1974 Richard Nixon had no choice but to resign from beging the United States President. This was the first and only time a president has ever resigned from office. Many people know the Watergate Scandal as the fall of the United States president Richard Nixon.
Personally I am glad that they cought the burglers and tied them back to Nixons re-election campaign. It was only fair to impeach him since he didnt run a fair campaign. This conspiracy really does set a bad impression on the United States. It shows other countries what kind of people we have running our great country.
photo of the Watergate Hotel today.
Sources
http://www.essortment.com/all/watergatescand_reji.htm
Persian Gulf War(1990-91)
The Persian Gulf War ,also known as the first Persian Gulf War, was a war between Iraq and an alliance of 32 countries. The whole war began over the fight of oil. The war was a direct result of Iraq invading Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Iraq then annexed Kuwait. Saddam Hussein, Iraqi President, declared that they invaded Kuwait because they were producing too much oil. Iraq was concered about Kuwait's production of oil because when oil prices fall, Iraq looses a lot of money due to Kuwait. Saddam was also angry at Kuwait for allegidly pumping oil from Iraq's oil fields. The United Nations Security Council demanded that Iraq retreat from Kuwait.
The United Nations set a deadline, January 5, 1991, for Iraq to withdrawl from Kuwait. When Hussein failed to comply with demands from the United Nations they began to drive Iraq out. On Jan 18, 1991 the UN launched Opperation Desert Storm (Gulf War). Desert Storm was lead by U.S General Norman Schwarzkopf.
Air way strikes were the most effective against Iraqs military force. On Febuary 28, 1991 United States President George Bush declared a cease-fire. This was decleared because at this time most of the Iraq forces had either surrendered or fed out of Kuwait. This was only after the first 100 hours of fighting.
I think that Iraq definitly had a reason to be upset with Kuwait. Obviously if they are overproducing oil it is going to affect Iraqs income and there economy. I dont think they did the right thing invading Kuwait so quick though. I think they should have attempted to make peace with them before invading Kuwait.
Photo of fighting during the Pursian Gulf War
Sources
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/7-21-13/image3889.jpg
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0838511.html
9-11 and the War on Terror- invasion of Afghanistan
When an American hears the date 9-11 it often reminds them of the terrible and tragic event that happened on that day. September 11, 2001 in the day when four United States planes were stolen by Islamic terrorists. Two of the four planes were crashed into the Twin Towers located in the heart of New York City. Within two hours of the crash both of the buildings were destroyed along with many buildings close by. The fourth plane was crashed in a feild in Pennsylvania when the flight crew lost control of the plane.
None of the hijackers on the planes survived. The death toll of this event is 2,995. This number is including all the piolots and terrorists that died while on the planes.
On October 7, 2001 the United States invaded Afghanistan and is still currently fighting there. The purpose of this invasion was to attack Al Qaeda and get rid of it's Taliban. The objectives of the United States is to find Osama Bin Laden and other high ranking Al-Qaeda members and put them on trial. The U.S also wants to destroy the whole Al-Qaeda organization and to remove the Taliban. The Untied States is not alone in this war on terror. NATO, our alliance, has provided the core of the military forces for the U.S.
I dont see how these terrorists could of hijacked not only one but four airplanes and crashed them into the Twin Towers. Obviously we dont have very good control of the air. I have mixed feeling over the war on terror. I feel sorry for the lives that were lost on 9-11 and support the troops fighting to gain justice. But on the other hand I dont see why we keep troops over in Afghanistan if we are not making much progress and a number of troops continue to get killed each and every day.
This is a photo of the second air strike about to hit the other tower.
Sources
http://iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/911rtrs_468x683.jpg
http://us-foreign-affairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-us-war-on-terror
Invasion of Iraq-2003
The United States invasion of Iraq started on March 20, 2003 and went to May 1, 2003. The invasion was also refered to as Operation Iraqi Freedom. This invasion was led by the United States along with Poland, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The purpose of this invasion was to remove Hussein, gain information on militants and to eliminate them, and to search for and destroy WMD's. We also wanted to free the Iraqi people and take control of the oil feilds. A report in 2005 was released saying that no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq's posetion yet.
As the fighting started the United States began to dominate. Baghdad fell on April 9th thus ending the rule of Saddam Hussein. The United States forces began to take down Hussein statues that were erected through out Baghdad. On May 1 United State president George Bush gave a speech entitled "Mission Accomplished". Although he gave this speech Saddam Hussein was still at large in the country. The United Nations set up a Democratic Government for the Iraqi people. Finally on December 13 Saddam Hussein was captured.
I dont think that the Invasion of Iraq was a good thing. I beleive we are tring to find weapons of mass destruction which they do not have. We have been in Iraq now for seven years and have not found any weapons of mass destruction. I simply believe that they do not have any or if they do we will never find them.
Picture of the Invasion of Iraq in 2003
Sources
http://kingsol.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/iraq.jpg
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/2003-invasion-of-iraq/
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