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In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to try to overthrow president Hafizullah Amin and strengthen the communist regime with a new leader, Babrak Karmal. Their goal was to help Afghanistan's struggling communist government and keep control in the region as well as maintain influence in Central Asia. Osama bin Laden and the Arab Afghans fought the Soviet Union in Afghanistan for over 10 years. The Soviet Union Army left in 1988; however, the US Stinger anti-aircraft gun stayed.
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The Iranian Revolution started in 1979 because people were unhappy with the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The goal of the revolution was to overthrow Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and replace his regime with a new political system. There were 66 hostages and they were all released at different times. The longest hostages had to stay was for 444 days and there was 52 of them. The other 14 hostages were released at earlier times. -
Al-Qaeda began in the 1980s and means “the base” in Arabic. Al-Qaeda is a stateless terrorist organization led and financed by Osama bin Laden, who was from Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda became one of the world’s most notorious terrorist organizations after the attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States. -
Suddam Hussein invaded Iran under the control of Ayatollah Khomeini, causing a war to break out between Iraq and Iran. Suddam Hussein invaded Iran because he wanted to try and gain total access to and control the Shatt al-Arab river. This would give them a very large amount of oil, and it would weaken the Iranian military. Over 500,000 soldiers and 100,000 citizens of Iran and Iraq were killed after the war ended in a UN ceasefire.
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In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, which was one of the factors that led to the Persian Gulf War. Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing billions of dollars of oil by slant drilling under the border, causing Iraq to invade Kuwait. Immediately, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq and demanded its withdrawal from Kuwait. The Persian Gulf War included the main operation, such as Operation Desert Shield, which led to Operation Desert Storm.
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On December 4, 1992, President George W. Bush sent 28,000 American troops to Somalia. The troops were sent to address a severe humanitarian crisis caused by civil war. There was a severe famine and people were starving, making the situation very chaotic. The goal of sending troops was to create a safe environment for delivering food and aid to those in need. -
In 1993, a group of terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the underground parking garage of the North Tower. The bomb was made of around 1,200 pounds of explosives and was intended to cause the North Tower to collapse into the South Tower. The bombing killed six people and injured over a thousand. Ramzi Yousef was the mastermind behind the bombing and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States. -
In 1993, Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over Mogadishu, Somalia, causing the deaths of 18 Americans. This was part of a U.S. mission to capture Mohamed Farah Aidid, who was responsible for violence and famine in Somalia. The helicopters were shot down by Somali militia forces using rocket-propelled grenades. After Black Hawk Down, the U.S. military presence in Somalia was reduced. -
In May of 1996, Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed started planning the attacks of September 11, 2001. Their goal was to target symbols of American power, specifically the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. -
In June of 1996, a truck filled with explosives was detonated outside a housing complex in Saudi Arabia. The attack killed 19 U.S. servicemen and injured hundreds of others. -
In 1998, two American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed simultaneously, killing 220 people. The bombings were orchestrated by al-Qaeda and led by Osama bin Laden. The attacks were motivated by opposition to U.S. foreign policies in the Middle East and support for Israel. In retaliation, the U.S. launched missile strikes on al-Qaeda training camps in Sudan and Afghanistan under Bill Clinton. -
The Foiled Millennium Attacks refers to a series of planned terrorist attacks that were aimed at various targets throughout the world. First, Jordanian police halted four suicide bombings of civilian targets. On top of this, four al-Qaeda terrorists were arrested while crossing the Canadian border with nitroglycerin in their trunk. Allegedly, the group was set to bomb Los Angeles Airport. Finally, in Yemen, a boat with explosives tried to bomb a navy ship but failed due to being overloaded. -
In October of 2000, al-Qaeda operatives sent a suicide bomber aboard a small speedboat in Yemen. The speedboat went into the USS Cole, a US Navy destroyer, causing the bomb to leave a large hole in the USS Cole. This attack killed 17 sailors. -
September 11, 2001, included three different terrorist attacks in the northeast of the United States. Two different planes went into the North and South World Trade Centers in NYC. Flight 93 crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA, and another flight went into the side of the Pentagon building in Washington, DC. The attacks killed 2,819 people and 343 firefighters and paramedics were killed. Khalid Sheik Muhammad was the central planner of 9/11, and most of the terrorists were from Saudi Arabia. -
On September 14, 2001, President George W. Bush declared "War on Terror," and it began in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. The goal was to combat terrorism, specifically al-Qaeda. The U.S. sent airstrikes at Taliban and al-Qaeda training camps, which led to more conflict in Iraq.
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The United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, and Great Britain all launched Operation Iraqi Freedom at the beginning of the war. Soon after, Saddam Hussein was captured and sentenced to death. Later on, the United States completely pulled out of Iraq, killing thousands of people.
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In 2006, Suddam Hussein was killed due to his brutality towards his country and crimes towards humanity. He was hung on live television, allowing everyone to visually see his death and know he died. -
The Arab Spring was a series of protests and uprisings that took place in North Africa and the Middle Wast. People were frustrated with issues like government corruption, lack of freedom, high unemployment, and poor living conditions, which caused them to protest.
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Yemen was the poorest country in the Middle East, making it the worst humanitarian crisis. Bombs and airstrikes were constantly occurring, which damaged everything. President Ali Abdullah Saleh's base of protection became damaged, leaving him injured by a bomb strike. Due to this, he left, and when he came back, he passed everything along to the Vice President because he couldn't handle seeing Yemen like this. This led to the Yemen Civil War because things kept getting worse and worse. -
Syrian people were inspired by the Arab Spring, so they protested through the streets while promoting the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. The environment in Syria started to become worse, and the government began rebelling using chemical weapons and more. Thousands of people have been killed, and many refugee camps have been set up along the border of Turkey. -
On May 2, 2001, Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces, specifically U.S. Navy Seals. Bin Laden was found in a walled compound hidden in plain sight in Pakistan. -
In 2014, the Houthis invaded and took over the government in Yemen, which caused people to rebel. The rebellion between different groups such as the Houthis, the Sunnis, and the Shitte caused a civil war. The war is currently still going on, and we don't have an idea when it is going to end. -
As of 2015, women in Saudi Arabia were given voting rights and are allowed to participate in elections. The Persian Gulf War allowed many rules to change, giving women in Saudi Arabia new opportunities. -
As of 2018, women in Saudi Arabia are allowed to drive by themselves. The ban had been lifted after new rules were put in place. -
On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi was going to the Saudi consulate to get divorce papers. There is footage of him entering the building; however, there is no evidence of him leaving it. Footage of people carrying large black bags has been found; however, no one knows what was in those black bags. It has been suspected that he was possibly taken against his will or maybe even killed, but no one knows what truly happened. -
In 2021, President Joe Biden pulled U.S. Troops from Afghanistan to end America's longest war. Prior to this, President Donald Trump and his administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban to reduce violence in the Afghan government.