United+States+Go+to+War

**The war on terrorism was starting to wind down in Afghanistan. President Bush continued to fight in other regions of the world where terrorism was a threat. Eventually, all the focus was on Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s regime. The Bush administration went for support in Congress and allies for the attack. On March 17, Bush announced that if Saddam didn’t leave Iraq in the next 48 hours, the United States will be prepared to attack. War with Iraq ** The demand for Saddam to leave Iraq didn’t go as planned. President Bush kept to his word with a strike on a Baghdad building where the Iraqi leaders were suspected to meet. Bombs and missiles hit Iraqi defenses, giving the way for troops to move in. Coalition soldiers had advanced into central Baghdad with a few resistances from the Iraqi army. The U.S and coalition forces couldn’t control Saddam loyalists and suicide bombers. After a month of combat, there were 170 coalition soldiers dead and more than 500 wounded. On May 1, Bush declared that Saddam’s supporters continued to attack coalition troops. A couple months later in December, coalition soldiers captured Saddam. Many Americans hoped that this would put an end to the violence. American officials worked to restore Iraq’s basic services. Unfortunately, in 2005 Iran’s leaders announced plans to continue building its nuclear weapons. The outlook of Iran one day possessing nuclear weapons troubled many people in the United States.
 * Focus on Iraq