AP Government and Politics
Mr. Smith
Questions: Bush’s War
Answer the following questions based on the documentary, Bush’s War.
 Your answers must be typed, double-spaced and show actual thought and reflection on your
part.
 Provide as much specific detail from the documentary as possible. Some of these you will only
be able to answer after watching the entire documentary.
To assist you, I have listed the names and positions of the most important players in the story.
President: George Bush
Vice President: Dick Cheney
Secretary of State: Colin Powell
Deputy Secretary of State: Richard Armitrage
Secretary of Defense: Donald Rumsfeld
Deputy Secretary of Defense: Paul Wolfowitz
DOD Policy Committee Head: Richard Perle
National Security Advisor: Condoleezza Rice
Director of the CIA: George Tenet
Attorney General: Alberto Gonzalez
1.
Explain who in the Bush Administration believed that there was link between the 9/11 attacks
and Iraq. Why were they pushing for retaliation against Iraq for those attacks?
2. Explain the conflict between the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and Vice President
Cheney/Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld over how the US should respond to the 9/11 attacks.
3. Explain what Vice President Cheney meant when he said the US would have to go the “dark
side”? What authority did he want the Bush Administration to have to deal with the terrorist
threat?
4. Explain the conflict between the CIA and the Department of Defense at the beginning of the war
in Afghanistan.
5. Explain the problems faced by the US in deciding what to do with terrorists captured in
Afghanistan.
6. Explain the Bush Administration’s justification for invading Iraq. What information was used to
reach this conclusion? Was it accurate information?
7. Explain why holding terrorists in Cuba (GTMO-Camp X-Ray) was a source of controversy.
8. Explain the conflict between the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and Vice President
Cheney/Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld the decision to invade Iraq. How did this power struggle
influence the decisions made in Iraq?
9. Explain why interrogation techniques authorized by President Bush in Camp X-Ray were a
source of controversy.
10. Explain how Secretary Rumsfeld the Army disagreed of the troop levels necessary to invade and
secure Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Final Questions:
In no less than 300 words, evaluate the Bush Administration’s response to 9/11 based on what you know.
In other words, what would you have done similarly or differently if you had been president at the time.