Patrick Dubreuil
Thesis Paper SynopsisSchools
Question: Are the American’s to blame for their problems in the Middle East?
Were short-term goals during the Cold War beneficial for the long run?
Thesis: America’s Cold War diplomacy has caused their current problems in the Middle
East because of their support of Saddam Hussein, their own foreign policy and the
Afghan Soviet War.
Argument 1
The American’s supported the Afghani Mujahideen in the Afghan-Soviet war and
pumped large sums of money in to the Afghan resistance but after the war they did
nothing to reconstruct the country. This allowed for the Taliban to take control of
Afghanistan.
 The war started in 1979 and by 1983 the U.S. aid to the Mujahideen had risen from
$75 million to $102 million in 1984, $280 million in 1985, and 470 million in 1986.1
 The CIA supplied 500 Stingers to the Mujahideen guerrillas fighting the Soviet force
in the 1980’s.2
 America took an apathy and ambivalence approach to Afghanistan during the 15
years after helping them.3
 The Soviet pullout decreased the strategic value of Afghanistan, causing the
Administration and Congress to reduce covert funding.4
 America found out that they funded the largest jihad and trained several hundred
thousand fundamentalist warriors that had turned on the States.5
Argument 2
President Bush’s current foreign policy regarding the Middle East has large
similarities to Americas Cold War foreign policies towards the Soviets. With this policy
Bush has the power to portray countries as evils that need to be removed.
 Eisenhower singled out the Soviet threat in his doctrine by authorizing the
commitment of U.S. forces “to secure and protect the territorial integrity and
political independence of such nations, requesting such aid against overt armed
aggression from any nation controlled by international communism.” 6
 “November, 1983. A National Security Directive states that the U.S would do
‘whatever was necessary and legal’ to prevent Iraq from losing its war with
Iran.”7
1
James A. Phillips. Updating U.S. Strategy for Helping Afghan Freedom Fighters. 22 Dec. 1986. 25 Mar. 2008
http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/bg552.cfm>.
2
Kristen Lundberg. Politics of a Covert Action: The U.S., the Mujahideen, and the Stinger Missile. : John F. Kennedy School of
Government Case Program, 1999.
3
Ibid.
4
Katzman, Kenneth. Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy. 28 Jan. 2008. 4 Apr. 2008
<http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL30588.pdf>.
5
George Crile. Charlie Wilsons's War. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003. 508.
6
US Department of State. The Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957. 4 Apr. 2008 <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/lw/82548.htm>.
7
King, John. Arming Iraq: A Chronology of U.S. Involvement. Mar. 2003. 25 Mar. 2008
<http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/arming_iraq.php>.
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Patrick Dubreuil


The Bush doctrine treats countries that harbor terrorist as terrorists themselves
and this allows America to use preemptive attacks.8
“If the United Nation Security Council won’t deal with the problem [in Iraq], the
United States and some of our friends will.”9 -Bush
Argument 3
Saddam Hussein was used by the US to remove the anti west regime, that took
over the Iraqi monarchy, and was meant to increase US influence in the Middle East but
that failed. This lack of action allowed Saddam to have power to rule the Iraqi people
ruthlessly until the 2003 invasion.
 The Reagan administration allowed other countries to give Iraq American made
weapons Howitzers, Huey helicopters, and bombs. 10
 The Arms Export Control Act prohibited countries from "contribute[ing] to an
arms race, aid in the development of weapons of mass destruction, support
international terrorism, increase the possibility of outbreak or escalation of
conflict."11
 In 1988, after an Iraqi poison gas attack that killed some 5,000 Kurds at Halabja
in northern Iraq, U.S. aid to Iraq increased.12
 United Nations UNSC passed Resolution 660, which condemned the actions of
Iraq and demanded an immediate withdrawal of its troops was place soon after
(the invasion of Kuwait).13
 “the entire world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of defiance, deception
and bad faith”14 -Bush
 “We're hunting down the terrorists… We're advancing freedom in the broader
Middle East. We are removing a source of violence and instability,”15 -Bush
8
George W. Bush. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. 17 Sep. 2002. 4 May
2008 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss3.html>.
9
George W. Bush. President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat. 7 Oct. 2002. 6 May 2008
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html>.
10
John King. Arming Iraq: A Chronology of U.S. Involvement. Mar. 2003. 25 Mar. 2008
<http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/arming_iraq.php>.
11
Cornell University Law School. U.S. Code: Title 22,2778 Control of Arms Exports and Imports. 2008.
06 May 2008 <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/22/2778.html>.
12
Larry Everest. Fueling the Iran-Iraq Slaughter. 5 Sep. 2002. 19 Apr. 2008
<http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=40&ItemID=2292>.
13
United Nations Security Council. Resolution 660 (1990). 2 Aug. 1990.
14
Ibid.
15
Bush, George W. National Strategy for Victory in Iraq. 30 Nov. 2005. 10 May 2008
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/iraq_strategy_nov2005.html>.
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