During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the twenty-two-member Arab League supported the war to liberate Kuwait, and after September 11, 2001, it also approved of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. Yet except for the countries where the United States had military bases — Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia — no Arab country supported the American invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Arab hostility toward the United States also reflected the deterioration of Israeli-Palestinian relations after 1999, as Arabs charged that the United States allowed Israel to deny Palestinians land and liberty.

READING THE MAP In what countries are the sources of oil located? In what countries does the United States have military bases?

CONNECTIONS What conditions prompted the U.S. military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan in 1991, 2001, and 2003? What were the U.S. goals in each of these interventions? To what extent were those goals realized?