Persons famous in Iraq War

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Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf (Iraq Information Minister)

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf gained a cult following for his bravado and often outrageous proclamations about the status of the war in Iraq and the capabilities of the Iraqi army during his daily news conferences. As coalition troops stormed Baghdad, he declared, "The infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad." He frequently unleashed unabashed invective against President Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair, calling them "an international gang of criminal bastards," "blood-sucking bastards," and "ignorant imperialists, losers and fools." Al-Sahaf disappeared in April.

Kofi Annan (secretary-general of the UN)

Kofi Annan criticized the decision by the U.S. and Britain to attack Iraq without a UN mandate. Once the war was underway, he turned his focus to the plight of the Iraqi citizens and urged member nations to promptly respond to Iraq's pressing humanitarian needs.

Tariq Aziz (deputy prime minister of Iraq)

Tariq Aziz acted as Saddam Hussein's spokesman in the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, repeatedly denying that Iraq possessed—or was developing—weapons of mass destruction. In April, he turned himself over to U.S. officials in Baghdad.

Jose Maria Aznar(prime minister of Spain)

Jose Maria Aznar stood firm as an important ally to the United States in its march toward a war in Iraq. Spanish public opinion was overwhelmingly against its conservative prime minister's stance. Aznar met with President Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair in the Azores in March to try one final time to devise a strategy to persuade the UN Security Council to vote in favor of military action against Iraq. The effort failed, and the three countries withdrew the UN draft resolution seeking authorization for the use of force in Iraq. Days later, the U.S. led an attack on Iraq. Spain, however, did not commit troops to the invasion.

Tony Blair (prime minister of the United Kingdom)

Tony Blair jeopardized his political career by offering the Bush administration unwavering support for military action in Iraq and for its decision to attack without seeking approval from the UN Security Council. Blair paid dearly, however, facing stiff opposition from within his Labor Party and among his constituents. Three members of his cabinet resigned in protest in March. The prime minister boldly attempted to sway public opinion, debating the issue in the House of Commons and in a televised forum with staunch opponents of his policy. Britain has sent 45,000 troops to fight in Iraq.

Hans Blix (chief UN weapons inspector)

Hans Blix delivered several reports to the UN Security Council on his team's search for chemical and biological weapons inside Iraq. In his first report, Blix said, "Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance, not even today, of the disarmament that was demanded of it." In February, he ordered Iraq to destroy its Al Samoud 2 missiles, which he determined had an illegal range limit; Iraq began complying in its typically foot-dragging manner. Once Iraq began to show signs of cooperation, Blix urged the members of the Security Council to give the inspectors more time to complete the task. President Bush was repeatedly angered by Blix's measured, circumspect reports that failed to provide the president with a "smoking gun" that justified an invasion of Iraq.

L. Paul Bremer (former diplomat and counterterrorism official)

L. Paul Bremer took over as the top civilian administrator of Iraq in May, replacing Lt. Gen. Jay Garner. Bremer faces the daunting task of restoring order to an Iraq mired in unrest and lawlessness. He will also oversee the selection of a provisional national assembly.

George W. Bush (U.S. president)

George W. Bush started planning the ouster of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. He feared that Hussein, if left unchecked, could pass on weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. In his 2002 state the of the union speech, in which he called Iraq part of an "axis of evil," Bush vowed that the U.S. "will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." Over the course of the year he introduced the new foreign policy strategy of preemption, maintaining that United States could no longer wait by merely defensively until a potential threat to its security grew into an actual one, but must strike first in such instances: "Our security will require all Americans. Be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives." The UN Security Council unanimously passed resolution 1441 in Nov. 2002, which called for thorough weapons inspections and said Iraq would face "serious consequences" if it violated the resolution. When the first report by chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix did not provide the administration with a "smoking gun" to justify an invasion, Bush announced in his Jan. 2003 state of the union address that the U.S. would act with or without a UN mandate. His unilateralist stance outraged France, Russia, and China—permanent members of the Security Council, as well as Germany. British prime minister Tony Blair emerged as Bush's staunchest ally. In a televised address to the nation on March 17, Bush told Saddam Hussein and his sons that they had 48 hours to leave the country or face an attack. On March 19, the war began.

Ahmed Chalabi (leading Iraqi opposition leader and former banker)

Ahmed Chalabi returned to his native soil in February, after 45 years in exile. Based in Kurdish-held northern Iraq until April, when U.S. troops escorted him to Nasiriya, Chalabi established the Free Iraqi Forces, a group of about 600 fighters. Many contend he's more popular in the United States—specifically among the ranks of the Defense Department—than he is in Iraq. His role in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq has not yet been defined. But he has said he has no political ambitions. "I want to take part in the reconstruction of the civilian society," he said. Chalabi, a leader of the Iraqi National Congress, was convicted of bank fraud in absentia by a Jordanian court in 1992 after the collapse of Petra Bank, which he opened in 1977.

Dick Cheney (U.S. vice president)

Dick Cheney drew on his experience as secretary of defense during the 1991 Persian Gulf War as the Bush administration prepared for war in Iraq. While Cheney remained holed up in an undisclosed location during planning sessions, he remained a key behind-the-scenes player. In a March appearance on Meet the Press, he argued that diplomacy had run its course and that the U.S. should attack Iraq before Saddam Hussein launched his own preemptive strike.

Jacques Chirac (president of France)

Jacques Chirac remained steadfast in his opposition to the U.S.-led attack on Iraq. Throughout the diplomatic process in late 2002 and early 2003, France repeatedly defied the U.S. and Britain by calling for more weapons inspections before resorting to war. Chirac vowed to use France's veto power in the Security Council to block a UN-authorized action. On the eve of war, Chirac proposed that the UN give Iraq one month to disarm. When President Bush rejected the compromise and decided to act without the Security Council, Chirac questioned the legality of the move. "Whether it involves the necessary disarmament of Iraq or the desirable change of the regime in this country, there is no justification for a unilateral decision to resort to force," he said.

Dominique de Villepin (French foreign minister)

Dominique de Villepin emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush's pursuit of war in Iraq. He earned rare applause at a UN Security Council meeting in February, when he urged council members to give weapons inspectors and diplomacy more time before declaring Iraq in material breech of Resolution 1441. He said war should be a last resort and called for beefing up the inspections team. "The use of force would be so fraught with risk for people, for the region, and for international stability that it should only be envisioned as a last resort," he said. De Villepin has been vilified in the U.S.

Mohamed ElBaradei (head of the International Atomic Energy Agency)

Mohamed ElBaradei delivered several reports to the UN Security Council on his team's search for nuclear weapons inside Iraq. ElBaradei reported in February that although Iraq had not cooperated fully, his team had "found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear activities in Iraq." He urged the members of the Security Council to give the inspectors more time to complete the task. President Bush refused, however, and expressed skepticism about the accuracy of ElBaradei's report. In March ElBaradei told the Security Council that documents that said Iraq tried to procure uranium from Niger were forged. The Bush administration had used the evidence to justify preemptive strike against Iraq. "Based on thorough analysis, the IAEA has concluded, with the concurrence of outside experts, that these documents—which form the basis for reports of recent uranium transactions between Iraq and Niger—are in fact not authentic," he said.

Tommy Franks (the commander of allied forces in the Persian Gulf)

Tommy Franks directed the war in Iraq from the high-tech U.S. Central Command (Centcom) near Doha, Qatar. President Bush called on the four-star army general in early 2002 to begin planning the ouster of Saddam Hussein. He worked closely with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld throughout 2002 and during the 2003 offensive, aimed at removing Saddam Hussein from power and destroying Iraq's cache of weapons of mass destruction.

Jay Garner (retired U.S. Army general)

Jay Garner was appointed in January by President Bush to serve as civil administrator in charge of reconstruction and humanitarian aid in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. L. Paul Bremer, a former State Department counterterrorism official, replaced Garner in May, when it became clear that Garner had failed to stem the rise of civil unrest and restore order in Iraq.

John Howard (prime minister of Australia)

John Howard outraged many constituents with his decision to send 2,000 troops to Iraq to participate in a war not sanctioned by the UN.

Kusay Hussein (second son of Saddam Hussein and heir apparent)

Kusay Hussein serves as supervisor of the Republican Guard and the head of the powerful Iraqi Special Security Organization, which oversees domestic security and intelligence. He is considered as ruthless as his father.

Saddam Hussein (president of Iraq)

Saddam Hussein brought war upon his country in March with his arrogant refusal to step down and disarm. He also stirred bitter discord in the UN, a role he clearly relished, when he began to cooperate—marginally—with weapons inspectors in February. France, Germany, China, and Russia said inspections were effective and merited more time before rushing to war, but the U.S. and Britain argued that diplomacy would fail to disarm and dislodge Hussein. The U.S.-led invasion began on March 19, and was declared mostly complete on April 14, after the fall of Tikrit, Hussein's birthplace and the last city to exhibit strong Iraqi resistence. Hussein's whereabouts remain unknown.

Uday Hussein (eldest son of Saddam Hussein)

Uday Hussein has earned a reputation inside Iraq and beyond as a reckless thug. He served a prison sentence in 1988 for murdering one of his father's bodyguards in a rage. Eight years later he was nearly crippled in a 1996 assassination attempt. In the U.S.-led war against Iraq, Uday commanded a group of fedayeen fighters, militia troops that often wear black civilian clothes and fight independently of the military.

Gen. Richard Myers (chairman of the joint chiefs of staff)

Gen. Richard Myers played a key role in the planning of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. As the top military adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Myers serves as a go-between for the field commanders and the leadership in Washington.

Richard Perle (government adviser)

Richard Perle resigned in March as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, an independent, bipartisan committee that counsels the Pentagon, after being widely criticized for a glaring conflict of interest. Perle was hired as a consultant to Global Crossing, a bankrupt telecommunications company that owns fiber optics networks, for advice on how to gain Defense Department and FBI approval for its joint-venture sale to companies in Hong Kong and Singapore. The U.S. government had signalled a reluctance to greenlight the deal, calling it a potential threat to national security. He remained a member of the board, however. Perle served as assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and is among the hawks in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's inner circle who have long argued for a foreign policy of preemption and regime change in Iraq.

Colin Powell (U.S. secretary of state)

Colin Powell was one of the only doves and committed multilateralists in the Bush administration—he successfully lobbied for approval of UN resolution 1441 imposing tough new arms inspections on Iraq and supported seeking a UN Security Council mandate before taking military action in Iraq. But in January 2003, he shifted to a more hawkish, unilateral stance in keeping with the rest of the Bush administration. The shift occurred as France, Germany, China, and Russia refused to coalesce around the U.S.'s plan to abandon weapons inspections in favor of military action. In February, he presented the Security Council with what he said was evidence that Iraq was indeed concealing weapons of mass destruction, and thus in violation of UN resolution 1441. Both France foreign minister Dominique de Villepin and chief weapons inspector Hans Blix challenged his assertions. Powell's attempts to win support from Security Council members in February and March for an invasion of Iraq proved ineffective.

Condoleezza Rice (national security adviser)

Condoleezza Rice maintained her role as one of President Bush's closest and most trusted advisers as the U.S. prepared for a preemptive strike against Iraq. One of the hawks in Bush's inner circle, Rice advocated against giving weapons inspectors additional time before launching a preemptive attack on Iraq.

Donald Rumsfeld (U.S. secretary of defense)

Donald Rumsfeld maintained—and strengthened—his role as one of the Bush administration's most fervent hawks during preparations for war in Iraq. He argued aggressively for a preemptive strike against Iraq intended to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and signaled that the U.S. was prepared to act unilaterally if necessary. The war, dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom, began on March 19. Blunt and outspoken, he repeatedly undermined diplomacy, alienating what he called "old Europe" as well as causing difficulties for the U.S.'s staunchest ally, Tony Blair. Rumsfeld and a group of about 24 close advisers began planning the U.S.-led assault on Iraq in early 2002.

Gerhard Schröder (chancellor of Germany)

Gerhard Schröder was an outspoken foe of an attack on Iraq without the backing of the UN Security Council. He said he considered the weapons inspections to be effective, and favored using diplomacy to disarm Iraq. On the eve of war, Germany, France, and Russia issued a joint declaration urging the U.S. to allow inspections to continue rather than rushing to war. His stance severely strained relations with Washington.

Paul Wolfowitz (deputy defense secretary)

Paul Wolfowitz began making a case for an invasion of Iraq shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the U.S. He said Saddam Hussein should be ousted before he could pass on weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. Known for his sharp intelligence and his hawkish views, Wolfowitz has worked for every U.S. president since 1973, except President Clinton. In 1992, he recommended to the first President Bush that the U.S. launch unilateral, preemptive military strikes against hostile countries seeking to develop or acquire weapons of mass destruction. The proposal was then deemed reckless and overly aggressive, but in the context of the war against terrorism, the strategy of preemption has gained currency in the U.S. In fact, it is exactly the course President George W. Bush has charted with the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.