The United States of America

The United States of America is the world's leading democracy. It promotes, encourages, and endorses democracy. Hence, it's a federal republic, divided into three main branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. Its legislative system comprises of a bicameral Congress which consists of the Senate (100 seats) and the House of Representatives (435 seats). As for the power of the Congress, it is very high. Whenever there is war to be declared or deployment of troops, the President must have the Congress's support. If the Congress votes on its failure, it fails. However, usually the dominating party in the Congress is that of the President, so there aren't many cases where the Congress opposes the President. There are currently two dominating parties, the Republican and the Democratic, with the Green party aside with little influence. There hasn't been a very strong domination of either of the two strong parties: the Republican and the Democratic. Both have had ups and downs during their ruling period, and both introduced new and effective systems.

Regarding the last 13 years, the Republican Party was in office when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Then came 8 years of Democratic rule where Palestinians and Israelis reached a peace agreement, and the economy flourished. Speaking about the economy, the Democrats are more in favor of greater influence of the government, while the Republicans are more to the free market, although both are relatively close to each other. However, this doesn't mean that the economy flourished because of the Democratic policies, rather it is because of the natural, business cycle of the economy, where there are ups and downs.

As for its executive branch, the current president (and head of government) of the U.S.A. is George W. Bush with Dick Cheney as his vice. They are elected though a system of college of representatives who are elected directly from each state. They serve for a four-year term. The Cabinet is appointed by the president but needs Senate approval, with a newly created ministry, after the 11th of September attacks, named Homeland Security to deal with national security.

As for the judicial system, it consists of the Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for life by the president with confirmation by the Senate), United States Courts of Appeal, United States District Courts, and State and County Courts. The U.S.A.'s constitution is based on the English common law. The original draft was in 1787, then the Bill of Rights was added in 1791, and from then there has been several amendments.

The United States is one of the largest countries in the world. It lies in North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, and is between Canada and Mexico, with a total area of 9,629,091 sq. km that includes 50 states. It’s the world's third largest country in size and population. Its climate is mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Its terrain includes a vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east, rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska, and rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii. Hence, it has a lot of natural hazards such as volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin, hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, tornadoes in the midwest and southeast, mud slides in California, forest fires in the west, and floods.

Luckily, the US is remarkably rich in natural resources as its climate encourages an assorted collection of crops and forest products. The Corn Belt is the largest area of prime farmland in the world. Substantial mineral deposits are present within the country’s borders including more than a fifth of the world’s coal. In addition, the US also is home to these natural possessions: copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas and timber. Regardless of its wealth, the US cannot produce all the resources needed by it vast industrial economy. The US imports more than 80% of its bauxite, magnesium, platinum, tin and tungsten. Fortunately, agricultural exports have helped balance the US with its mineral imports.

Some notable agricultural products are: wheat, other grains, corn, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; forest products; fish. The US exports agricultural and food products worldwide and is known to be a major exporter of food products. As a result, the US does not import much food and is self-sufficient in that matter.

As far as petroleum manufacturing goes, the US is listed third in the world; but because there is such a great demand of petroleum, the US has to import a great deal of oil from other countries other than what is being nationally produced.

The US’s export partners include: Canada, Mexico, Japan, the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Export cargo includes capital goods, automobiles, industrial supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural products. Import partners are yet again Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany, the UK, China and Taiwan. The US mostly imports from these countries: crude oil and refined petroleum products, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, food and beverages.

The United States of America, land of the free, the wild, the willing and the courageous; the place that merges all people together no matter how diverse their cultures or backgrounds. The US has pride in its ethic and racial diversity as it rules over them equally making sure that every single person’s voice is being heard. The US is home to blacks whites, Asians, Amerindian and Alaskan natives, native Hawaiians, Pacific islanders, Hispanics, Arabs, Europeans, Latin Americans… You name it! These people are the ones who built the US foundation. Their sweat and blood rained down on the land to build what we call today America. They are the ones who turned us around 360 degrees and added new cultural dimensions to the American way of life. According to the estimate posted in the World Factbook, 77.1% of the US population is white, 12.9% is black, 4.2 is Asian, 1.5% is Amerindian and Alaskan native, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders are 0.3%. Approximately 56% of the US population is Protestant, 28% is Roman Catholic, 2% is Jewish, 10% have no religion whatsoever, while the rest compose of other religions.

In the past, blacks were forced to undergo brutal abuse, and conflicts between blacks and whites were abundant. Thankfully, that issue has settled down, but now we come to yet another struggle concerning Arabs and Muslims. After the attacks of September 11th, the Arabic/Asian race have had to suffer from constant aggressive abuse and numerous conflicts between this race and the Americans have been reported. This issue is not as severe right now as it was on the wake of the 9/11 attacks, nevertheless, disturbances still exist. In conclusion, the US is a country that is tightly woven together with its rainbow of cultures and religions and is proud to have them united representing one true nation.

Defense:

The president is the commander in chief of the US armed forces. The orders by which he commands these forces are passed through the office of the secretary of defense to the numerous military orders. The Joint Chiefs of Staff counsel the president and Congress on military strategies, expenditure levels, weapons and systems. The basic structure of the American Military divides up into the following branches: the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy (includes Marine Corps), Department of the Air Force and the Coast Guard (the Coast Guard is normally subordinate to the Department of Transportation, but in wartime reports to the Department of the Navy).

As most of us know, the US is a great country that prides in its independence and so it does not rely on other nations at all when it comes to defense. Major security agreements to which the US is a party include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and ANZUS, which bonds Australia with the US. As far as military expenditures go, the US’s is $276.7 billion. Military age is males 18 years of age and military manpower availability is (males ages 15-49) 73,597,731 (2002 est.).

When trying to estimate the power of the US military, figures and numbers are useless; the US has control over the mightiest and most powerful military in the world. It has control over the best missiles, bombs, aircraft and nuclear weapons in the industry. If anything, nobody would want to stand in the way of the US military. The US has the ability to launch ballistic missiles and bombs to almost anywhere in the world via aircraft, battleships and satellites. The US has a highly advanced technological system and has the ability to detect bombs and missiles via satellites within seconds therefore saving valuable time needed to persist its defensive strategies. Some of the US’s defensive strategies/systems include the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), popularly known as "Star Wars", which is a military research program for developing an antiballistic missile defense system.

The US military consists of 1.37 million active duty forces (as of April 2001), 1.28 million ready and stand-by reserves (as of September 2000), and 669,000 civilian employees (as of April 2001). Roughly speaking each carrier is 250 planes. For every, say 5-6, they can fight a major war (Iraq used 6). In contrast the UK has 2 or 3, France has 1. This profoundly effects America's ability to "project power."

The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $36,300. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US business firms enjoy considerably greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, lay off surplus workers, and develop new products. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, military equipment, although their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II.

The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.

The years 1994-2000 witnessed solid increases in real output, low inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment to below 5%. The year 2001 witnessed the end of the boom psychology and performance, with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business failures rising substantially. The response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 showed the remarkable resilience of the economy. Moderate recovery is expected in 2002, with the GDP growth rate rising to 2.5% or more. Thus, the economy currently is suffering and is in a recession, the dollar is weak (though this helps with the trade deficit), and there is a sizable trade deficit. All that because of the normal business cycle as well the 11th of September attacks. However, the President Bush wants to enforce tax cuts as well as other policies to encourage consumer response.

The US. exports capital goods, automobiles, industrial supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, and agricultural products (wheat, other grains, corn, fruits, vegetables, cotton, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, forest products, and fish), that add up to $723 billion. It exports mainly to Canada 22.4%, Mexico 13.9%, Japan 7.9%, UK 5.6%, Germany 4.1%, France, and Netherlands. However, there is a big trade deficit since the US. imports $1.148 trillion, from crude oil and refined petroleum products, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, to food and beverages. It imports goods from Canada 19%, Mexico 11.5%, Japan 11.1%, China 8.9%, Germany 5.2%, UK, and Taiwan. The national debt is $862 billion, and the budget deficit is $1.828 trillion in revenues and $1.703 trillion in expenditures.

The United States is the leading democracy in the world, thus it regards itself as the savior of democracy in the whole world. That was the basic excuse for invading Iraq. Actually, part of this is true, but again it's only a part. The other part comes in coordination with the US. policy from after the 70's when the Arab countries refused to supply oil to the westerners. Hence, the US., from back then, starting adopting policies in order to secure these oil fields, and so it did.

Terrorism is another major field that affects the US's foreign policy. The 11th of September attacks were impossible and incredibly embarrassing for the world's most mighty superpower. Therefore, it bombed Afghanistan and changed the Taliban regime. Furthermore, it is still continuing on searching for and possible threats to national security, for example by creating Homeland Security. On top of that, because the 11th of September attacks were so unsuspected and tremendous at the same time, the US. is launching pre-emptive attacks. That is, attacking before being attacked. However, nowadays, everything, from a small car accident or store burglary to developing weapons of mass destruction is considered terrorism. In the US's' definition, terrorism is anything that isn't to her benefit. Iraq's invasion is a clear example, in which the US. eradicated the Iraqi regime because it "supported terrorism" where in reality, Saddam never saw the beard of Bin Ladin. According to President Bush, in order to gain the most support, our allies are the countries who help us or support us, even just by words, and our enemies are the ones who oppose us; there are no countries in between.

The US. has been always a loved country and was regarded as a savior of democracy. However, currently the US. is being the most hated country. Its blatant bias relations with Israel on the account of the Palestinians isn't the only reason, for the war on Iraq created tremendous riots in every part of the globe. As for other countries, the US. currently enjoys somewhat warm relations with Russia, since each side has things that it doesn't want the other side to interfere with. There were some strain relations with European countries, other than the UK. and Spain, but that was all on the pieces of the cake of Iraq that each country wanted. As for other allies, the US. is much supported by Japan, as well as South Korea. North Korea, however, is extremely against the US. and the relations are very tense because of N. Korea redeveloping it nuclear power plant but the US. isn't totally innocent because it stopped aid and power to N. Korea. Cuba has always had strained relations. Most Arab governments have good relations with the US. but the majority are afraid to state this loudly because of fear from their citizens. However, some, like Syria, experience tense relations with the US.

As for the UN., the situation of Iraq "not complying" proved the weakness of the UN. and proved also that there isn't such a thing in the real world called democracy. Although most of the UN. security council members opposed the war on Iraq, the US. COULDN’T afford to leave the situation as it is with just sanctions and it HAD TO bomb Iraq. Again, the 11th of September attacks weren't just any attacks, they hit the heart of the US. in a tremendous show that shook the US. more than it shook the other nations. Before that, the US. seemed totally invincible. No country dared to oppose the US. as we see now. Even the US. itself believed that they were invincible. However, the terrorist attacks proved otherwise. Thus, not only did the US. want to secure itself from any further attacks, possibly caused by Iraq, but also to re create, even a little, of its omnipotent strength.

The first inhabitants of the land of the free were the Native Americans. They led a very simple life style consisting mostly of farming, hunting, and occasionally, wars. During the 1500’s, the Europeans arrived. Ever since then, a rush of British and European explorers and immigrants (including the African slaves) set foot on the "New World" and by the 1700’s, the British settlers had established the 13 original colonies. A revolutionary war broke out between Britain and the American colonies, and after the colonies broke with the mother country in 1776, the new nation of the United States of America was recognized. George Washington was elected as the first president of the US in 1789 and initiated his dream of democracy and great leadership. The constitution was formed in 1787 and between 1861 and 1865 a civil war stormed between the states in the north and the south. The north won thus bringing an end to slavery.

To the American public of 1914, the outbreak of war in Europe came as a shock. The US decided not to take part in play in the war between Germany, Hungary and Austria against Britain, France and Russia. However in 1917, the US declared war on Germany after discovering its repeated attacks on American ships and a telegraph in which Germany anticipated war on the US. The US smothered the German forces with its considerable man power bringing an end to World War I.

In 1941, the situation worsened in Europe and Germany, Italy and Japan initiated war on their neighbors starting the wake of World War II. The US remained distant until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. The US proposed war on Japan, and Germany declared war on the US. Subsequent to that, the US increased its defense and brought an end to WWII by dropping two nuclear weapons on Japan.

After WWII, the US and the USSR raised as the most powerful nations in the world and both of them got involved in the Cold War because of their opposing opinions and because the US wanted to put a stop to communism. The war turned on and off and had a relaxation period in the 1980’s and the 1990’s. In 1991 a partnership was developed and that brought an end to the Cold War.

Throughout history, the US has been incredibly active especially in wars that bring freedom and democracy to the people including it’s victory in the first Gulf War, it’s putting a stop to the war in Somalia, ending the war in Yugoslavia, and (after the terrorist attack on 9/11) liberating the Afghan people from the terrible rule of the Taliban.

Currently, the US is in War with Iraq, successfully attempting to bring an end to the evil rule of Saddam Hussein. It has postponed this war for too long and sees this time to be the best to do so. The US may have not had agreement from most of the countries in the world, bet yet it persists because the US truly believes that it's either now or never.

1- The question of rebuilding Iraq:

First regarding the political system, the US. is now governing Iraq temporarily and scheduling a lot of meetings with Iraqi political parties until a democratic rule is be established in Iraq. The US. will form a democratic rule in Iraq, chosen by the Iraqi citizens as well as chosen by the US. This regime would be pro U.S.A and would be an example for Arab democracy. The government will be of a federal type.

As for rebuilding the infrastructure and restoring the citizens' daily life, American companies will play the primary role. In the first place, one of the reasons the US. launched its attack on Iraq now is the current bad conditions of the US. economy.

Thus, going into war and granting companies big opportunities would help out the economy. Iraq, especially, is a big potential because of its oil, agriculture…etc. The US. would also grant minor opportunities for supportive countries such as Australia, Britain, and Kuwait. However, in areas that don't require company duties but rather require aid, the US. urges every country to help Iraq.

The United States is the key player in liberating the Iraqi people and bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq. It formed the coalition, persuaded the countries, and launched the attacks. The Iraqi regime violated hundreds of human rights and would still continue if the US. hadn’t stopped it. The Iraqi people suffered for more than 30 years because of dictatorship, thus there's a need for a democratic system of rule in Iraq. The question of rebuilding Iraq concerns two main issues: a) rebuilding the ruling system in Iraq and b) rebuilding the infrastructure, buildings, schools, offices...etc. as well as granting opportunities for citizens to work and resume their daily lives. Being the main country responsible for the change in Iraq, the US. should, and will, be the main country in rebuilding Iraq.

Just days before the war on Iraq, the US. had tensions with North Korea. These tensions occur from the fact the North Korea is regenerating its nuclear plants, a fact that N. Korea says the purpose is for electricity and power, not for nuclear bombs. However, being a communist country with a bad history, the US. can't be so sure. Yet in the first hand, the US. is the side that cut oil and power help to N. Korea, which resulted in N. Korea re opening its nuclear power plants.

However, this issue is currently outdated. The US. and N. Korea have had, and are still having, negotiations and talks hosted by Beijing. Also, several senior US. officials have stated that the US. won't go to war with N. Korea, and any political analyst will certainly agree. Currently, Korea and Japan fully support the US. while China claims to be neutral.

Allies in this conflict are of extreme importance to the US. As stated previously, the US. had very huge opposition for the first time in the clear problem of Iraq which everyone knows who the cause of the problem was. Yet, there was still much opposition. Hence the US. wouldn't dare to go into a conflict again alone. It needs allies, especially N. Korea bordering countries, to support its conflicts, and it has. Japan for example, is supporting the US. in all necessary measures, even military conflict, and S. Korea and Russia and China. This would be an expensive war for little money gained.

Although the US. strives for peace and democracy all over the world, Cote D'Ivoire isn't currently a priority. The US. has faced a lot of opposition in the very clear problem of Iraq, and currently has some tensions with N. Korea, so it's not in a position to face other conflicts.

Currently, there is an expansion in fighting between rebel elements and Ivorian government forces. Rebel forces control most of northern Cote D'Ivoire, including the towns of Bouake and Korhogo, while the capital, Yamoussoukro, and the commercial capital, Abidjan, remain under the government's control. Although the government of Cote D'Ivoire and the rebel forces have signed an agreement to cease hostilities, the situation has become increasingly volatile. In late November, fighting occurred in western Cote D'Ivoire, with new rebel groups capturing the towns of Man and Danane and other areas.

Because of this rebel-government fighting, France and the regional organization of West African states have sent peace keeping troops to Ivory Coast. The US. hasn't directly been involved but is questioning possible Liberian connection in the fighting. Liberia had accused the Ivory Coast government of killing Liberians through cross-border attacks threaten to involve Liberia in the war. Liberia also has tense relations with neighbors Sierra Leone and Guinea, against whom Liberia has on several occasions threatened war over accusations of supporting rebels.

Since May 2001, the UN. Security Council has banned weapons sales to Liberia's government and placed travel restrictions on its officials after determining that Liberia supported Sierra Leone rebel groups accused of killing, raping and maiming tens of thousands of people.

After Germany's strong opposition to the US. on its war on Iraq, countries can't even dream of reforming the SC. Many countries, as well as analysts before the war, agreed that Germany and Japan would have a permanent SC seat. Though the US. favors Japan, and would like if Japan only had the permanent seat, Germany is certainly not a question. Currently, France and China, as well as Russia, have taken big steps in opposing the US. that they won't dare to do so again for a long period of time. Thus, the SC is currently not an issue to the US. However, even if the SC doesn’t agree with American demands, it experienced the consequences of such actions in that the US. and Britain formed their own coalition outside the SC.

Of course the US would try hard not to reach to that position. Currently though it's unrealistic since Germany and France have gone far enough in their opposition and will try to re strengthen their relations with the US.

The role of media in conflicts is very important and significant to the US. to the degree that senior US. officials have condemned, by name, Al-Jazeera channel for violating the Geneva Convention for broadcasting humiliating pictures of American POW's. However, many accuse American media of being bias and controlling the world opinion by creating it. Through CNN and NBC as well as others, the US. succeeded in showing that the Iraqi regime isn't complying with the UN. and that it poses a threat to world peace without showing any kind of evidence. Thus, with these things that the US. wants and doesn't want in media coverage, the best solution to this is to ask for a resolution that forces media stations to comply with UN. rules and conventions, such as the Geneva Convention.

The US. wouldn't want very strict rules on the media because almost all heard media are American except for lately Al-Jazeera and for some degree Abu Dhabi TV. Thus, the US. doesn't want to tighten the freedom of its media channels, since it doesn’t want to tighten the truth. American channels broadcast liable, truthful information freely to the whole world without bias.. Hence the best way is to prosecute channels that violate world agreements. American channels certainly won't do that since they have a long experience. This keeps newly broadcasting channels under the danger of being dragged into the trap.

1. Requests the beginning of a Dialogue conference;

Honorable chair, distinguished delegates, Good Morning,

Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed, and now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country. In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment.

The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men -- the shock troops of a hateful ideology -- gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the "beginning of the end of America." By seeking to turn our cities into killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could destroy this nation's resolve, and force our retreat from the world. They have failed.

Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of precision and speed and boldness the enemy did not expect, and the world had not seen before. We also thank the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, who shared in the hardships of war. We thank all the citizens of Iraq who welcomed our troops and joined in the liberation of their own country.

We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. We're pursuing and finding leaders of the old regime, who will be held to account for their crimes. We've begun the search for hidden chemical and biological weapons and already know of hundreds of sites that will be investigated. We're helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new leaders of Iraq as they establish a government of, by, and for the Iraqi people.