Events that shaped the US in the past decade (2000-2010) – Part 1 of 3

9/11, George W Bush, Afghanistan, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, Recession, Facebook, Unemployment, Barak Obama and You Tube - this almost sums up the whole of the first decade this millennium for the United States. Each day, prime time news was buzzing with intriguing reports. From New York to El Paso, Florida to Anchorage history for sure had been re-written and re-written and re-written every minute. Almost certainly the decade underwent a colossal renovation in social structures and witnessed an unprecedented level of influence by technology.

Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush speaks to the press in his offices at the state capitol building in Austin, Texas November 22, 2000. Bush reacted to the Florida Supreme Court ruling on the presidential election. (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

We have put together a series of events that changed your and in fact our lives. Take a short walk... Deep down the memory lane...Try to remember where you were when hell broke loose, joy came knocking on your doorstep. Where were you when politicians lied, slapped taxes, or kept their promises, showered goodies? Where were you when justice was won or in cases, simply lost? What was your first reaction when news stories flashed on the screens day in and day out? Memorize the each of the emotions that accompanied you all throughout the journey of this decade. In the end sit back, relax and anticipate perhaps a more interesting decade in the making.

2000

The Second 'Bush'coming (March-April)

In March, George W. Bush and rival Al Gore emerge victorious in the Republican and Democratic caucuses and primaries of the United States presidential election. The Presidential elections were marred by controversies and in December that year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ruling by the Florida Supreme Court, ending the recount. Bush was declared the new President while Al Gore conceded defeat and suspended activities of his recount committee.

October 12 - In Aden, Yemen, the USS Cole was badly damaged by two Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, who placed a small boat laden with explosives alongside the United States Navy destroyer, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39.

November 7 - Hillary Rodham Clinton was elected to the United States Senate, making her the first First Lady of the United States to win public office.

2001

When the towers came crashing (September 11)

Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 (L) flies toward the World Trade Center shortly before slamming into the south tower as the north tower burns following an earlier attack by a hijacked airliner in New York, September 11, 2001. (REUTERS/Sean Adair)

September 11 has been dubbed as the 'Day the World Changed'. Close to 3,000 people were killed in suicide attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City. Al Qaeda operatives hijacked passenger planes and crashed into the giant towers. The Pentagon facility, the heart of US army located in Arlington, Virginia was also attacked.

Operation Enduring 'Combat'

Blaming Afghanistan's Taliban regime of harboring Al Qaeda terrorists, including the group's chief Osama bin Laden, United States invaded the country. U.S. forces with units from several other allied nations launched 'Operation Enduring Freedom' in October. The War is the longest conflict in the country's history, even surpassing Vietnam, as it crossed the 100-month mark this year. Laden was never to be found.

June 7 - The Bush tax cuts were signed into law by U.S. president George W. Bush.

U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS Cole Arleigh Burke (DDG 67) rammed by a rubber raft in a Yemeni port on October 12, 2000, killing at least 17 crew REUTERS/U.S. CM/TRA

October 26 - U.S. President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law.

November 13 - In the first such act since World War II, U.S. President George W. Bush signed an executive order allowing military tribunals against any foreigners suspected of having connections to terrorist acts or planned acts against the United States.

December 2 - Enron filed for bankruptcy after Dynegy cancelled a US$8.4 billion buyout bid. The bankruptcy became the largest in U.S. history.

December 13 - President George W. Bush announced United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

2002

A sign criticizing both North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and its leader Kim Jong-il at a protest in Seoul November 13, 2002. (REUTERS/Lee Jae-won)

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami making a speech in this September 29, 1999 file photo. (REUTERS/Str Old)

Axis of 'Evil' revealed

President George W. Bush public denounced Iran, Iraq and North Korea as sponsors of terror and part of an axis of evil. The remarks sparked an international outcry.

North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens. Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom. Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror, he said in his 2002 State of the Union Address.

November 27 - The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, also known as the 9/11 Commission, was set up. The committee was to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks.

January 11 - The first detainees arrive at Camp X-Ray (Guantanamo).

February 1 - Kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl is murdered in Karachi, Pakistan.

Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl kidnapped by a group calling itself The National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty and later killed in Pakistan.(REUTERS/Handout ME/TRA)

May 12 - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro. He became the first U.S. President, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution.

October 9-10 - Congress passes the Iraq Resolution authorizing the Iraq War.

November 7 - Iran bans the advertising of United States products.

November 25 - U.S. President George W. Bush signs the Homeland Security Act into law, establishing the Department of Homeland Security, in the largest U.S. government reorganization since the creation of the Department of Defense in 1947.

December 9 - United Airlines, the second largest airline in the world, files for bankruptcy.

2003

An incomplete revenge - War on Iraq

Private First Class Caleb Collier hugs his wife Miranda before boarding a bus at Camp Pendleton. The Marines are part of 10,000 troops being deployed to the Persian Gulf January 17 on seven ships from Naval Station San Diego as the United States prepares for a war with Iraq. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)

Taking cue for his father's Middle East policy, George Bush (Jr) invaded Iraq. On March 19 the first American bombs dropped on Baghdad. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons refused to leave Iraq despite 48-hour ultimatum from the US. US Forces arrived at Iraq in March and in the following month defeated the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Republican Guard in the Battle of Baghdad. They seized control of Baghdad ending the regime of Saddam Hussein. In the same month Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit fell to US forces. Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed by the U.S. military after being tipped off by an informant in July.

February 1 - Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon re-entry, killing all 7 astronauts on board.

April 29 - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld confirms that US troops will be withdrawn from Saudi Arabia where they have been stationed since the 1991 Gulf War.

May 28 - President George W. Bush authorizes $350 billion worth of tax cuts over 10 years.

Read Part 2

Russia Al-Qaeda Nuclear weapons Pakistan