Paul Szep
On January 30, 2003, after the United States had invaded Afghanistan in order to dismantle al Qaida, Paul Szep drew a cartoon identical to the one displayed here of George W. Bush throwing a tantrum and demanding “I want my war….Now!”.
On February 16, 2003, the New York Times reported that millions of people protested the upcoming invasion of Iraq by the United States. 700,000 people demonstrated against the war in London. That is significant in that Britain was the closest ally of the U.S. in the invasion. Many people in the U.S. and around the world did not want Bush to attack Iraq.
At issue was a question of Iraqi compliance with United Nations weapons inspectors in Iraq. Hans Blix, chief inspector, had reported that despite earlier concerns of Iraqi attempts to circumvent the efforts of the United Nations, “Iraq’s cooperation with his team had increased, deepening the aversion of countries like France, Germany and Russia to the readiness of the United States and Britain to go to war.” However, on March 19, 2003, the United States military invaded Iraq.
The invasion was over in May, but hostilities between the U.S. occupiers and the Iraqi people continued for years. During that time, other nations, including Iran and North Korea, showed enmity toward America. Szep suggests that while the U.S. was engaged in two wars, Bush still wanted to attack another country.