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119-484: In December 2004, the subcommittee's chairman Senator Norm Coleman called for UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan to resign because of the "UN's utter failure to detect or stop Saddam's abuses" of the program and because of related fraud allegations against Annan's son. In May 2005, the subcommittee held the hearings on their investigation of abuses of the program, including oil smuggling, illegal kickbacks and use of surcharges, and Saddam Hussein 's use of oil vouchers for

238-539: A joint session of Congress (simulcast live to the world), and announced his new " War on Terror ". This announcement was accompanied by the doctrine of "pre-emptive" military action, later termed the Bush Doctrine . Allegations of a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda were regularly made by several senior officials in the Bush administration , who asserted that a highly secretive relationship existed between Saddam and

357-489: A 14% progressive rating from Progressive Punch and a 73% conservative rating from the conservative SBE Council. Minnesota's other senator at the time, Mark Dayton , received ratings of 90% progressive and 9% conservative from the same groups. Coleman was a strong supporter of bipartisan efforts to create American independence from foreign sources of energy. This included development of alternative sources of energy such as wind, ethanol, and biofuels. In 2005, Coleman led

476-551: A 48-hour deadline. The UK House of Commons held a debate on going to war on 18 March 2003 where the government motion was approved 412 to 149 . The vote was a key moment in the history of the Blair administration , as the number of government MPs who rebelled against the vote was the greatest since the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. Three government ministers resigned in protest at the war, John Denham , Lord Hunt of Kings Heath , and

595-486: A Capitol Hill reporter that he was a "99% improvement" over Wellstone because he had a better working relationship with the White House . Many Wellstone supporters found this offensive and insulting, and at least one member of Congress urged Coleman to apologize. Coleman issued an apology, explaining that he was referring specifically to the reporter's question about the differences between his and Wellstone's relationship with

714-427: A January 2003 CBS poll, 64% of Americans had approved of military action against Iraq; however, 63% wanted Bush to find a diplomatic solution rather than go to war, and 62% believed the threat of terrorism directed against the U.S. would increase due to war. The invasion was strongly opposed by some long-standing U.S. allies, including the governments of France, Germany, and New Zealand. Their leaders argued that there

833-595: A US Senate committee drew much media attention in both America and Britain. The Majority Staff of the subcommittee prepared a subsequent report pertaining to Galloway, which was released in October, 2005. It elaborated on allegations and evidence of the committee and included disputed testimony from former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz . It also alleges that another officer of Mariam Appeal , Amineh Abu-Zayyad (Galloway's then-wife), received $ 150,000 in oil kickbacks, which she denies. Senator Coleman conveyed these reports to

952-575: A United States-led combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded the Republic of Iraq . Twenty-two days after the first day of the invasion, the capital city of Baghdad was captured by coalition forces on 9 April after the six-day-long Battle of Baghdad . This early stage of the war formally ended on 1 May when U.S. President George W. Bush declared

1071-403: A bipartisan coalition of 34 senators in securing a renewable fuels package as part of the 2005 Energy Policy Act , which included new standards for renewable fuels and an extension of tax credits for biodiesel, small ethanol producers and wind and livestock waste. Coleman supported additional oil exploration in the outer continental shelf, but maintained a campaign promise to oppose drilling in

1190-504: A bipartisan committee that promotes international engagement and includes every living former U.S. secretary of state. He also works as a lobbyist on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia . In 2024, he was among the Hogan Lovells lobbyists U.S. Steel hired to navigate legal scrutiny of proposed acquisition of the company by Nippon Steel . Coleman's politics have changed dramatically during his political career. In college Coleman

1309-792: A design that Iraq stated did not exceed the permitted 150 km range, but which had traveled up to 183 km in tests. Shortly before the invasion, UNMOVIC stated that it would take "months" to verify Iraqi compliance with resolution 1441. In October 2002, the U.S. Congress passed the Iraq Resolution , which authorized the President to "use any means necessary" against Iraq. Americans polled in January 2003 widely favored further diplomacy over an invasion. Later that year, however, Americans began to agree with Bush's plan. The U.S. government engaged in an elaborate domestic public relations campaign to market

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1428-533: A financial settlement. He concluded that McKim had a clear motive to use false allegations as leverage to enrich himself. McKim still questioned the legitimacy of insurance payments and said he had done nothing wrong, but another of Kazeminy's attorneys said his client had not ruled out future litigation against McKim. A columnist at The Weekly Standard wrote, "it is possible that the allegations against Coleman may have handed victory to Al Franken." In January 2009, Coleman became an adviser to and board member of

1547-568: A marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August." Bush began formally making his case to the international community for an invasion of Iraq in his 12 September 2002 address to the United Nations General Assembly . The United Kingdom agreed with the U.S. actions, while France and Germany were critical of plans to invade Iraq, arguing instead for continued diplomacy and weapons inspections. After considerable debate,

1666-670: A member of the Democratic Party. A liberal Democrat in his youth, Coleman shifted to conservatism as an adult. After conflicts with the Democratic Party over his conservative views, Coleman joined the Republican Party. He was reelected mayor a year later as a Republican. While serving as mayor, he was the Republican nominee in the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election , but lost to former professional wrestler and third-party candidate Jesse Ventura . As mayor of Saint Paul, he helped return

1785-514: A message to the U.S. State Department that the Iraqis wanted to discuss the accusations that the country had weapons of mass destruction and ties with Al-Qaeda. Iraq also attempted to reach the U.S. through the Syrian, French, German, and Russian intelligence services. In January 2003, Lebanese-American Imad Hage met with Michael Maloof of the U.S. Department of Defense 's Office of Special Plans . Hage,

1904-489: A one-half ownership stake in a Palm Beach property valued at $ 3 million. McKim's allegations were repeated hundreds of times in local and national media reports during the waning days of the 2008 election in what Coleman called "multi-million-dollar attacks against my family and Nasser Kazeminy". Freeh says McKim later prepared an affidavit that would have recanted his allegations against the Colemans and Kazeminy in exchange for

2023-494: A parliamentary question, that "Regime change in Iraq would be a wonderful thing. That is not the purpose of our action; our purpose is to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction..." In November of that year, Blair further stated that, "So far as our objective, it is disarmament, not regime change – that is our objective. Now I happen to believe the regime of Saddam is a very brutal and repressive regime, I think it does enormous damage to

2142-520: A resident of Beirut , had been recruited by the department to assist in the war on terror . He reported that Mohammed Nassif, a close aide to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad , had expressed frustrations about the difficulties of Syria contacting the United States, and had attempted to use him as an intermediary. Maloof arranged for Hage to meet with civilian Richard Perle , then head of the Defense Policy Board . In January 2003, Hage met with

2261-528: A roadie for Jethro Tull and Ten Years After , among others. Coleman attended Brooklyn Law School from 1972 until 1974 but received his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1976. After graduating from law school, Coleman joined the office of the Minnesota Attorney General as a prosecutor, eventually rising to chief prosecutor and then solicitor general. Coleman left

2380-414: A run for governor that year. He easily won the Republican nomination, facing just token opposition in the primary. In the general election, he faced DFL nominee Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III and Reform Party nominee Jesse Ventura . Polls had Coleman and Humphrey tied for first, but Ventura won the election in an upset, with 37% of the vote to Coleman's 34.3% and Humphrey's 28.1%. Coleman made plans for

2499-564: A salary from Hays Companies, but Senate rules do not require the salary amount to be revealed. Neither Coleman nor his wife was named as a defendant in the suit. On October 31, minority shareholders in DMT filed a related suit in Delaware Chancery Court. The Delaware suit also alleged that Kazeminy had used DMT to funnel unearned funds to Laurie Coleman through Hays Companies. As in the Texas case,

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2618-407: A second run for governor in 2002, but Karl Rove and George W. Bush persuaded him to challenge incumbent Senator Paul Wellstone in that year's election instead. Coleman had served as Wellstone's campaign chair in 1996 , shortly before his decision to switch to the Republican Party. Coleman easily won the Republican nomination. Coleman and Wellstone were neck-and-neck in most polls for most of

2737-542: A threat to the U.S. and the world community. George W. Bush, speaking in October 2002, said that "The stated policy of the United States is regime change. ... However, if Saddam were to meet all the conditions of the United Nations, the conditions that I have described very clearly in terms that everybody can understand, that in itself will signal the regime has changed." Citing reports from certain intelligence sources, Bush stated on 6 March 2003 that he believed that Saddam

2856-423: A three-judge panel was seated. On February 3, the panel allowed Coleman to introduce evidence that as many as 4,800 absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and should be counted. The Franken campaign had tried to limit Coleman to bringing evidence on only the 650 absentee ballots cited in the initial court filing. On April 1, the panel ordered that an additional 400 absentee ballots be examined. After examining

2975-511: Is Jewish, his paternal grandfather having changed the surname from Goldman to Coleman. He was a graduate of James Madison High School in Brooklyn and Hofstra University on Long Island . In college, Coleman was an active member of the 1960s counterculture and a liberal Democrat . "Carting a bullhorn around campus, he'd regularly lecture students about the immorality of the Nixon administration and

3094-479: Is both a bit too soon and a bit too late. It is too soon after my last race and too late to do a proper job of seeking the support of delegates who will decide in which direction our party should go. The commitments I have to my family and the work I am currently engaged in do not allow me to now go forward." In 2010, Coleman became chairman and CEO of the American Action Network , which he co-founded. He

3213-583: The 173rd Airborne Brigade was airdropped near the northern city of Kirkuk , where they joined forces with Kurdish rebels and fought several actions against the Iraqi Army , to secure the northern part of the country. The main body of coalition forces continued their drive into the heart of Iraq and were met with little resistance. Most of the Iraqi military was quickly defeated and the coalition occupied Baghdad on 9 April. Other operations occurred against pockets of

3332-547: The 2014 gubernatorial election . In April 2011, Coleman joined Hogan Lovells , an international legal practice, as senior government advisor in its Washington D.C. office. He stepped down as leader of the Government Relations and Public Affairs practice at Hogan Lovells in January 2020, but remains a senior counsel. Coleman is on the National Advisory Council for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition ,

3451-530: The 32nd Parallel (extended to the 33rd Parallel in 1996) as well as using economic sanctions. It was revealed that a biological weapons (BW) program in Iraq had begun in the early 1980s with help from the U.S. and Europe who were unaware of Iraq's intentions, in violation of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) of 1972. Details of the BW program—along with a chemical weapons program—surfaced after

3570-543: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). On December 11, 2005, Coleman voted to invoke cloture on, thus advancing, a defense appropriations bill that included oil exploration in ANWR. Critics viewed this as a violation of his pledge to oppose such drilling. Coleman said he did so because although he planned to vote against the bill, he did not believe that a filibuster was warranted. His vote notwithstanding,

3689-453: The DFL nominee, former Air America host and comedian Al Franken . On the day after the election, Coleman led in the counted votes and claimed victory in the race. Minnesota law requires an automatic recount when the margin between the leading candidates is less than 0.5% of the vote, and the margin between Coleman and Franken was about 0.01%. Barkley came in third with 15%. The initial results of

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3808-672: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Saddam accepted the resolution on 13 November and inspectors returned to Iraq under the direction of UNMOVIC chairman Hans Blix and IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei . As of February 2003, the IAEA "found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq"; the IAEA concluded that certain items which could have been used in nuclear enrichment centrifuges, such as aluminum tubes, were in fact intended for other uses. UNMOVIC "did not find evidence of

3927-744: The Minnesota Wild , that would play in a new arena downtown at the site of Civic Center Arena. The arena, later named the Xcel Energy Center , was built through a public-private partnership, with $ 65 million from state taxpayers and $ 30 million from the city. Coleman also successfully fought property tax increases, freezing property tax rates for the eight years he served as mayor. During his mayoralty, St. Paul's job rate grew by 7.1% and 18,000 jobs were added. While many praised Coleman for his "pragmatic" leadership style and successes in revitalizing St. Paul, critics labeled him an "opportunist", and he

4046-581: The National Hockey League to Minnesota through the Minnesota Wild after an almost decade-long absence. Coleman challenged incumbent Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone in the 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota . After Wellstone died in a plane crash a few weeks before the election, he was replaced on the ballot by former Vice President Walter Mondale . Coleman defeated Mondale by over two points. He sought reelection in 2008 . In one of

4165-609: The National Military Command Center on that day, Rumsfeld asked for: "best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit Saddam Hussein at same time. Not only Osama bin Laden ." A memo written by Rumsfeld in November 2001 considers an Iraq war. The rationale for invading Iraq as a response to 9/11 has been widely questioned, as there was no cooperation between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda . On 20 September 2001, Bush addressed

4284-539: The New York Times as saying, "There is no question that the bulk of the illicit oil revenues came from the open sale of Iraqi oil to Jordan and to Turkey, and that that was a way of going around the Oil-for-Food Programme [and that] we were fully aware of the bypass and looked the other way." "We have your name on Iraqi documents, some prepared before the fall of Saddam, some after, that identify you as one of

4403-557: The Peshmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan . According to U.S. President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair , the coalition aimed "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction [WMDs], to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism , and to free the Iraqi people", even though the UN inspection team led by Hans Blix had declared it had found no evidence of the existence of WMDs just before

4522-473: The Republican Jewish Coalition . After Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced he would not seek reelection in 2010, it was widely anticipated that Coleman would run for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election . Polling conducted in late 2009 showed him as the favorite among Republicans. But on January 17, 2010, Coleman announced that he would not run, saying, "The timing on this race

4641-569: The Vietnam War ." He was elected president of the student senate during his junior year. Under Coleman, the senate refused to ratify the newspaper's editor and her co-editor and cut some funding to the newspaper. But after refusing to swear in the editor on four different occasions, the senate finally backed down. Coleman celebrated his 20th birthday at the Woodstock Festival , and later admitted to smoking marijuana in his youth. He worked as

4760-528: The closest elections in the history of the Senate, he lost to former comedian Al Franken by 312 votes out of over three million cast (a margin of just over 0.01%). Since his defeat, Coleman has been a lobbyist and chairs both the Republican Jewish Coalition and the conservative American Action Network . Coleman was born in Brooklyn , the son of Norman Bertram Coleman Sr. and his wife, Beverly (Behrman). His family

4879-636: The invasion of Iraq . On January 6, 2006, South Korean businessman Tongsun Park was arrested by the FBI in Houston after he was indicted for illegally accepting millions of dollars from Iraq in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. The criminal charges against him were unsealed in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In July 2006, he was convicted on conspiracy charges. He became the first person convicted through

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4998-482: The "end of major combat operations" in his Mission Accomplished speech , after which the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as the first of several successive transitional governments leading up to the first Iraqi parliamentary election in January 2005. U.S. military forces later remained in Iraq until the withdrawal in 2011. The coalition sent 160,000 troops into Iraq during

5117-489: The 101st Airborne Division, started with a seminar on military operations in urban terrain, because that was viewed as the decisive event in the takedown of the regime in Iraq — that and finding and destroying the weapons of mass destruction." While there had been some earlier talk of action against Iraq, the Bush administration waited until September 2002 to call for action, with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card saying, "From

5236-465: The 400 ballots on April 6, the panel ordered that an additional 351 ballots be opened and counted. On April 7, the additional 351 ballots were opened and counted before the panel and a packed courtroom. Franken got an additional 198 votes, Coleman gained 111, and other candidates received 42, increasing Franken's lead to 312 votes. On April 13, the three-judge panel issued its final ruling, sweeping aside all of Coleman's legal claims and declaring Franken

5355-655: The Azores to discuss the invasion of Iraq and Spain's potential involvement in the war, as well as the beginning of the invasion. This encounter was extremely controversial in Spain, even now remaining a very sensitive point for the Aznar government. Almost a year later, Madrid suffered the worst terrorist attack in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing , motivated by Spain's decision to participate in

5474-531: The Bush administration said attempts by Iraq to acquire thousands of high-strength aluminum tubes pointed to a clandestine program to make enriched uranium for nuclear bombs. Powell, in his address to the UN Security Council just before the war, referred to the aluminum tubes. A report released by the Institute for Science and International Security in 2002, however, reported that it was highly unlikely that

5593-407: The Colemans were not named as defendants. Coleman was not charged with any crime regarding allegations of corruption in receiving gifts of $ 100,000 from Kazeminy. Doug Grow, a MinnPost columnist, expressed skepticism about Coleman's attorneys' claim that the lack of charges meant that Coleman and Kazeminy were not guilty of any wrongdoing. Coleman responded with a campaign ad in which he denied

5712-608: The Gulf War (1990–91) following investigations conducted by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) which had been charged with the post-war disarmament of Saddam's Iraq. The investigation concluded that the program had not continued after the war. The U.S. and its allies then maintained a policy of " containment " towards Iraq. This policy involved numerous economic sanctions by the UN Security Council ;

5831-488: The Iraq war, prompting some Spaniards to accuse the Prime Minister of being responsible. In March 2003, the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Australia, Spain, Denmark, and Italy began preparing for the invasion of Iraq , with a host of public relations and military moves. In his 17 March 2003 address to the nation, Bush demanded that Saddam and his two sons, Uday and Qusay , surrender and leave Iraq, giving them

5950-497: The Iraqi Army, including the capture and occupation of Kirkuk on 10 April, and the attack on and capture of Tikrit on 15 April. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and the central leadership went into hiding as the coalition forces completed the occupation of the country. On 1 May, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations: this ended the invasion period and began the period of military occupation . Saddam Hussein

6069-463: The Iraqi people ... so I have got no doubt Saddam is very bad for Iraq, but on the other hand I have got no doubt either that the purpose of our challenge from the United Nations is the disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, it is not regime change." At a press conference on 31 January 2003, Bush again reiterated that the single trigger for the invasion would be Iraq's failure to disarm, "Saddam Hussein must understand that if he does not disarm, for

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6188-609: The Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. While special forces launched an amphibious assault from the Persian Gulf to secure Basra and the surrounding petroleum fields, the main invasion army moved into southern Iraq, occupying the region and engaging in the Battle of Nasiriyah on 23 March. Massive air strikes across the country and against Iraqi command and control threw the defending army into chaos and prevented an effective resistance. On 26 March,

6307-468: The Senate. GovTrack , an independent tracking website, also called Coleman a "moderate Republican". In September 2008, Coleman joined the bipartisan Gang of 20 , which was seeking a solution to the American energy crisis. The group pushed for a bill that would encourage state-by-state decisions on offshore drilling and authorize billions of dollars for conservation and alternative energy. Coleman received

6426-655: The U.S. Department of Justice , the Manhattan DA , the Washington DC and New York federal prosecutors , the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards , and the Charity Commission . None saw fit to pursue charges. The subcommittee considered and may have done some preliminary work to investigate Australian Wheat Board (AWB) in connection with Oil-for-Food Program abuses. The Australian ambassador to

6545-512: The U.S. moved towards a more aggressive policy toward Iraq. The Republican Party's campaign platform in the 2000 election called for "full implementation" of the Iraq Liberation Act as "a starting point" in a plan to "remove" Saddam. After leaving the George W. Bush administration , Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said that an attack on Iraq had been planned since Bush's inauguration and that

6664-404: The U.S., Michael Thawley , met with Sen. Coleman in late 2004 to lobby against any investigation of AWB. On June 2, 2006, Coleman responded to criticism that he had insufficiently investigated them by saying that there were legal and cost hurdles. Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and others had claimed it was a political favor being paid back. The Australian Prime Minister John Howard was a supporter of

6783-615: The UK ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock , publicly confirmed this reading of the resolution, assuring that Resolution 1441 provided no "automaticity" or "hidden triggers" for an invasion without further consultation of the Security Council. Resolution 1441 gave Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" and set up inspections by the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and

6902-466: The UN Security Council contained a computer-generated image of a "mobile biological weapons laboratory". However, this information was based on claims of Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed "Curveball" , an Iraqi emigrant living in Germany who later admitted that his claims had been false. Powell also presented false assertions alleging Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda . As a follow-up to Powell's presentation,

7021-429: The UN Security Council adopted a compromise resolution, UN Security Council Resolution 1441 , which authorized the resumption of weapons inspections and promised "serious consequences" for non-compliance. Security Council members France and Russia made clear that they did not consider these consequences to include the use of force to overthrow the Iraqi government. Both the U.S. ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte , and

7140-472: The United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Japan, and Spain proposed a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but Canada, France, and Germany, together with Russia, strongly urged continued diplomacy. Facing a losing vote as well as a likely veto from France and Russia, the US, UK, Poland, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Japan, and Australia eventually withdrew their resolution. Opposition to

7259-594: The White House, and saying in part, "I would never want to diminish the legacy or memory of Senator Paul Wellstone, and I will accept full responsibility for not having been more accurate in my comments." In 2004 Coleman campaigned for the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), but was defeated for the post by Senator Elizabeth Dole in a 28–27 vote. In 2008, Coleman's opponents for reelection were Dean Barkley and

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7378-507: The administration prepared Operation Desert Badger to respond aggressively if any Air Force pilot was shot down while flying over Iraq, but this did not happen. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld dismissed National Security Agency (NSA) intercept data available by midday of the 11th that pointed to al-Qaeda 's culpability, and by mid-afternoon ordered the Pentagon to prepare plans for attacking Iraq. According to aides who were with him in

7497-703: The allegations and blamed them on Franken. In June 2011, the U.S. Justice Department decided not to file charges against Coleman or Kazeminy. Louis Freeh , an attorney for Kazeminy and a former FBI Director in the Clinton Administration, said he learned the Justice Department had ended the investigation in a February 24 meeting with Andrew Levchuk of the department's Public Integrity Section in Washington. Kazeminy hired Freeh to conduct an independent investigation of all charges. He concluded that there

7616-528: The allocation holders," Senator Coleman accused MP Galloway in May 2005. "I am not now nor have I ever been an oil trader" retorted Galloway, stating that the charges were false and part of a diversionary "mother of all smoke screens" by pro-Iraq-War U.S. politicians to deflect attention from the "theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth... on your watch" that had occurred not during the Oil-for-Food program but under

7735-448: The arrest of Sevan at his home in Cyprus, as well as a warrant for Efraim "Fred" Nadler, a New York businessman who was indicted on charges of channelling the illegal payments to Sevan. Nadler's whereabouts are unknown. Norm Coleman Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senator for Minnesota . From 1994 to 2002, he

7854-424: The attorney general's office upon being elected mayor of St. Paul . One of his first acts as mayor was the elimination of underfunded retirement health benefits for city workers. One of Coleman's accomplishments as mayor was to bring professional ice hockey back to Minnesota. In 1993 the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas , Texas. On June 7, 1997, the NHL awarded St. Paul an expansion franchise, later named

7973-434: The campaign. On October 25, Wellstone died in a plane crash. The Democrats chose former Vice President Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale had held the same Senate seat from 1964 to 1977. Coleman defeated Mondale by just over 61,000 votes out of over 2 million cast. He succeeded Dean Barkley , whom Ventura had appointed to serve the remaining two months of Wellstone's term. In April 2003, Coleman told

8092-586: The chief of Iraqi intelligence's foreign operations, Hassan al-Obeidi. Obeidi told Hage that Baghdad did not understand why they were targeted and that they had no WMDs. He then made the offer for Washington to send in 2000 FBI agents to confirm this. He additionally offered petroleum concessions but stopped short of having Saddam give up power, instead suggesting that elections could be held in two years. Later, Obeidi suggested that Hage travel to Baghdad for talks; he accepted. Later that month, Hage met with General Habbush and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz . He

8211-399: The continuation or resumption of programs of weapons of mass destruction" or significant quantities of proscribed items. UNMOVIC did supervise the destruction of a small number of empty chemical rocket warheads, 50 liters of mustard gas that had been declared by Iraq and sealed by UNSCOM in 1998, and laboratory quantities of a mustard gas precursor, along with about 50 Al-Samoud missiles of

8330-490: The conversation to senior levels of the state department and I was told to stand aside and they would handle it." Cannistraro stated that the offers made were all "killed" by the George W. Bush administration because they allowed Saddam to remain in power, an outcome viewed as unacceptable. It has been suggested that Saddam Hussein was prepared to go into exile if allowed to keep US$ 1 billion. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak 's national security advisor, Osama El-Baz , sent

8449-663: The displaced and to many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq's oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. And last, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government." Throughout 2002, the Bush administration insisted that removing Saddam from power to restore international peace and security was a major goal. The principal stated justifications for this policy of "regime change" were that Iraq's continuing production of weapons of mass destruction and known ties to terrorist organizations , as well as Iraq's continued violations of UN Security Council resolutions, amounted to

8568-530: The election's outcome. Coleman appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court , which heard oral arguments on June 1. On June 30, the court unanimously ruled in Franken's favor, declaring him the winner of the election, whereupon Coleman conceded. While running for reelection in 2008, Coleman was mentioned in a Texas lawsuit by Paul McKim, CEO of Deep Marine Technology (DMT), against Nasser Kazeminy. Kazeminy

8687-602: The enforcement of Iraqi no-fly zones declared by the U.S. and the UK to protect the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan and Shias in the south from aerial attacks by the Iraqi government; and ongoing inspections. Iraqi military helicopters and planes regularly contested the no-fly zones. In October 1998, removing the Iraqi government became official U.S. foreign policy with enactment of the Iraq Liberation Act . Enacted following

8806-558: The expulsion of UN weapons inspectors the preceding August (after some had been accused of spying for the U.S.), the act provided $ 97 million for Iraqi "democratic opposition organizations" to "establish a program to support a transition to democracy in Iraq." This legislation contrasted with the terms set out in United Nations Security Council Resolution 687 , which focused on weapons and weapons programs and made no mention of regime change. One month after

8925-456: The fighting started. NATO member Turkey refused to allow the U.S. forces across its territory into northern Iraq . Therefore, joint SAD and Army Special forces teams and the Peshmerga constituted the entire Northern force against the Iraqi army. They managed to keep the northern divisions in place rather than allowing them to aid their colleagues against the U.S.-led coalition force coming from

9044-578: The filibuster held, and Coleman voted to strip the ANWR provision from the bill in a subsequent vote. Invasion of Iraq [REDACTED] Republic of Iraq Invasion (2003) Post-invasion insurgency (2003–2006) Civil war (2006–2008) Insurgency (2008–2011) Main phase Later phase The 2003 invasion of Iraq was the first stage of the Iraq War . The invasion began on 20 March 2003 and lasted just over one month, including 26 days of major combat operations, in which

9163-471: The first United States National Security Council meeting involved discussion of an invasion. O'Neill later backtracked, saying that these discussions were part of a continuation of foreign policy first put into place by the Clinton administration . Despite the Bush administration's stated interest in invading Iraq, little formal movement towards an invasion occurred until the 11 September attacks . For example,

9282-634: The government's invasion rationale. In September 2004, Kofi Annan , United Nations Secretary-General at the time, called the invasion illegal under international law and said it was a breach of the UN Charter . On 15 February 2003, a month before the invasion, there were worldwide protests against the Iraq War , including a rally of three million people in Rome, which the Guinness World Records listed as

9401-473: The great values of our party has remained solid. In 1996, Coleman chaired Paul Wellstone 's Senate reelection campaign. In his nomination speech at the 1996 state DFL convention, Coleman said, "Paul Wellstone is a Democrat, and I am a Democrat." Tensions were so high between Coleman and the DFL party at the time that a number of convention delegates loudly booed Coleman's speech. In December 1996, Coleman announced he

9520-811: The halls of the Student Center. Everyone watch out, the 1950s bobby-sox generation is about to take over." While running for mayor in 1993, Coleman wrote in a letter to the City Convention Delegates: "I have never sought any other political office. I have no other ambition other than to be mayor." In the letter he wrote: I am a lifelong Democrat. Some accuse me of being the fiscal conservative in this race—I plead guilty! I'm not afraid to be tight with your tax dollars. Yet, my fiscal conservatism does not mean I am any less progressive in my Democratic ideals. From Bobby Kennedy to George McGovern to Warren Spannaus to Hubert Humphrey to Walter Mondale—my commitment to

9639-471: The initial air strikes against Saddam and his generals. Although the strike against Saddam was unsuccessful in killing him, it effectively ended his ability to command and control his forces. Strikes against Iraq's generals were more successful and significantly degraded the Iraqi command's ability to react to, and maneuver against, the U.S.-led invasion force. SAD operations officers successfully convinced key Iraqi Army officers to surrender their units once

9758-477: The initial invasion phase, which lasted from 19 March to 1 May. About 73% or 130,000 soldiers were American, with about 45,000 British soldiers (25%), 2,000 Australian soldiers (1%), and ~200 Polish JW GROM commandos (0.1%). Thirty-six other countries were involved in its aftermath. In preparation for the invasion, 100,000 U.S. troops assembled in Kuwait by 18 February. The coalition forces also received support from

9877-581: The invasion coalesced in the worldwide 15 February 2003 anti-war protest that attracted between six and ten million people in more than 800 cities, the largest such protest in human history according to the Guinness Book of World Records . On 16 March 2003, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar , UK Prime Minister Tony Blair , President of the United States George W. Bush , and Prime Minister of Portugal José Manuel Durão Barroso as host met in

9996-588: The invasion of Iraq was presented in detail by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003. In summary, he stated, We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more. Given Saddam Hussein's history of aggression ... given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take

10115-598: The largest-ever anti-war rally. According to the French academic Dominique Reynié , between 3 January and 12 April 2003, 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests against the Iraq war. The invasion was preceded by an airstrike on the Presidential Palace in Baghdad on 20 March 2003. The following day, coalition forces launched an incursion into Basra Governorate from their massing point close to

10234-416: The matter further with people in Washington (both have acknowledged the meeting). A few days later, he informed Hage that Washington refused to let him meet with Habbush to discuss the offer (Hage stated that Perle's response was "that the consensus in Washington was it was a no-go"). Perle told The Times , "The message was 'Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad.′" According to General Tommy Franks ,

10353-507: The objectives of the invasion were, "First, end the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search for, to capture, and to drive out terrorists from that country. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to

10472-473: The oil-for-food investigation. On February 22, 2007 he was sentenced to five years in prison. He was also fined $ 15,000 and required to forfeit $ 1,200,000. On January 16, 2007, former UN official Benon Sevan was indicted by a Manhattan federal prosecutor for taking about $ 160,000 in bribes. Michael J. Garcia, the U.S. attorney from the Southern District of New York, issued a warrant through Interpol for

10591-415: The option of invading without it. General David Petraeus recalled in an interview his experience during the time before the invasion, stating that "When we were getting ready for what became the invasion of Iraq, the prevailing wisdom was that we were going to have a long, hard fight to Baghdad, and it was really going to be hard to take Baghdad. The road to deployment, which was a very compressed road for

10710-635: The paramilitary operations officers and 10th Special Forces Group soldiers, were the first U.S. forces to enter Iraq, in July 2002, before the main invasion. Once on the ground, they prepared for the subsequent arrival of U.S. Army Special Forces to organize the Kurdish Peshmerga . This joint team (called the Northern Iraq Liaison Element (NILE)) combined to defeat Ansar al-Islam , a group with ties to al-Qaeda, in Iraqi Kurdistan. This battle

10829-416: The passage of the Iraq Liberation Act, the U.S. and UK launched a bombardment campaign of Iraq called Operation Desert Fox . The campaign's express rationale was to hamper Saddam Hussein's government's ability to produce chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, but U.S. intelligence personnel also hoped it would help weaken Saddam's grip on power. With the election of George W. Bush as president in 2000 ,

10948-401: The post-invasion Coalition Provisional Authority by " Halliburton and other American corporations... with the connivance of your own government." Galloway claimed that the subcommittee's dossier was full of distortions and rudimentary mistakes, citing, for example, the charge that he had met with Saddam Hussein "many times" when the number was two. This unusual appearance of a British MP before

11067-490: The purpose of buying influence abroad. These hearings covered certain corporations and several well-known political figures, including Russia's Vladimir Zhirinovsky and drew significant media attention for the combative appearance of British politician George Galloway , an anti-Iraq-War member of parliament for RESPECT The Unity Coalition (Respect), who vigorously denied the subcommittee's allegations against him and said they were politically motivated. U.S. oil company Bayoil

11186-479: The radical Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda from 1992 to 2003, specifically through a series of meetings reportedly involving the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS). Some Bush advisers favored an immediate invasion of Iraq, while others advocated building an international coalition and obtaining United Nations authorization. Bush eventually decided to seek UN authorization, while still reserving

11305-400: The recount put Franken ahead by 225 votes out of almost 2.9 million votes cast. On December 24, 2008, Coleman's lawyers said it was a "virtual certainty" that he would contest the results of the election. Coleman's term expired on January 3, 2009. On January 5, Franken was certified as the winner of the recount by 225 votes. Coleman filed a legal challenge of the results on January 6, and

11424-461: The risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond? The United States will not and cannot run that risk to the American people. Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option, not in a post–September 11 world. In September 2002, Tony Blair stated, in an answer to

11543-494: The sake of peace, we, along with others, will go disarm Saddam Hussein." As late as 25 February 2003, it was still the official line that the only cause of invasion would be a failure to disarm. As Blair made clear in a statement to the House of Commons, "I detest his regime. But even now he can save it by complying with the UN's demand. Even now, we are prepared to go the extra step to achieve disarmament peacefully." In September 2002,

11662-547: The south. Four of these CIA officers were awarded the Intelligence Star for their actions. In the 2003 State of the Union address , President Bush said "we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs". On 5 February 2003, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations General Assembly , continuing U.S. efforts to gain UN authorization for an invasion. His presentation to

11781-512: The start of the invasion. Others place a much greater emphasis on the impact of the September 11 attacks , on the role this played in changing U.S. strategic calculations, and the rise of the freedom agenda. According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of alleged nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace. In

11900-524: The then Leader of the House of Commons Robin Cook . In a passionate speech to the House of Commons after his resignation, he said, "What has come to trouble me is the suspicion that if the 'hanging chads' of Florida had gone the other way and Al Gore had been elected, we would not now be about to commit British troops to action in Iraq." During the debate, it was stated that the Attorney General had advised that

12019-514: The trip. Maloof reports having brought the proposal to Jaymie Duran. The Pentagon denies that either Wolfowitz or Rumsfeld, Duran's bosses, were aware of the plan. On 21 February, Maloof informed Duran in an email that Richard Perle wished to meet with Hage and the Iraqis if the Pentagon would clear it. Duran responded "Mike, working this. Keep this close hold." On 7 March, Perle met with Hage in Knightsbridge, and stated that he wanted to pursue

12138-463: The tubes could be used to enrich uranium. Powell later admitted he had presented an inaccurate case to the United Nations on Iraqi weapons, based on sourcing that was wrong and in some cases "deliberately misleading." The Bush administration asserted that the Saddam government had sought to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger . On 7 March 2003, the U.S. submitted intelligence documents as evidence to

12257-499: The war to its citizens. Americans overwhelmingly believed Saddam did have weapons of mass destruction: 85% said so, even though the inspectors had not uncovered those weapons. Of those who thought Iraq had weapons sequestered somewhere, about half responded that said weapons would not be found in combat. By February 2003, 64% of Americans supported taking military action to remove Saddam from power. The Central Intelligence Agency 's Special Activities Division (SAD) teams, consisting of

12376-562: The war was legal under previous UN Resolutions. In December 2002, a representative of the head of Iraqi Intelligence, the General Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti , contacted former Central Intelligence Agency Counterterrorism Department head Vincent Cannistraro stating that Saddam "knew there was a campaign to link him to 11 September and prove he had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs)." Cannistraro further added that "the Iraqis were prepared to satisfy these concerns. I reported

12495-410: The winner of the race by 312 votes. In its unanimous decision, the panel said, "The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the November 4, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately", and that Franken should be issued a Certificate of Election. The panel ruled that Coleman had failed to prove that mistakes or irregularities in the treatment of absentee ballots had changed

12614-470: Was captured by U.S. forces on 13 December. Hostilities of the Gulf War were suspended on 28 February 1991, with a cease-fire negotiated between the UN coalition and Iraq. The U.S. and its allies tried to keep Saddam in check with military actions such as Operation Southern Watch , which was conducted by Joint Task Force Southwest Asia (JTF-SWA) with the mission of monitoring and controlling airspace south of

12733-427: Was a liberal Democrat and actively involved in the antiwar movement of the early 1970s; he was once suspended for leading a sit-in protest. He ran for student senate and opined in the school newspaper that his fellow students should vote for him because "These conservative kids don't fuck or get high like we do (purity, you know) ... Already the cries of motherhood, apple pie, and Jim Buckley reverberate through

12852-457: Was a longtime Coleman supporter who owned a controlling share of DMT. The petition alleged that Kazeminy had used DMT to funnel $ 75,000 or more to Laurie Coleman through her employer, Hays Companies, in order to enrich Senator Coleman. McKim's petition covered several issues, of which the Coleman matter was only one. Coleman's 2009 Senate financial disclosure form disclosed that Laurie Coleman received

12971-419: Was among the corporations investigated by the committee, and its executive David Chalmers was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. It has also been alleged that the American government was aware of the scandal and chose to not prevent the smuggling because their allies Turkey and Jordan benefited from the majority of the smuggled oil. US Senator Carl Levin (D- Michigan ) is quoted in an interview for

13090-506: Was at odds with the DFL leadership. In a letter to supporters announcing the switch, he wrote, "while the political party I belong to changes, nothing about how I govern or what I believe changes at all." He was reelected mayor of St. Paul in 1997 with nearly 60% of the vote. Coleman was a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership . In March 2007 National Journal ranked him the fourth most liberal Republican in

13209-525: Was considered a front-runner for the position of chair of the Republican National Committee in 2010 in the event that incumbent Michael Steele did not seek reelection. Coleman said he would not run for the chairmanship if Steele ran for reelection, and did not after Steele announced his candidacy. In 2013, Coleman confirmed he would not challenge Franken in the 2014 Senate election . He also declined to run against Governor Mark Dayton in

13328-507: Was for control of the territory that was occupied by Ansar al-Islam. It was carried out by Paramilitary Operations Officers from SAD and the Army's 10th Special Forces Group. This battle resulted in the defeat of Ansar and the capture of a chemical weapons facility at Sargat. Sargat was the only facility of its type discovered in the Iraq war. SAD teams also conducted missions behind enemy lines to identify leadership targets. These missions led to

13447-441: Was leaving the DFL to join the Republican Party. He cited his frustrations with the Democratic Party and his belief that the Republican Party offered the best chance to continue his efforts to hold the line on taxes and grow jobs. Coleman's critics, mostly DFL party leaders, speculated that his switch was motivated by aspiration to statewide office. As an abortion opponent and a frequent adversary of public employee unions, Coleman

13566-576: Was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota . First elected as a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Coleman became a Republican in 1996. Elected to the Senate in 2002, he was narrowly defeated in his 2008 reelection bid. As of 2024, he is the most recent Republican to have represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate. Born in New York City, Coleman was elected mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota's capital and second-largest city, in 1993 as

13685-486: Was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and that invading that country was not justified in the context of UNMOVIC 's 12 February 2003 report. About 5,000 largely unusable chemical warheads , shells or aviation bombs were discovered during the Iraq War, but these had been built and abandoned earlier in Saddam Hussein 's rule before the 1991 Gulf War . The discoveries of these chemical weapons did not support

13804-423: Was no wrongdoing or impropriety by the Colemans or Kazeminy. Freeh said that both his investigation and a separate Deep Marine board investigation concluded McKim had made false claims in an attempt to force a larger severance package out of Deep Marine. The Intercept , questioning Freeh's impartiality, reported that nine days after Freeh's investigation cleared Kazeminy of wrongdoing, Kazeminy gave Freeh's wife

13923-562: Was not complying with UN Resolution 1441 . The main allegations were: that Saddam possessed or was attempting to produce weapons of mass destruction , which Saddam Hussein had used in places such as Halabja , possessed, and made efforts to acquire, particularly considering two previous attacks on Baghdad nuclear weapons production facilities by both Iran and Israel which were alleged to have postponed weapons development progress; and, further, that he had ties to terrorists, specifically al-Qaeda. The Bush administration's overall rationale for

14042-505: Was offered top priority to U.S. firms in oil and mining rights, UN-supervised elections, U.S. inspections (with up to 5,000 inspectors), to have al-Qaeda agent Abdul Rahman Yasin (in Iraqi custody since 1994) handed over as a sign of good faith, and to give "full support for any U.S. plan" in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process . They also wished to meet with high-ranking U.S. officials. On 19 February, Hage faxed Maloof his report of

14161-640: Was often at odds with the Democratic Party's more liberal members. In 1996 he was sometimes booed at DFL party events or excluded from them altogether. Coleman joined the Republican Party in 1996 and was reelected mayor of St. Paul in 1997, defeating Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nominee State Senator Sandy Pappas . He is, as of 2024, the last Republican mayor of St. Paul. While announcing his party switch, Coleman said that he "didn't intend" to run for governor in 1998. But his role in bringing professional hockey back to Minnesota and his popularity in St. Paul did help fuel

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