While the plan to assassinate former President Bush was obviously unsuccessful, it also turned out to be a big mistake on Saddam's part, because Bush Jr. was soon to be elected President of the U.S., and came into office with a serious disliking of the Sadam regime.
Personally, I think President Bush would have liked to do something about Iraq earlier in his term, but he was distracted by the events of 9/11, and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan. However, as soon as events allowed, he returned his attention to Iraq.
The George W. Bush administration made a number of allegations against Iraq, including that Iraq was acquiring uranium from Nigeria and that Iraq had secret weapons laboratories in trailers and isolated facilities throughout Iraq. Saddam Hussein, under pressure from the U.S. and the U.N., finally agreed to allow weapons inspectors to return to Iraq in 2002, but by that time the Bush administration had already begun pushing for war. In June 2002, "Operation Southern Watch" (enforcing the "no-fly" zone) transitioned to "Operation Southern Focus," bombing sites around Iraq.
On March 20, 2003, a United States-organized coalition invaded Iraq, with the stated reason that Iraq had failed to abandon its nuclear and chemical weapons development program in violation of U.N. Resolution 687. The United States asserted that because Iraq was in material breach of Resolution 687, the armed forces authorization of Resolution 678 was revived. The United States further justified the invasion by claiming that Iraq had or was developing weapons of mass destruction and stating a desire to remove an oppressive dictator from power and bring democracy to Iraq.
Occupation
The war didn't last long. Most of Saddam's forces turned tail and ran immediately. After the establishment of a democratic government, on December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged. Hussein's half-brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Hassan and former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court Awad Hamed al-Bandar were likewise executed on January 15, 2007; as was Taha Yassin Ramadan, Saddam's former deputy and former vice-president, on March 20, 2007. Ramadan was the fourth and last man in the al-Dujail trial to die by hanging for crimes against humanity.
However, that's not the end of the story. After the invasion, al-Qaeda, America's old enemy from Afguanistan, took advantage of the national resistance to entrench itself in the country. Terrorist attacks sponsored and organized by al-Qaeda continue almost daily. However, attacks are not just against the American military still in country, but against the Iraqi citizens, as well.
America has now withdrawn all combat forces from Iraq and plans to withdraw all forces from the country by the end of next year. But, the real question is, "Will al-Qaeda let us leave?"
