In 1998 as a non-covert measure, the U.S. enacted the "Iraq Liberation Act," which states, in part, that "It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq," and appropriated funds for U.S. aid "to the Iraqi democratic opposition organizations." After Bush was elected he started being more aggressive toward Iraq. Then after the 9/11 attacks the Bush administration started saying that Iraq's ruler, Saddam Hussein, was connected to and supporting Al-Qaeda and that he had weapons of mass destruction despite the fact there was no evidence for either. Iraq was also one of the three countries Bush called out in his Axis of Evil Speech. In 2002 Congress passed the "Iraq Resolution" which authorized the president to "use any means necessary" against Iraq. The Iraq War than began in March 2003 when United States-led military coalition invaded the country and overthrew the Iraqi government. The U.S. captured and helped prosecute Hussein, who was later hanged. The U.S. and the new Iraqi government also fought an insurgency following the invasion. In 2011 the U.S. withdrew its soldiers from the conflict, though the United States returned militarily in 2014 to help stop the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).