In the years leading up to and during the Iraq War, the United States pursued a neo-conservative agenda that aimed to dismantle Saddam Hussein’s regime, eliminate the threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), and install a democratic government in Iraq. To do so, U.S. policymakers deployed military forces and diplomatic ambassadors to intervene. This strategy, clearly seen during the early invasion in 2003 and the surge of 2007, produced mixed reactions. Indeed, more than a decade after the U.S. decision to mediate, the question remains: Can intervention actually work? To answer this question, it is important to first define what intervention means in the context of Iraq. Intervention involved a combination of military might, cultural sensitivity, and tactful diplomacy. U.S. military forces engaged in more aggressive offensive maneuvers to subdue Saddam Hussein and insurgents, while ambassadors advised, often navigating the tenuous relationships between different ethnic groups. With this definition in mind, intervention was particularly effective in three specific instances throughout the U.S. occupation of Iraq: during the 2003 neutralization of Saddam Hussein and the successful establishment of the Kirkuk Provincial Council, during the 2007 “Surge”, and during the drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq. The first of the aforementioned successes, can be best understood by analyzing the early impacts of invasion. During that time, as the main body of coalition forces
Hussein was a ruthless dictator who ruled Iraq from 1979 to 2003 (Porter, 2017). On 2 August 1990, he invaded Kuwait; he subsequently occupied the country for six months, intentionally ignoring the UN Security Council’s demand for withdrawal until Operation Desert Storm expelled his forces on 27 February 1991 (Yoo, 2003, p. 2). Operation Desert Storm was “a massive U.S.-led air offensive” which attacked Iraq’s air forces, “communications networks, weapons plants, oil refineries and more” (History.com, 2009). On 3 April 1991, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 678, which was authorised by Chapter VII of the UN
Justification of the War in Iraq Despite contrary belief, the Iraq War can certainly be justified. This war began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by U.S troops under the command of former president, George W. Bush. This invasion can be vindicated for several reasons. The greatest is that Iraq was a severe menace to its own people due to a corrupt and distorted government, spearheaded by the dictator, Saddam Hussein. Furthermore, Iraq was a substantial threat to other nations in the world, including the United States of America because of its previous possession of weapons of mass destruction and ties with terrorist groups. It would be misleading to not mention the economic gains that motivated the American government to occupy Iraq.
The invasion and the war in Iraq remains a continuous topic of divisiveness and sensitivity in today’s America. One of the negative evaluation of the war is attributed to the false impression of the length of the war which lasted seven years, not six months as presumed in 2003. As the invasion initiated, the ideologies of American government then failed to perceive the large number of troops required, casualties and the financial toll in the interest of the preventive war doctrine. However, when weighing the failures of this war, there are successes brought home that relate mostly to the lessons the American military and the government learned with the use of counterinsurgency tactics after “winning the hearts and minds” of Iraqis (Young). Nevertheless, with evaluation through levels of analysis, the accomplished agenda of ending Saddam Hussein’s regime justifies success and failure, mutually.
What triggered the Iraq War that we are currently still having? During this time in history we were still in the cold war as well Cold War (1945–1991), a lot of events has happened during this time period. I am going to start with the Iran-Iraq war which started in 1980 and ended in 1988. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes, and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution. (Wikipedia, Iran–Iraq War, 2011). This war had at least a million and half casualties and it severely damaged both their economies, the Iran-Iraq war conflict is often
Since the war on Iraq began on March 20, 2003, at least 1,402 coalition troops have died and 9,326 U.S. troops have been wounded in action. This is no small number and the count grows daily. One would hope, then, that these men and women were sent to war with just cause and as a last resort. However, as the cloud of apprehension and rhetoric surrounding the war has begun to settle, it has become clear that the Bush administration relied on deeply flawed analyses to make its case for war to the United Nations and to the American people, rushing this country, and its soldiers, into war. This is not to say that this war was waged against a blameless regime or that our soldiers have died
a dictator to ensure US hegemony, in turn establishing Arab influence in support of American
This paper will look at and discuss the presidency’s actions involving Iraq from Reagan to Obama. Each and every president during this time has used different strategies and formats to get their agenda across, to not only convince the public, but the international community as well. We will show how Iraq has gone from an ally to overthrowing the government, to the ensuing turmoil that this created for everyone involved, from ours and their citizenship, governing bodies, and other world leaders. With over 35 years of intervention, we will determine if there has been a consensus of actions among our presidents, and see if there is a cohesive US strategy and long term goals that have been reached for all our effort and actions to all of this.
Iraq has been the concentration of the universal group and has been included unmistakably in the media as of late, as the radical Islamist assemble known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has significantly expanded its energy and impact in the area in the last half of 2014. The political turmoil and definitely crumbled security condition, which describes present day Iraq, can be followed back to the United States intrusion of that nation and ISIS, which has as of late developed in Iraq and Syria, in the revolt against the resultant US occupation, in those days as al-Qaeda in Iraq. In any case, for what reason did the US attack and involve Iraq anyway? Today, there is a troublesome civil argument about what the Bush organization's intentions were, with the probably clarification being a blend of the majority of the reasons advertised. What should likewise be considered is that the occasions paving the way to the 2003 attack just go most of the way to clarify why the US propelled this crusade, and keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend the intricate and multidimensional components adding to the Bush organization's choice to attack Iraq, one must backpedal further and look at pre 9/11 US
The attacks on 9/11 gave way to a Congress military intervention in the Middle West backed by the Americans. Military actions are extremely costly on the taxpayers pocket, but after an even in American soil that left more Americans dead than Pearl Harbor, many Americans were anxious to make someone pay. For the first time though the enemy wasn’t a country or totalitarian government, it was a radical group who’s military tactics were based on terrorism and insurgency. Al-Qaeda, under the tutelage of Osama Bin Laden, had declared war on United States after the army stationed in Saudi Arabia. Just like in Vietnam, a different terrain and unidentified enemy made it very difficult for the American troops to identify their enemy and remove them. America’s military superiority disseminated Al-Qaeda, the remaining members with Bin Laden escaped from Afghanistan to Pakistan. At the same time, it became known of Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction, giving birth to “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. More than 1.5 million troops have been
Based on a 2013 CNN report by Hans Blix, a Swedish Diplomat and former Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, “the [Iraq] war aimed to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, but there weren't any” (Blix). In addition, Mr. Blix mentions the intent of eliminating the Al-Qaeda terror group in Iraq, “but the terrorist group didn't exist in the country until after the invasion” (Blix). Moreover, Mr. Blix elaborates by also stating how the locals of Iraq may have been against the 2003 invasion of the United States. He elaborates by saying that intent of entering Iraq was to set it up as a “friendly base for U.S. troops capable to act, if needed, against Iran -- but instead [the invasion] gave Iran a new ally in Baghdad” (Blix). Needless to say, this evidence can be used to explain why the initial entrance to Iraq was a bad idea from the start. Ten years later, Stephanie Condon of CBS writes, “Americans are still politically divided over the war, though most say the U.S. should have avoided it” (Condon). In addition, she too elaborates that “there was evidence that year [2004] that the war was not going as planned – such as the lack of weapons of mass destruction” (Condon). With all of that information established it really is no surprise to see why Americans and Iraqis alike were frustrated with the ever-lasting occupation of Iraq, which ultimately ended in 2011. However, with the phasing out of al-Qaeda and the rise of the Islamic State in the area, as well as airstrikes being conducted against the latter of the two, controversies are again rising, discussing if the United States should be leading and carrying out these
In 2003, President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell launched an invasion of the nation of Iraq. United States Secretary of State Colin Powell outlined the reasons Iraq posed a threat to international security in a speech he gave at the United Nations. Iraq’s nuclear weapons program concerned the Bush administration. Fearing Iraq might use this program to act aggressively in the region, and wanting to secure oil supplies and a friendly regime, the administration pursued a plan of action to remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power (FLS 2016, 43). A constant secure supply of oil stood as a cornerstone of the military-industrial complex thriving in the United States and a friendly regime in such an oil rich country remained an important objective of President Bush. This directly conflicted with the desire of President Saddam Hussein of Iraq to remain in power.
The debate of humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect have been discussed in international relations discourse more seriously within the last 60 years. The major historical developments which have led to an increase in the intensity of these debates have had beneficial and detrimental effects on Earth within the last 20 years. Several factors have contributed to this including; globalization, the rise in international accountability, an increase humanitarian consciousness to prevent major atrocities from occurring, the expansion of territorial to global responsibility of the western world, and the realization of the western world that regional sovereignty no longer accounts for national security. To develop an opinion
The war against Iraq began on March 20, 2002, when the U.S lunched “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. This was after President Bush called Iraq part of an “axis of evil”, also calling the country dangerous which is threatening U.S with the world’s most destructive weapons. The major phase of the war began when U.S troops marched within 50 miles of Baghdad with heavy aerial attacks on Baghdad and other cities. After the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon which was believed to be the work of Al Qaeda, U.S was concerned about the security of the Untied States which lead to the war in Iraq. Even though U.S officials felt the war in Iraq is the main priority, but many people in U.S opposes the war which brings up a lot of controversial issues.
After the gulf wars, a ceasefire was negotiated between the United Nations coalition and Iraq. During the ceasefire, the United Nations became aware that Iraq had started a biological warfare program in the 1980s, as well as a chemical warfare program. Upon further investigation, they found that these programs had not continued after the war. As a result, the United States main focus moving forward was the removal of the Saddam regime, their official foreign policy for years to come focused on this goal. With the suspicions that Saddam Hussein had the abilities to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration going as far as to claim he already had them, the United States and other countries began devising a plan of action. These countries strongly believed that Iraq was a treat to its neighbors and the rest of the world, and that the only solution was to invade Iraq. The United States invading Iraq in 2003 was a turning point in the reason why relationship between Iraq and the United States is the way it is today.
While the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980's may have permanently altered the course of progress in Iran and Iraq, the war also altered the resulting permanent involvement of the rest of the world in the middle-east. The rich and complicated history in Iraq has established numerous cultural and ethnic traditions that all play a part in where the country is today. The Iran-Iraq War brought into focus some of those traditions and how they conflicted, while also bringing Iraq and its economic situation into the spotlight. Being on top of some of the most mineral rich soil in the world makes Iraq a major contributor to the world's economy through petroleum and crude oil exports. This, among other reasons, ties nations