The Causes And Consequences Of The Iraq War

The Iraq War, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom, took place in 2003 and dragged on for almost nine years, until the withdrawal of US troops in December 2011. The invasion was justified by the US using the new National Security Strategy that was proposed by the Bush administration. One of the key features of the National Security strategy was the justification that the US could preemptively strike targets nations that it deemed a threat to the security of the US. In order to justify the invasion of Iraq, the governmental leaders in the US claimed that Saddam Hussein had ties to Al-Qaeda and other terror groups, as well as using Saddam’s use of chemical weapons as legitimization for the war. Once the war began on March 20, 2003, the original

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 Iraq war was occurred in 2003 between Iraq and the Unites States. The United States invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein despite not being backed by the United Nations because they claimed that Iraq had a WMD program and were linked to Al-Qaeda. However, no WMD program nor any direct links to Al-Qaeda were found. After the United States had occupied Iraq for a few months, Islamic extremist groups were founded. The United States goal of overthrowing Hussein was accomplished, but this was the incorrect time to overthrow him, as Islamic terrorist groups came in his place. The short-term effects of the Iraq war were the formation of AQI and the increased tensions between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims. The main long-term effect the Iraq War was an increase in worldwide distrust towards the United States. In conclusion, the Iraq War destabilized the Middle East by going against the UN security council and attacking Iraq, then finding neither a WMD program, nor links to Al-Qaeda, which were the reasons they invaded

In 2003, President George Walker Bush and his administration sent the United States military to war in Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s ruler and dictator, who murdered over 600,000 innocent people, and “...used chemical weapons to remove Kurds from their villages in northern Iraq…” (Rosenberg 2). According to the Department of Defense’s website, the war removed Saddam Hussein from power, ending an era when “Iraqis had fewer rights than when its representatives signed the Human Rights Declaration in 1948” (1). American blood, money, and honor was spent in what was allegedly a personal war and perhaps a fight to gain oil and natural resources, but only history may reveal the truth. Although the Iraq War removed tyrant Saddam Hussein from power, the failures of the war dwarf the successes.

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

The fourth mission was to collect more information on Iraqis weapons of mass destruction activity, as with the objective of collecting information on other terrorist groups. The U.S military recovered documents on its illegal weapon programs. The fifth objective was too lock Iraq’s oil production and fields. Many people thought was the first objective because U.S military forces secured the filed within early hours of the war. The U.S had made announcement on April 14th, that all of Iraqis major oil sources were under control. There was very little damage on the resources. One of the last goals that were important to the United States was too give Iraq humanitarian relief and end sanctions. Even while the war was still in the process the U.S forces started to help the

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 reason for the invasion of Iraq was that they were suspected of harboring weapons of mass destruction and they were a potential threat to world peace. However no evidence has ever been found of the existence of such weapons in Iraq and this brought a lot of criticism on the US. This was however not the first altercation the US has been involved in in the Gulf war they fought with Iraq in order to protect their oil interests in the gulf region. The united states in the past has been known for going to war to protect is economic interests from the second world war, to the Vietnam War to the Korean War. All was aimed to protect the economic superiority of the United States. The resolution that brought the gulf war to an end put Sadam Hussein in power and thereafter he failed to follow some compliances the United Nations had imposed and in 2003 the Us led a coalition of forces aimed to remove Sadam Hussein from power and it was successful as he was executed 3 years later. This however started war in the country with the people bring opposed to the occupying forces and the new government that was in place. They also had additional reasons for

The first was that Saddam Hussein had no WMD’s to hide. As Jamie Tarabuay puts it, “the search for WMD turned up empty-handed (2015).” Another reason against the war was that there was that Iran flourished after their main nemesis, Iraq, was destroyed; after the “death of [Iran’s] main nemesis, [Iran] now exerts greater influence over a region stretching from the Persian sands all the way to the verdant Levant (Tarabuay, 2015).” A third reason that people opposed the war is that the new Iraqi makes it hard to business regarding oil; the new government imposes “severe conditions” for new oil contracts and resists privatizing their oil fields (Tarabuay, 2015). A fourth reason that the other side claims that is that the Arab Spring and the invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with each other; Tarabuay claims that a connection with the Iraq War and the Arab Spring is Nonsense. A fifth reason is that the US did not make a democracy that worked; James Traub argues that while he believed the war could be just, President Bush did not accept responsibility for post-war nation building (2015). While both sides make very good arguments, the solution is not as black and white as it

     The war waged on Iraq by the United States has been the cause of heated debate all over the world. Many people have opposed the United States attack on Iraq for many viable reasons. Some of these reasons include that it is not in the best interests for the reputation of the United States with the other nations of the global community, it poses an increased threat to United States homeland security, and it will result in many unjust crimes committed by the United States.

As stated by the US vice president there was no ISIS until the US invaded. Which suggests that the main cause of the world’s massive issues with terrorism are a result of the United States invasion to Iraq. The US’s justification to the world was that Iraq was concealing nuclear weapons which went against all agreements and all trust the US had with them. Although, proliferation of nuclear weapons was the reason given to maintain harmony in the world the US had more complex rationales to advocate for their invasion to Iraq. The United States being one of the major oil consumers worldwide wanted domination over the oil-rich Middle East and perceived taking control over Iraq as a key machinery to vanquish them. Saddam Hussein’s destitution and

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.

On September 20, 2002, the Bush administration published a national security manifesto titled "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America"; sometimes called “the Bush Doctrine”, which is a justification for easy recourse to war whenever and wherever an American president chooses. The United States wanted more control over the Middle East and the oil that could be obtained there; all they needed was an excuse to go to war and in turn be able to obtain resources. After 9/11 Bush had his excuse; Al Qaeda. Weaving a trail of propaganda and fear through the media with false information, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq in pursuit of his form of hegemonic internationalism. The reasons broadcasted by the White House claimed that Saddam Hussein (President of Iraq in 2002) was building weapons of mass destruction and promoting/supporting terrorism which made him a grave threat to the western world. The real reason behind invading Iraq was to secure American access to vital resources, being oil. Iraq had been attacking Iran who was dangerously close to Saudi Arabia which is a huge supplier of oil to the United States. Once the United States had control of Iraq they installed a sympathetic “democratic” government which had eliminated the Iraqi threat to Saudi oil. Through the pursuit of hegemonic internationalism the United States had achieved one of its national interests, obtaining vital resources, but at a huge cost. Over 1 million

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.

In this paper, I intend to analyze Iraq war of 2003 from Realist and Marxist/ Critical perspectives. I intend to draw a conclusion as to which theoretical framework, in my opinion, is more suitable and provides for a rational understanding of the Iraq War. While drawing comparative analysis of two competing approaches, I do not intend to dismiss one theory in entirety in favour of another. However, I do intend to weigh on a golden balance, lacunas of both theories in order to conclude as to which theory in the end provides or intends to provide a watertight analysis of the Iraq war.