The Iraqi Civil War Analysis

The United States invasion and subsequent military occupation of Iraq in 2003 is one of the most debated and highly controversial war in U.S. history. The Bush Administration had made claims that the Iraqi Government was complying weapons of mass destruction which posed a consequential threat to the United States national security; the administration also argued that the Iraqi government was violating human rights of their citizen and launch a responsibility to protect against the president at the time; Saddam Hussein. This paper strives to understand the rationality behind the war from an analytical standpoint by using two theories of international relations: Realism and Liberalism. Both theoretical arguments aided in analyzing the reasoning

As the world's top superpower and the country that spends the most on their military, you might not think about the cost of war or conflict, but it has a huge effect on America's economy. “The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest” (Trotta). War drains resources from productive use so that the economy has a less productive capacity than it normally would. The impact of this waste of resources becomes larger the longer the war goes on. The Iraq war lasted eight years and still has effects on our economy and veterans. “The budgetary costs of providing disability compensation benefits and medical care to the veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan over the course of their lives will be from $350 - $700 Billion, depending on the length of deployment of US soldiers, the speed with which they claim disability benefits and the growth rate of benefits and health care inflation” (Bilmes). Veteran deserves nothing but the highest respect and deserves every penny they get for medical treatment, but a 6 trillion dollar war and 700 billion in benefits all for one war is costly for the

forces at a hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In June 2011, President Barack Obama announced the beginning of large-scale troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, with a final withdrawal of U.S. forces tentatively scheduled for 2014. Many people throughout the world (though not all) are in agreement that the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein. In losing Hussein, the Iraqis gained freedom of expression. Due to us fighting the war they are slowly turning into a democracy. Iraq could eventually serve as an example of democratic transition for other nations in the Middle East. However, it’s too soon to measure the benefits of the Iraq war. It remains to be seen how history will judge America’s involvement in Iraq. The war against Iraq was a war that needed to be fought. If we fought more ruthlessly it would of been over sooner. In October 2002, a National Intelligence Estimate stated that Iraq possessed “weapons of mass destruction,” or WMD. On March 19, 2003, with the support of Congress and the majority of Americans, the U.S. military began bombing Baghdad in a campaign titled “Shock and Awe.” The result was 189,000: Direct war deaths, which doesn't include the hundreds of thousands more that died due to war-related hardships. 4,488: U.S. service personnel killed directly.32,223: Troops injured (not including

The Civil War can be conceptualized into four different stages: The Anaconda Plan, Dividing the South, The War for Freedom and finally Grant’s War of Total Annihilation.

Most Americans agreed that spreading democracy in the Middle East was a good idea, it came at a price. As of 2013, the War in Iraq alone cost the United States about $2 trillion and took the lives of about 134,000 Iraqi civilians, according to Reuters. In addition to the War in Iraq, The Afghan War cost a third of a billion dollars for the United States and between both Afghani civilians and Coalition servicemen has cost tens of thousands of lives. Also, while the ultimate goal was for the Middle East to have Westernized governments, these wars had controversial justifications. It was thought that the radical Islamic extremist groups posed a threat to the United States and Iraq supposedly had weapons they should not have had.

The Syrian Civil War is no different. There are two opposing views that feel strongly about what they are fighting for and the war is having a major effect on the country’s infrastructure and rate of development. However, only time will tell if any good will come out of the country’s civil war.

occupation. Three major ethnic groups inhabit Iraq – the Sunnis consist of about 20% of the total population, the Shia’s (60%) and the Kurds (20%). It is important to note the Iran; a Shia majority enjoyed the support of southern Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The smaller Sunni population was the ruling class (Ba’ath Party) under Saddam and enjoyed the luxury of his autocratic leadership style while basking in the ill-gotten gains his terror brought them. When the U.S. invaded Iraq to ouster Saddam, the military vanished without mounting any significant resistance, the government collapsed; the Ba’ath Party went into hiding - rendering the country helpless and leaderless. Since the fall of Baghdad to the present, the state has possessed very little capability to control or regulate the society, their actions or foster a peaceful existence. Currently, elected in 2014, the President of Iraq is Fuad Masum, a Kurdish leader representing about 20% of the population. Insurgents (ISIS) are running rampant in the country and attacks on Iraqi

I agree with the war, having a toll on the non-combatants as well, you bring up a good point.

Within three weeks the US led 49 countries into Iraq and overthrew the government. The Iraqi War has caused large controversy in this country and around the world. The real question is wether or not the cost of lives and dollars was worth it. Although Iraq may have posed a security risk to the US, the war did not provide substantial benefit and caused more financial issues and human expenditure. Outside countries say the War violated international law, killed countless, wasted millions of dollars, and made the US more vulnerable to terrorism.

The conflict in Iraq is currently sectarian violence between Sunni religious rebels, represented by ISIL, and the Iraqi government lead by secular Shia parties

Not true. Despite all the problems of the past decade, the overwhelming majority of Iraqis agree that we’re better off today than under Hussein’s brutal dictatorship. Iraqis will remain grateful for the U.S. role and for the losses sustained by military and civilian personnel that contributed in ending Hussein’s rule. These losses pale by comparison, of course, to those sustained by the Iraqi people. Our government emerges from this experience determined to ensure that these sacrifices contribute to a future of freedom and prosperity in our country… The United States has found a partner for our shared strategic concerns and our common efforts on energy, economics and the promotion of peace and democracy.” This article’s title was “By the way, we won the Iraq War.” However, if we do intervene with Iraq then we would have some really great benefits from it. The question is: does American intervention in Iraq do more good or more

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

United States military was moving into Iraq, the American economy was taking the first assault of a long and expensive fight. Victory was declared several years ago, and many are content to leave the story at that point. Advocates of the war have hailed its expediency and relatively minimal cost to the United States and its allies. The facts support a different conclusion. The truth lies in the economical devastation that the war in Iraq has left in its wake. The only accurate summation of the war is to say that the United States’ invasion of Iraq was not economically responsible.

On March 19, 2003 Baghdad was under fire. Three weeks later, American tanks roll into the Iraq capital scenes of triumph replaced by chaos. The US Military wasn’t prepared for citywide civilian crisis and eventually everything went up for grabs—even the treasures of the Iraq museum. The Iraq Museum have object materials from about half a million years ago – carvings, statues, and pottery. All the archaeological data was housed

Syrian civil war started in 2011 was the outcome of the opposition against the President Bashar al-Assad regime. The uprising emerged as a response to the Arab spring movement that lead to regime change in Tunisia and subsequently turned into mass unrest rooted into the discontent with long-term dictatorship and poor economic situation in the country (Manfreda, n.d.). The number of Syrian citizens killed in the civil war reached 140000 since March 2011 (SBS 2014). The European Commission (2014, 2) reports approximately 9.3 million civilians “in need for humanitarian assistance”. The scale of armed rebellion between government and opposition that lead to an increasing number of casualties among civilians did not remain unnoticed by the