The Iraqi War has Made a Fool of George Bush
There were several wars in the twentieth century that caught the attention of the people. World War II, Vietnam War and The Cold War are only a few of the many wars we lived by. Now, in the twentieth first century the first war we have lived is the Iraqi War. The United States started a war against Iraq for causes that brought more negative than positive effects for the Iraqi people.
II. CAUSES
The Iraqi War started for allegations the U.S. had against Iraq with the United Nations. Even though Saddam Hussein, the President of Iraq gave a report to the United Nations of all the arms he possessed, the United States decided to take action superceding the United Nation’s diplomatic process
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In the actual Iraqi war, the losses were not as numerous as they are today. Doctor Eva Maria states in Hasslberg, “The bombings were 90% predictable; the present situation is totally unpredictable.” (2). The confrontations between Iraqi men and United States soldiers are on the rise and there seems no end. Another reason why American soldiers are dying everyday is due to accidents. Many accidents have been reported since the end of the Iraqi War. Cooperman gives an example about a soldier, Sgt. William L. Payne, 46, in a May explosion. “A Department of Defense news release said Payne was “examing unexploded ordnance” in Haswah, Iraq, when the accident occurred.” (2).
This accident is just one of the many occurring on Iraq. Other incidents include an Air force technician whose group was captured on the way to Baghdad. There is also a twenty three year old man who was shot by a sniper when directing traffic in Baghdad. (Cooperman 2). Therefore, traffic incidents are currently one of the main reasons of non-combat deaths among American soldiers. The war may be over but our American soldiers are still dying. Another effect of the Iraqi war is crime. Ever since the war ended, there seems more crime in the streets of Baghdad. The city seems worst now than before the war and even during the war. A doctor stated in Hasslberg, “This is a city where 1200 criminals are on the loose.” (4). There are still battles everywhere between Iraqis, American, and British. We
The soldiers have constantly experienced their friends being killed right in front of them with the most gruesome death. The soldiers being shot by a machine gun.
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.
Throughout American history wars have played a huge part. From the start of the country to the present wars have played a lagrge part in shaping America into the national power that it is today. Not only is America the most pwerful nation in thwe world but it is also the policeman for the entire world, making and checking up on the world and all the interactions of foreign countries worldwide. Being born in born in the early eighties prohibitied me from experiencing many of the Americas war firsthand. This however changed early in the 1990's.
Stressed by war and long overseas tours, U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year at the highest rate on record, the toll rising for a fourth straight year and even surpassing the suicide rate among comparable civilians. Army leaders said they were doing everything they could think of to curb the deaths and appealed for more mental health professionals to join and help out. Clearly, the military is going above and beyond to try and prevent further lives from being taken.
As a consequence of the stresses of war and inadequate job training, when they get out of the service many have fallen behind their contemporaries. If they are fortunate enough to become employed, many of them are unable to hold a job due to untreated PTSD and acquired addictions without services and counseling designed for them. These factors may place our returning veterans at a higher risk of suicide. In 2007, the US Army reported that there were 115 suicides among OIF/OEF veterans. This was the highest number of suicides reported since the Army started keeping track about 30 years ago. In general, the risk for suicide among these veterans was not higher than that found in the U.S. population (Tull). However, there are several programs and 24 hour suicide hotlines available for those that may contemplate committing suicide as an option.
The disbanding of the Iraqi army and “debathification” or dismantling of the government in place only served to increase the casualties of American troops and Iraqi civilians as the radical Sunni insurgency expanded. This point of cause and effect, clash of two distinct political and cultural worlds, defined this war for the generation serving, at home and the future generations. The threat of increasing terrorism after the attack of September 11, 2001 was one of the driving force of invasion of Iraq. However, in one analysis the increase of global terrorism today is told to be well contributed by the conflicts that were fueled by the western presence in Iraq and the surrounding
As seen from the eyes of an American soldier, Chris Kyle, a sniper in the Iraq War, “The streets were covered with splinters and various debris… Metal shields blocked most of the storefronts…” (Source A). Just like in most wars, many towns and cities targeted in the Iraq war were destroyed as an effort to break the will of the people or the economy in that area, in hopes of a US led , coalition victory. These destructive raids on cities not only crumple infrastructure, they kill innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the war. The innocent killing of civilians has increased since WWI, the first of the modern wars where civilians were majorly targeted. Since WWI, the ratio of civilian to soldier deaths has risen dramatically. The ratio during WWI was 1 civilian per 9 soldiers, since then, the ratio has flipped to an alarming 9 civilians
According to Albert Bin, "the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency estimated 100,000 Iraqi military deaths" (Bin, 237). Philip Taylor adds, "the United States had only 148 killed in action, 458 wounded, and 121 died through non combat incidents" (Taylor, 102). The United States victory was the most lopsided in recent history, in terms of numbers who died when looking at both sides. Casualties did not only occur during the progress of the war, "about 12,000 Iraqi civilians died during the war, and 5,000 civilians died since the end of the war due to wounds, lack of medical care, or malnutrition" (Lopez 1991). These statistics reinforce the realist belief concerning wars because of the numerous deaths that resulted from the Persian Gulf War; That is, the casualty count of the war supports the belief that the war was inadequate and preposterous due to the lack of concern for lives, rather the concern for substantial power and stability. Both Iraq and the United States were at war only because they both had oil interests that would help to expand either state's power.
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
Many soldiers have health problems. On August 31, 2010 President Obama announced that operation Iraqi freedom was ended. Statistics show that 4,412 service men had died and 31,939 servicemen were injured during the course of this war (Military). In 2011 there were two
With war there are injuries and death, but in quite a few clips of the
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.
According to the UN only 9,759 civilians have died in Afghanistan, but the Lansing medical journal reports that 654,965 civilian casualties occurred in Iraq from 2003 to 2006 so these reports should be taken with a grain of salt. On the pro-Saddam side of the war 76,778 Islamists fighters have died; these deaths were made of security forces, private contractors, Sons of Iraq, and most were made up of other supporters of the regime. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Armed Forces have suffered 4,487 deaths and 32,223 were wounded in action as of May 2012.