The United States, Iraq, and The Ramifications of War Essays

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

U.S. foreign policy changed after the Cold War after the U.S. was unsure of what to do with their increased national defense. Many critics questioned the need for heavy defense spending and the large number of U.S. bases. For most of the twentieth century, the Cold War defined U.S. foreign policy as it centered around the idea of containment. After the Soviet Union fell, Americans shifted their focus from containing communism to solving several ethnic, religious, and cultural conflicts, more specifically toward peacekeeping, globalization, and humanitarian ideology. One such result of this foreign policy was direct action in the Gulf War in 1990; the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Operation Desert Storm deployed during the gulf war was viewed widely as a success and helped to reinforce Bush’s ideals about a new world

Firstly, it is important to understand why the United States decided to support Iraq. One of the reasons, is their loss of Iran as one of their “twin pillars.” When Nixon took office in 1969, his administration undertook a major review of US Persian Gulf policy. As part of an effort to redefine US military interests in key areas throughout the world by way of supporting certain states with arms rather than military forces. The result was the Nixon Doctrine, which relied on security cooperation with regional states to protect US interests around the world. In the Gulf, the United States heavily supported Iran and Saudi Arabia, a strategy that would quickly be known as the “Twin Pillar Policy.”

5 Operation Desert storm was a war between the U.S and Iraq. To those of us who are too young to remember this conflict is one that my grandfather tells me constantly that the price of freedom is never free. Armed forces of the united states and 100 other countries joined in a massive coalition of power to defeat a country called iraq led by a tyrant and dictator Saddam hussein into invading and occupying Kuwait. Naval and air forces and army and marine ground forces of America joined with countries such as Saudi Arabia , france ,Germany ,England ,Italy and other Arab countries joined into one effort to invade Kuwait and liberate that country from tyrannical rule. Where is and always will be the last option because of the deaths of thousands of people both friendly and enemy of soldier and civilian. By this conflict that started in January 1991 and is famously called the hundred hour

From World War II till his overthrow the Shah of Iran was a close ally with the United States and was one of the bases from

“Early on the morning of January 17, 1991, a massive U.S.-led air offensive hit Iraq’s air defenses, moving swiftly on to its communications networks, weapons plants, oil refineries and more. The coalition effort, known as Operation Desert Storm, benefited from the latest military technology, including Stealth bombers, Cruise missiles, so-called “Smart” bombs with laser-guidance systems and infrared night-bombing equipment” (“Persian Gulf War - Facts & Summary”). The goal here was to win the war in the air in order to reduce combat on the ground as much as possible. “By mid-February, the coalition forces had shifted the focus of their air attacks toward Iraqi ground forces in Kuwait and southern Iraq. A massive allied ground offensive, Operation Desert Sabre, was launched on February 24, with troops heading from northeastern Saudi Arabia into Kuwait and southern Iraq. Over the next four days, coalition forces encircled and defeated the Iraqis and liberated Kuwait” (“Persian Gulf War - Facts & Summary”). Bush declared a ceasefire on February 28, ending the Persian Gulf War. According to the peace terms, Iraq would recognize Kuwait’s sovereignty and get rid of all of it’s weapons of mass

Ordered by President George H.W Bush, relentless allied attacks were made on the Iraqi forces which led to their surrender. Though this win was a giant success for the allied forces, tension only rose nearly a decade later with the second Gulf War starting in 2003.

President George H. W. Bush approached Congress, asking for the authority to send United States troops to Iraq, to liberate the people of Kuwait from Iraqi control. The United States then launched an air war against Iraq in mid-January 1991. Despite the media telling American citizens that the United States took an involved role in the conflict in the Middle East to free Kuwait and end Saddam Hussein’s oppressive dictatorship, depicting him as another Hitler, this was false. President George H. W. Bush approached Congress for permission to send troops solely to make up for the United States defeat in the Vietnam War and prove that the United States was a world superpower. The United States’ actions consisted of primarily bombing Iraqi cities such as Baghdad. Many were killed during these raids, including children. Towards the end of the war, approximately six weeks after it began, the United States attacked Iraq using both a ground assault and air raids. As with the air raids, the ground troops encountered hardily any resistance. After the war, the United States left Saddam Hussein in power, which goes against what the media originally said the reason for United States military action was. President George H. W. Bush commented at the end of Operation Desert Storm that the United States victory in brought redemption to the United States after the defeat in

In September of 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, in the beginning of the eight year Iran-Iraq war. Iran was paranoid that Iraq’s leaders had “ambitions….in terms of expansion and regional hegemony”. 2 The invasion justified their fears. At first, we “did not have good relations with Iraq, which was had been close to the Soviet Union”.3 Although “not an ally of Iraq”, the United States believed that “Saddam Hussein should not be allowed to be defeated by a radical Islamist, anti-American regime”.4 There was speculation that the U.S. had given the Iraqis “the green light to launch war” against Iran.5 This would have been plausible because if Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, could seize oil-rich territory, the U.S. would then have “access to Iranian crude”.6 The United States also wanted to terminate the radical Khomeini government and with the prospect of Hussein capturing Iran’s main source of revenue, this was probable. Because of this, “over the next decade Washington would play an ambiguous role in the Iran-Iraq War.”7 Not only was Iraq receiving U.S. support, but Iran was too, despite the fact our relations with them were

Regardless of their reason, it was not in the best interests of the US or the UN for this invasion and occupation of Iraq in Kuwait. Kuwait had a minimal military and was unable to defend itself. The occupation began. All the worlds major powers condemned this occupation.

The gulf war began in the early 1990. It began when Saddam Hussein invaded his neighbors who were rich in oil.George W. Bush was in power as the U.S president he successfully spearheaded the war. President Bush’s foreign policy team forged an international coalition that was very unpredictable. This coalition consisted of the NATO allies and countries like Saudi Arabia,Egypt and Syria (The Middle East countries). Russia also joined the United States in condemning Iraq, who was its long-term client’s state. For this reason, Russia were not able to commit its troops.In 1991, air campaign was led by the department of state. This was followed by “operation desert storm” a war that managed to expel Iraqi forces from

Since the Iranian Revolution, the US has implemented a policy of “containment” toward Iran in an attempt to prevent the spread of Islamic fundamentalism; ironically, at the same time that the US is trying to contain Iran, it supports Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan. Similarly, during the Iran-Iraq war, the Reagan administration repaired relations with Iraq and openly supported them while simultaneously supporting the Iranians covertly based on the logic that either side should

government officials that were identified as conspirators against the Ba’ath party. (5) His ruthless and brutal dictatorship would bring his country to war with neighboring Iran from 1980 to 1988. Initially a territorial dispute, Hussein would cite Iran’s Islamic fundamentalism as his motives for continued combat and Iraq’s use of chemical weapons. (6) The war resulted in more than 100,000 combat deaths and drove Iraq deep into debt. The military annex of Kuwait in 1991 was intended to absolve Iraq of this financial responsibility to it’s neighbor. (7) The United Nations Security Council, in particular the United States, responded with force to drive Saddam Hussein’s army

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.

Saudi Arabia, concerned by the aggressive tactics of Iraq, requested help from the Allied Forces, in particular the United States. The United States, Britain, and allies responded and invaded Iraq in what was known as the first Persian Gulf War. The goal of the war was to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait and to stop attacks on Israel by Iraq (Gusterson). As the Allied Forces invaded the country and began trying to dismantle the regime, Iraq sought help from neighboring Iran while Russia, Iraq’s previous ally, decided to side with the United States. This left Iraq in desperate need of money when the war ended and United Nations sanctions left little money to be