The War Called Operation Iraq Freedom

The war on Afghanistan and Iraq was a learning experience for the United States foreign policy. On September 11th, 2001 nineteen Al Qaeda members hijacked four planes, two of which crashed into the world trade center, another into the pentagon and the last into Shanksville, Pennsylvania (Scholastic). The man who was behind this attack was Osama bin Laden and with refusal to hand him over, the United States quickly prompted an attack on Afghanistan. The second war which began in 2003 was due to the belief that Saddam Hussein had acquired weapons of mass destruction which was a direct threat to the safety of the United States, in addition there were also claims that Saddam Hussein had ties with Al Qaeda and was being supported by Osama

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.

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

The Bush administration commenced this war on terror because the Al-Qaeda terrorist group from Afghanistan had declared that they were accountable for the attacks (Green). In order to attempt to keep America safe, the U.S. strived to take apart these terrorists. Removing the Taliban government that was shielding the Al- Qaeda terrorist group was another reason the “war on terror” began (Green). Another war that started was between Iraq and the United States. After 9/11, the U.S. conquered Iraq on March 2003 and defeated Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s government (Bodden 44).

The Gulf War is often remembered as an easy victory by most Americans. Perceived as an intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory, and often referred to as a battle between good and evil. In reality, the U.S. military had a host of troubles in the conflicts of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Sheild which became known as the Gulf War of 1990-91, many of troubles were caused by the unnecessary deaths of allied troops, and the Iraqi civilians alike. Other catastrophes were avoided purely by luck or incompetence of the Iraqi Military. What new military strategies, procedures and technologies are now in place as a result of lessons learned. Hopefully to ensure that some of the worst mistakes that were made evident by the Gulf War will not be repeated in a subsequent war in Iraq or elsewhere. The intense reality of the actual battle fought by the United States and its allies against Iraq, left many a U.S. military spokesmen were scoffing at the Iraqi forces as “the fourth-largest army in the world.” And “the second-largest army in Iraq” by the world at the end of the Gulf War,

Following the attacks in America on September 11, 1999, there was a public outcry for justice throughout the country. Even with significant public support to wage war against Iraq, there was not enough reason to persuade congress. Over the course of two years, President George W. Bush proved that there was a purpose in the war, not only seek vengeance against terrorism; but, gift a people freedom from dictatorship. Yet, there were still downsides to war including inevitable loss of American life and damaged reputation for our country. For that reason, the United States of America should not have gone to war with Iraq in 2003 due to the extensive federal funding for undesirable warfare which took away from domestic prosperity, the preventable injury to veterans as well as violence against civilians, and the country’s damaged reputation achieved due to the illegitimacy of the war.

It has now been fourteen years since the tragic event of Sep 11 in New York, when hijackers struck two planes into the northern and southern building of the twin towers. Unfortunately two thousand and nine hundred and ninety six people lost their lives that day including over five hundred Muslims. Few days later it was concluded that alqeda terrorists in Afghanistan under the leadership of Osama bin laden were responsible for the deadly attack. Less than a month after the attack the U.S invaded Afghanistan in order to capture those who were responsible and a short time after Iraq was also invaded for the same purpose. For the next decade the U.S spent an annual of one trillion dollars towards the fight on terror. Fourteen years later it is

On September 11, 2001, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, New York. This was the very first contact that the United States of America had with the terrorism that went on in Iraq. March 20, 2003 marked the day that President George W. Bush announced the start of the war against Iraq (1). This was the beginning of a very costly war on both America and Iraq. The cost of the Iraq War was not just the amount of money spent, but the impact of war on the soldiers and the toll that it took on the families of those who were involved, as well as the amount of time and dedication of resources put into the war by the Government.

After Clinton left office, a republican from the state of Texas takes the presidency. George W. Bush wins the election of 2000 against Democrat Al Gore. Even though the Al Gore won the popular vote for the presidency, Bush won the vote from the Electoral College vote, causing him to win the running. Gore didn’t believe Bush won the votes, demanding a recount of the votes to ensure that he one but was later stopped by the Supreme Court. As president, bush supported many things, including the stem cell research, education reform, and the major tax cut for the people. Foreign policy became a great issue after the attacks on September 11, 2001 hit in the world trade center. 2 planes hit the towers each which caused them to collapse, 1 plane hit the pentagon and 1 plane attempted to hit the white house.

The US led Afghan war ignited soon after the 9/11 attacks on America, killing approximately 3000 US citizens in New York City at the time of George W Bush’s presidency. The tragic attack was brutally carried out by a prominent Al-Qaida Leader Osama Bin Laden, who had just fled his hometown in Saudi Arabia and was living in Afghanistan’s rugged mountains of Tora Bora. The Taliban Government heavily dominated Afghanistan at the time Osama Bin Laden carried out attacks on US soil, and he claimed responsibility for the attack subsequently. As a result, US requested the then Taliban leaders Mullah Omar to hand over Osama to the US authorities since he was responsible for the ferocious inhumane attacks on the US soil, killing thousands and damaging millions of dollar worth of property for revenge and retaliation purposes. The then Taliban leader rejected the US’s offer and denied giving up Osama to the US authorities considering him a special guest, and giving up guest was significantly against cultural code and values for the Taliban, especially for Mullah Omar – the leader. Therefore, George W Bush declared war on Afghanistan, sending thousands of troops and attacking the country. However, taking revenge, retaliation from Osama, and even demolishing Taliban’s terroristic domination over Afghanistan was a reasonable excuse for the US to take immediate action, but sending thousands of US soldiers who some didn’t make it back home, spending billions of US dollars, which also caused

The start of the 2003 Iraq War has been debated by many historians. The arguments made by Krebs and Lobasz in their article “Fixing the Meaning of 9/11 - Hegemony, Coercion, and the Road to War in Iraq” are very persuasive, as are the arguments made by David Lake in “What Caused the Iraq War?”. These arguments center around the mindset of the Bush Administration, which was fearful of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and eager to use the terrorist attacks of 9/11 as rationale for war regardless of clear evidence. Other historians have presented considerable arguments as well, such as Debs and Monteiro, who argue that Iraq’s possibility of having nuclear weapons posed concern to the Bush administration. However, the best rationale for the start of the 2003 Iraq War combines the coercion model put forth by Krebs and Lobasz with the Lake assertion that the post-war rebuilding was not adequately considered. Krebs and Lobasz have the most salient arguments on manipulations of information, with insightful points regarding the motives of the Bush administration. Their points, however, aren’t complete as David Lake contains stronger information in certain parts of the debate. Lake adds important observations about Saddam’s inability to admit to not having nuclear weapons and the U.S.’s failure to estimate the costs of the post-war were key causes for the start of the war.

On September 11, 2001, America was changed forever. The Islamist group al-Qaeda hijacked four planes and attacked both towers of the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon, as well as an attack on the White House which ended with the plane crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. Approximately a month after the attack, President Bush declared the War on Terror. This led to the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. The citizens of the United States had many mixed feelings about whether or not we should even go to war with Iraq; some were hesitant while others agreed with President Bush. In this essay, I will be explaining the arguments for and against the war and then state my own opinion on whether we should have or shouldn’t have gone to war.

After 9/11, Bush passed The Bush Doctrine which focused on removing any foreign leader that threatened the safety and integrity of the U.S. This meant that Bush can invade any country that is threatening the United States but only in the future. Immediately after 9/11, al-Qaeda was automatically blamed and Osama Bin Laden, whom was the leader, was declared the main “culprit” of the attack. Originally, Al-Qaeda considered targeting nuclear power plants but decided a more public place to cause fear and panic. October of 2001, in response to the attack bush declared war on the Taliban government for refuging and protecting bin Laden and his followers. Bush originally gave the Taliban a chance to surrender bin Laden. Since they refused, Bush launched

In August 1990 the leader of Iraq, Saddam Hussein commanded his military to invade Kuwait. Refugees fled Kuwait, as many citizens were robbed, assaulted, and looted. Kuwait is a small country located at the North-Western end of the Persian Gulf, this gulf separates South Western Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. Saddam Hussein was well known to be a ruthless dictator. Leaving this to be the first time a UN member nation had invaded one of its fellow UN member nations. According to legends, that Hussein himself accepted, during the war Iraq- Iran war he had used poison gas against both Iranian troops and Iraqi civilians because they opposed to his regime (Carlisle 3). With this certain example we can furthermore comprehend Hussein’s brutality and desire for power.

Buildings like the Twin Towers and part of the Pentagon where destroyed. Thousands of people died in the attacks. This attack was led by a terrorist group known as Al Qaeda. This attack from Al Qaeda has background relation with the Taliban. Who are the Taliban? They are a group in the Middle East known for attempting to achieve their goals through terrorism. While the Taliban and Al Qaeda had different in achievements and goals, they both believed violence was the only way to carry out their mission. After the attacks on 9/11, President Bush ordered invasions into Afghanistan and Iraq. Invasions into Afghanistan were ordered because Afghanistan refused to extradite Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda. In 2011, Osama was killed by a Seal Team thus ending the invasion in Afghanistan. The Taliban government fell due to the invasion and the Karzai Administration took control. The invasion into Iraq was to find WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) that the U.S. believed the Iraqis had ownership of. However, no weapons were found and by 2011 the U.S. withdrew the soldiers from Iraq. This invasion brought upon the nation a war against the U.S. forces. The U.S. under Operation Red Dawn captured and executed Saddam Hussein. Saddam was the leader at the time and was believed to have control of the WMDs. His execution led to a civil war between the Shias and Sunnis, two Islamic