The War Was A Humanitarian War

During his announcement, President Bush claimed that Hussein’s government showed no regard for international law, human rights, or morality. He also promised that the coalition forces would make every effort to liberate people who were suffering from mass killing and other atrocities under Hussein’s regime. The goal was to remove the threat posed by Hussein’s regime and help Iraq to establish a democratic political system, which would allow it to become a benevolent and peaceful country.

According to Charles Ommanney “Much contention surrounds Bush's reasons for declaring war on Iraq. Many of his supporters believe that despite the false claims regarding weapons of mass destruction, Bush was passionate about bringing democracy to the nation. However, the Iraq war instead brought the country hundreds of thousands of casualties and severely damaged infrastructure. Many believe the war was unsuccessful in its aim to deter terrorist activity. Dissenters believe the Bush administration, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney, intentionally misled the American public in order to secure holdings for the oil industry. An MSNBC analysis of the incident reveals that many believe that Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfield came to the White House with the desire to start a war in Iraq. While the dispute continues, the fact remains one of Bush's goals in invading Iraq was to depose Saddam Hussein, and he was successful in that mission.”

The United States and Iraq have been on edge with each other for many years. Under the power of Saddam Hussein, Iraq was considered one of the strongest countries. Saddam was one of the most gruesome, malicious, and aggressive leaders at the time. He would kill innocent people, invade other countries, and attempt to build nuclear weapons. Saddam was looked at as a serious threat to the United States, so actions had to be taken. On March 19, 2003, George Bush declares war on Iraq. The invasion of Iraq lasted from March 20 to May 1. Many people do not agree with what the United States chose to do. So the real question people ask, should the United States have gone to war in Iraq?

The invasion of Iraq was held on March of 2003 and initiated the war of Iraq, the American occupation of Iraq has cost America thousands lives, thousand seriously wounded, and approximately $900 billion, and has negatively affected American interests throughout the world. The costs are not over. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq was promoted by America it was a polemical historical event in our society and around the world. Detractors against the war differed with the resolution of George W. Bush, President of the United States, to go to conflict with Iraq. While activists, pro-war supported his declaration for the invasion. Opponents of the invasion made claims that the war was a mistake “To invade Iraq without the U.N’s approval, because we think

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

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

Two short years after the terror attacks of 9/11 on March 20, 2003 the US declared war against a corrupt Iraq. George Bush believed that the Iraqis had Weapons of Mass destruction (WMD). The world has known of Iraq having chemical weapons, in 1988 the government ordered a chemical weapon attack against the Kurdish Iraqis, whether they had a nuclear bomb was still a question. The potential threat of Nuclear warheads in Iraq could be a threat to any opposing country to Iraq including: US, Israel, and any other ally of the US and more. Saddam Hussein had claimed that he was nearing a completion of a working warhead and aimed the statement at Iraq and the US, even though none were found after the invasion, America could take no chances. As tensions

​Whether the 2003 invasion in Iraq was a legitimate humanitarian intervention or not, is two folded. For instance, when viewed in the perspective of protecting the Iraqi citizens from the inhumane reign that they were subjected to, the invasion can said to be legitimate humanitarian intervention. On the other hand, when the invasion is seen in terms of its aftermath such as the destruction caused by it, the unpredictability nature of the war (Lambeth, 2013), and its effect that undermined the motives or rather the expectations of the Iraqi citizens, since it was associated with mass killings, then the invasion will not be regarded as a legitimate humanitarian intervention.

     The final and most important reason for the United States not to wage war against Iraq is that it will cause many war crimes. Wars always involve taking the lives of innocent people, and many other injustices that can be illustrated if we look to wars fought in the past. First of all, innocent civilians will be killed. The loss of every innocent life is an injustice and a tragedy. Secondly, after the Persian Gulf War fought from 1990-1991, the troops who fought in the war and the people of Iraq developed increased incidences of cancer and birth defects to their newborn children. This was later found to be due to the radioactivity of the depleted uranium used in the weaponry to fight the war. The current war against Iraq employs the same weaponry made of the depleted uranium, and will only cause more generations of people with cancer and birth

The Iraq war has been a very sensitive and divisive issue in today's society. Although we can not ignore the cloud around this administration when it comes to potential incentives that going to war presented, (such as oil for profits and retaliation to Saddam Hussein for the Gulf War and treatment of President Bush Sr.), I will look beyond these potential motives to explain why the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War was unjust simply because it doesn't fall into any of the four functions of force authored by Robert J. Art. The United States ignored the U.N. guidelines for peace, as well as its public protest against the war, to strike Iraq with an unprovoked attack. A war fought on the premise that this country had ties to Osama Bin Laden,

The main reason for invading Iraq was because America is concerned about the nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons Saddam Hussein might have. Intelligence indicated Saddam was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program and maintained links to al Qaeda affiliates to whom it might give such weapons to use against the United States. After two years of examining Iraq, the weapon search group failed to find weapon of mass destruction stockpiles or any program to produce them. The Bush administration has expressed disappointment that no weapons or started programs to produce weapons were found, but the White House had been reluctant to call off the search, holding out the possibility that weapons were moved out of Iraq before the war or are hidden somewhere inside the country. But the intelligence official said that possibility is very small. It is very likely if Iraq was holding any kind of weapons that America is concerned about, they would have used it to keep U.S soldiers out of Iraq.

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.

The political instability existed in Iraq prior to US intervention. Saddam Hussien was a brutal leader who did horrible things against the Iraqi people. During Saddam’s 23 years in power, he ruled brutally, displaying a savage willingness to crush anyone who questioned his position or even just displeased him. During his bloody 1980-88 war with Iran, he persecuted groups in his own country for dealing with the neighbouring country. Campaigns to suppress rebellious Kurds in the 1980s left 180,000 people missing and presumed dead. Saddam also used chemical weapons to kill 5,000 Kurds in the north and sent tanks to crush dissent among Shiite Muslims in the south. Stories of abuse, such as children being tortured in front of their parents, were

The United States had to justify the 1991 and 2003 invasion of Iraq. In both cases the United States used Iraq’s history of human rights abuses under President Saddam Hussein. In his speech President Bush stated,