Iraq War

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion1

Preamble to War1

Reasons to Go To War2

Timeline4

Conclusion5

References7

Iraq War

Introduction

Iraq, other than oil, possesses a long rich history laden with various insurgencies and wars. Once a part of the Ottoman Empire, it was under the control of the British during the World War I. Hence, in the successive years Iraq gained its independence from the British and established itself as an empire in 1932. After, which in 1958 it became republic and until 2003; it was notoriously being administered under Saddam Hussein. In the past, Iraq had not only been occupied but had also invaded other countries such as Kuwait, which resulted in the Gulf War in the early 80's. However, there are many political analysts, who have termed the U.S invasion of Iraq as being the second Gulf War in history (cia.gov, 2012).

Discussion

Preamble to War

It seems that America's hunger for wars or being in a state of war with other countries is insatiable, as it had been constantly at war for more than half of its entire existence. Similarly, many war historians and political analysts debate about the ethical justifications pertaining to American invasion on Iraq in 2003. Miller (2002) states that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in America, and the resulting attack on Afghanistan, had put President Bush's administration on the track to prepare for a defensive attack on Iraq. Hence, it was nothing less than a gamble to launch attack on Iraq because of the costs and other important elements involved. However, the case presented by the government, as claimed by Miller (2002), seemed logical on many grounds, despite copious international safety concerns and America's standing in the world. Many strong arguments were raised in the congress and at the civilian level, analyzing the ramifications of these attacks. However, the Bush administration was positive with its intent and purpose and estimated the war to cost less than expected (Miller, 2002).

Reasons to Go To War

Miller (2002) gives a detailed analysis of the case presented by the Bush administration to launch attack on Iraq. The reasons presented included, to fore mostly curb and overthrow the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein which was inflicting oppression on thousands of Iraqi's. In addition, Saddam Hussein could easily be categorized as the biggest abuser of human rights in the history and constantly shirked any warnings by the international community to curb his actions. Also, it was discovered about Saddam Hussein's involvement with various terrorist groups; hence, after 9/11 attacks in New York, America saw Saddam Hussein as a potential threat to its national security. Thus, overthrowing Saddam's regime would bring relief and peace to the Iraqis and the world.

Another plausible reason given was the continuous rebuttal of the warnings handed by UN to the Saddam regime, to which America argued that the global humanitarian body like UN sanctions must not be disrespected and each member country of UN must comply with its charter of conduct. Most important of all the reasons that was argued by the Bush Administration was the nuclear ...