The American war on Iraq has been one of the most controversial topics. It has been difficult to lay decisions based on this war in a blatant manner. While there are people vouching for the war, another group seems to think that the war is unfounded. This has led to upheavals by civic groups against this war. Consequently, President Bush of the United States of America has always been forced to explain his stand regarding the war. Whether or not the reasons given for this war are satisfactory remains an individual decision. Decisions always have consequences, and this statement has been proven through this war. The people of America and others all over the world have faced consequences for the decision to support America in the war against Iraq.
Iraq is a country that has faced a couple of problems over the past few decades. This rocky past is characterised by an eight year territorial war that was followed by the war in Kuwait. The gulf war developed as a result of this causing a lot of problems with various non- governmental groups. This conflict has significantly affected Iraq bringing it to the limelight in a negative manner. Still, questions are being raised on the worth of this war to the world and especially to America. This essay will try and analyse some of the reasons behind this war. Reasons will be given in the successes and the failures of this war. America has been successful in liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein’s regime, terminating jihadist terrorist groups and annihilating Weapons of Mass Destruction. Regardless of this, the American war in Iraq had a lot of negative effects, and it is thus considered as a failure.
Reasons President Bush gave his people for the war
In January 2002, President Bush declared war against Iraq, a war which he considered as freedom from the axis of evil. According to the president of this famous nation, the war against Iraq was meant to be a way of eliminating imminent threat. Apparently, Iraq was holding various weapons of mass destruction posing a danger to America and the rest of the world. This audit was done by the Central Intelligence Agency who insisted that Iraq had not accounted for all its biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction (Largio 9). Whether or not the figures in the audit were exaggerated remains a bond of contention. The United States of America went on war as a way of disarming then despite being opposed by other significant nations like Germany.
The president of America insisted that the war was justified regardless of negative opinions from the United Nations. He said that Iraq was a danger to America and the world at large. He further insisted advice from non- governmental organisations such as United Nations could not protect America against the imminent threat by Iraq. He also stated that the war was constitutionally accepted keeping in mind that it was a fight against terrorists. At this juncture, various countries came together to form a coalition on the fight against Iraq, ostensibly to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. Consequently, Iraq was invaded in March 2003 (Largio 10).
The Iraqi army was defeated easily, and President Bush declared a mission completed statement after this. However, not all the soldiers came back home. The Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was also captured over a number of crimes. President Bush insisted that there was a need to reconstruct that country. There was also the realisation that the country needed democracy that would go a long way in increasing self sufficiency (Blix 1). As such significant combats reduced, but American soldiers and other troops paroled and overtook some of operations in Iraq. He also stated that there was a need to defend the vast oil fields as these would easily come under the control of terrorists causing a global crisis.
This success was short lived when the American soldiers started facing an insurgency from the secretariat groups. Furthermore, the administration of president bush was criticised as the audited weapons of mass destruction could not be found (Largio 17). Also, it was stated that the war brought problems when it was used in other means. For example; identities of people working for covert operations were leaked to the media as retribution. Instead of accepting the mistake, president bush made assertions to prove that the war was worthwhile. Other countries felt used in this instance, and their support for the war declined.
Evidence for the exacerbating of the situation in Iraq was provided during the elections held in December 2005. Despite earlier projections, voter turnout was quite low further proving that the presence of American soldiers in Iraq was not improving anything. The negative impression of the Bush administration was enhanced by this fact (Hampson 1). The war was further criticized for the costs not being worth the cause. Furthermore, a lot of innocent Iraqis had lost their lives in this ‘weapon cleansing’ war. It seemed that the war was a little over rated and unworthy.
It is evident that the genuine grounds for the war were not viable. First, the stated weapons of mass destruction were not found. As such, it seems that President Bush invasion to Iraq might have been unwarranted from the first instance. Secondly, the intended outcomes had not been achieved by the end of President Bush administration. As such, the war against Iraq was not properly planned, and it was uncalled for (Dimond 35). Thirdly, the costs for the war were way too high. This is in terms of finances and the loss of innocent lives. Several audits were done by non- governmental bodies to prove that a lot of innocent lives were lost. To this end, it is correct to state that the war was a complete failure as not even one goal was met successfully.
Effect of the war on terrorism rate in Iraq
President Bush took a firm stand that Saddam Hussein was a dictator. There was a need to create a democratic and friendly Iraq which essentially meant getting rid of Saddam. Even though, this seemed a viable reason for the preparation of this cause, it was met with a lot of retaliation from Iraq. The arrest of Saddam Hussein brought a different meaning to the saying that ‘unity is strength’.
After the invasion of Iraq, the United States of America should have left Iraq together with other soldiers. Iraq should have been accorded the help it required but from a second man’s perspective (Blix n.d). Statements such as these have been repeated by various scholars. In fact, various expertise in terrorism went ahead and studied the inception of extremist terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Al Shabaab (of Afghanistan). Evidence provided suggests that Al Qaeda did not exist until the war in Iraq started. As such, it is imperative to say that one of the rationalities for the creation of terrorist groups was the unwarranted war (Blix n.d).
Apparently, the creation of these terrorist groups was akin to patriotism in America. The groups were formed as retaliation to the death of innocent Iraqis during the war to cleanse Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. America declared a war against sich groups (Zweir and Mathew 107). According to some scholars, the Iraq war led to the diffusion of the jihadist ideologist. This was especially so with the fact that Iraq became an ally to Iran after it was invaded by America. Islamic radicalism has been shown to have spread like wild fire after Iraq was invaded by America (Dimond 35). This is what further fuelled the acceptance of jihad as a form of being a martyr. This relationship of the Iraq war and terrorism has remained to be a subject of debate since the year 2003.
Some audits had been done by the National Intelligence Council, and it was projected that the invasion of Iran had a high likelihood of increasing the love for political Islamic beliefs. This also increased the infusion of terrorist groups in Iraq. Some of them came with the promise of supporting Iraq against America, but they were more inclined towards being the controllers of the vast oil fields. Iraq in this case only acted as a catalyst for ferocious backlash.
Furthermore, the arrest of Saddam Hussein allowed people to discuss politics freely. As such, people expressed both negative and positive feelings about each other’s diversity (Zalam 1). This led to an even bigger drift between the Sunnis and Shiites which led to the development of a civil war. This was also used as an avenue by terrorists to recruit more followers with the promise of safety and basic needs (Bergen n.d). Had this not happened, probably the proliferation of Iraq by terrorist groups would not have been as easy as it seemed.
Effects of the Iraq war on American society
The invasion to get rid of weapons of mass destruction from Iraq was successful in the first instance. The Iraqi army, which was evidently weaker, was defeated in an instance. The success has been attributed to the fact that other countries had come to support America in this ‘just’ quest. President Bush did not seem satisfied by this, and he insisted that some of the soldiers to be maintained in Iraq so they could restore it to democracy. It is patent to think that Iraq could be restored to a democratic country especially with a dictator like Saddam Hussein. This is probably where most of the problems in America began. The war is shown to have more negative than positive effects to America.
The success of the war in Iraq is attributed to the coalition of soldiers from different countries and the weakness of the Iraqi soldiers (Zwier and Mathew n.d). Scholars insist that the war was characterised by lack of proper planning and inefficient use of resources. This depicted America as a chaotic and sporadic country that relied on the hunch of the poor expertise in the country. Some insist that if the Iraqi soldiers had support from another nation, then the invasion would have been a complete disaster with America failing terribly. Americans were also sceptic in sending in more troops of soldiers making the country look ineffective.
The war in Iraq created a totally different view of the country in the international perspective. As most scholars insist, the lack of the stated weapons of mass destruction in Iraq depicted America’s lack of effectiveness. The pertinent question was how a team of expertise could have been thoroughly wrong (Applebaum n.d). Even though, the victory was swift, the insurgency was not foreseen by all the experts, and it took America by surprise.
The insistence on the maintenance of soldiers in Iraq soils even after the success of the first invasion had several effects to America. Scholars insist that the war had detrimental effects both to America and Iraq. Before the inception of the war, a budget estimate of the whole process was done. Various contributions were required from other countries to enrich this account. However, after the war, the budget was considered minimal as the war had cost America billions of dollars (Largio n.d). The survival of the troops, weaponry and the use of expertise to plan the war including time resources were a toll to America (Applebaum n.d). This was especially magnified after President Bush felt the need to maintain American soldiers in Iraq soils.
The general reputation of America was tainted after the invasion to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. Even in countries where America was supported and accepted, the situation drastically changed. This feeling was magnified by the lack of any economic or social benefits reaped by the other members of the coalition (Applebaum n.d). Generally, the war in Iraq triggered a feeling of grief to many families especially those with relatives in Iraq. Consequently, quite a number of people were rendered jobless, and they could not lead normal lives.
Despite all the negative effects, the war on Iraq triggered a feeling of patriotism in the American people. After the acts of terrorism, the number of citizen signing up for duty to serve America as soldiers and peace keepers increased (Steyn n.d). People also became socially active as a way of being in touch with the current situation. In other instances, some individuals felt that the war did not impact on them in any way (Bergen n.d).
Ways through which the war was a failure and a success
Initially, the war was supported by a large faction of the American society. This support was further enhanced by President Bush’s declaration that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. When the United Nations insisted that this war was unwarranted, the American president insisted that this could not protect the world. As a result, many other countries came in to support America’s quest. However, reality tapped in when there were no W.M.D.s (weapons of mass destruction). The war had its successes and failures despite this.
Successes of the war
It is quite evident that America’s invasion of Iraq was quite successful in liberating the country of a tyrannical dictatorship regime. The arrest and incarceration of Saddam Hussein allowed the country to be free of a dictator. Most of the country was allowed to discuss political matters freely. Even though this did not lead to the democratisation of Iraq, it was a huge step towards that cause (Steyn n.d).
After the invasion of Iraq by America, and the arrest of Saddam Hussein, most of the cities could regain almost normal operations. For instance Steyn states that about two thirds of the country could be able to function normally like running businesses among other factors (Steyn n.d). As such, part of the country was more than glad to have American troops on their streets. Normalcy was maintained for a while.
It is noteworthy that a lot of American soldiers lost their lives in Iraq. Ideally, this was a prominent impact to both the nation and the families of such individuals. This loss of productive young people had an impact to the economy of the country. Also, the families were overcome with grief, they were unable to function normally, and thus the productivity of the country declined. In some instances, some family members suffered permanent illnesses forcing both the family and the country to cater for them.
Failures of the war
Out of the few successes mentioned, the war in Iraq has had a lot of detrimental effects making it unreasonable. The principal objective of the war was to recover the said weapons of mass destruction (Zwier and Mathew 24). However, none of these weapons were recovered. After this, there was the need to transform Iraq into a democratic goal. This was impossible in the stipulated time as from previous experience it had never happened. Instead of correcting the problems in Iraq, the war left it in a rather pathetic state. Millions of innocent people died, a lot of property was destroyed and America became a common enemy (Dimon n.d). Also, the maintenance of American soldiers in Iraqi soils led to the development of terrorist groups. These groups were meant as retaliation effect.
The economic effects of the war have been repeated oftentimes. It is estimated that the budget was surpassed by about eighty percent (80%). Billions of dollars were wasted in that war, yet there was nothing to show for it. This money should have been invested in solving the problems at home (Bergen n.d). Moreover, the war depicted and magnified some of America’s weaknesses such as lack of efficiency and the inability to treat war veterans. This nation also became an enemy of countries which previously adored it. Conclusion
Most of the countries supported the war significantly due to the impendent threat of W.M.D.s. This is where most of the support emanated from. However, after the realisation that they had been taken for a ride, there was an insurgency from most of the countries. Despite this, the war was successful in liberating Iraq from a dictator who placed the country under a tyrannical regime. Furthermore, some jihadist groups created by the Sunnis were annihilated while recruiting soldiers in some areas around the country. However, the negative effects of the war outweigh the benefits deeming it a failure. It is time that the American administration realises that democratisation is not a short term goal. It also requires a lot of contrivance and measured consideration of each and every step taken.
Works Cited
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