Iran War was not worth it because it increased Iran’s Influence due to the removal of Saddam Hussein as a regional “balancer.”
The United States has for a long time used the tactic of shifting alliances between Iraq and Iran so as to balance power in the Persian Gulf. This can be traced back to 1953 when the United States overthrew the Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq and substituted him with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.1 This move by the United States to overthrow Mossadeq was meant to contain the influence of the Soviet Union in the Persian Gulf and also aid in regaining the control of Iranian oil which had been nationalized by Mossadeq’s government.2 At the same time that the United States was trying to shield Iran from the influence of the Soviet Union, the United States was trying to suppress the influence of the Communist Party in Iraq.3 However, the efforts of the United States were shattered when Iraq signed a treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1972.4 This caused the United States to increase its support for the Iranian Shah. However, things fell apart in Iran in 1979 when anti-American Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power leading to the overthrow of the Shah. Due to this unfortunate turn of events, the United States backed Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war of 1980s.5 However, since the United States had interests in Kuwait, the United States was against Saddam Hussein during the Gulf war.6 This is a clear indication of how the United States has successfully shifted alliances within the Persian Gulf so as to balance power between the Iraq and Iran. This paper takes the position that the invasion of Iraq by the United States was not worth it because it increased the influence of Iran due to the removal of Saddam Hussein who was the regional balancer.
First of all, it is important to note that during the Iraq war, the advisors of the Bush administration decided to shun the strategy of forming alliances and instead assume a neo-conservative approach which advocated for what Dower refers to as “the band-wagon logic.”7 Neo-cons argued that the “awe of the American military power would inspire fear and compel other nations in the Middle East to ‘jump on the American Bandwagon’ rather than confront American’s Wrath.”8 In addition, neo-cons argued that the creation of a democracy in Iraq would cause other nations in the Middle East to also transform to democracy.9 However, contrary to the hopes of the neo-conservatives Iran remains unshaken by the prowess of the US military. Instead of the US invasion instilling fear with Iran, it has provided a leeway for Iran to be able to increase its influence in Persian Gulf. The first way in which Iran has increased its influence in Iraq is by directly influencing the politics of Iraq. Iran directly funds two of the largest Shia political parties in Iraq. These parties are the Supreme Islamic Council and the Dawa Party.10 This means that Iran directly influences the political outcomes in Iraq by empowering the Shiite majority financially. The great risk that exists in Iraq is that because the United States under President George W. Bush created a Western form of democracy in Iraq, the continued funding of Shiite dominated political parties might lead to the formation of a “western-style republic based on Islamic law.”11 This would lead to the emergence of two Shiite dominated governments in the Middle East. This would be disastrous to the Sunni Arabs a phenomenon that the United States had avoided for a long time which caused the United States to support Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988.
The second way that the influence of Iran was increased by the invasion of Iraq by the United States was due to the fact that in the midst of the chaos that faced Iraq during in 2003 during the invasion of the United States, Iran provided “hospital treatment and surgery for wounded Iraqissupplied Iraq with 2 million liters of kerosene a day and provided 30% of Iraq’s cooking gas.”12 This means that as the United States engaged Iraq in a war in 2003 Iran was busy winning the hearts and minds of the Iraq people. Iran and Iraq have had a history of power struggles but currently Iran is not interested in competing with Iraq in that Iraq was adversely affected by the invasion of the United States and the death of Saddam Hussein. Instead, Iran aims at making Iraq an ally who would work to the best interests of Iran. This is manifested in the fact that Iran has been funding political parties in Iraq which means that getting Pro-Iranian leaders in power will make the Iraq government more acquiescent to the interests of Iran. Secondly, Iran is a source of aid for Iraq which means that the United States has to compete with the United States in trying to rally the government of Iraq behind them.
In conclusion, the Iraq war was not worthwhile because it caused the influence of Iran in the Middle East to increase. The influence of Iran is demonstrated by the fact that Iran currently funds Shiite political parties in Iraq so as to create an Iraqi government that is more acquiescent to Iran’s ideas. Secondly, Iran is a source of aid for Iraq which means that Iran is not interested in competing with Iraq but is geared towards making Iraq an ally so as to reduce the influence of the United States in the Persian Gulf.
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