The Iraq War lasted officially from 2003 up to 2010 and it is one of the most controversial issues in the local and global political agendas. Various assessments by authoritative scholars on this war have varied in their results since they vary from the top most degree of appraisal to the highest levels of condemnations. In general, it is very difficult to assess accurately the internal situation in Iraq since there are many unexpectedness and ambiguity. In addition, Iraq can either fail or succeed. The Iraq invasion in 2003 (20 March to 1 May 2003) was the beginning of the conflict mostly referred to as the Operation Iraqi Freedom or the Iraq War (Harvey 02).
This war started when a combined force of various troops from the U. S together with the United Kingdom and other smaller contingents from Poland and Australia invaded Iraq where they toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in 21 days because of key combat operations. It is paramount to note that this particular phase, which took place from March 2003 to April 2003. It consisted of a predictably fought war that ended after the fall of the Iraq’s capital city known as Baghdad. This then marked the start of the current Iraq War, which is the second phase of this war and also a continuation of the 1991 Gulf War that began when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. In the 1991 Gulf War, the Coalition Forces defeated Saddam Hussein and he agreed to destroy and/or surrender numerous types of weapons, which included the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and the SCUD missiles. This study will expound extensively on the Iraq War in order to comprehend fully what caused the war and how it affected international security (DeFronzo 04).
In accordance to both Tony Blair who was the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister and President George W. Bush who was then the American president, the fundamental reasons for the Iraq invasion were to get rid of, and disarm weapons of mass destructions from Iraq. The other reasons included setting free the people of Iraq and to end the Saddam Hussein’s regime support for terrorism which at that time, this allegation had not been confirmed. According to Tony Blair, the paramount trigger for invasion was the Iraq’s failure to capture effectively advantage of the final opportunity that it had been given to disarm itself of any biological, chemical and nuclear weapons that the British and the United States officials had called an intolerable and immediate threat to the peace of the world. Although there were some remnants of the pre-1991 production that had been found after the 1991 Gulf War, a US spokesperson is on record having confirmed that indeed those weapons found were not the paramount reason why the US had gone to war. There are other speculations that the invasion took place so that Britain and the US could take away oil from Iraq but there are no substantial prove for this. In addition, the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) released a report in 2005 that stated that indeed there were no WMD (weapons of mass destruction) that had been found in Iraq (DeFronzo 15).
It is worth noting that the Iraq invasion had been strongly been opposed by various traditional US allies that included Canada, New Zealand, Germany and France. The presidents of these countries argued that there was no substantial evidence to prove that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they insisted that any invasion in Iraq was no justified in accordance to the report on February 12, 2003 by UNMOVIC. The UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) was established through resolution 1284 that was dated 17 December 1999 that was adopted by the United Nations Security Council (Harvey 17).
In 2003, 15 February, which was a month prior to the Iraq invasion, there were protests all round the world and these mass protests were against the invasion. Among these protests included, a rally in Rome that consisted of over 3 million people and it is listed as the largest anti-war rally ever to be held in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. In accordance to notable researchers in international security, the period of January 2003 to April 2003, saw over 35 million people worldwide taking part in nearly 3,000 protests to stop the Iraq War. Majority of these people were questioning the rationale behind the Iraq invasion as a response of what happened in 9/11 since there was no connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein (DeFronzo 29).
The Iraq War was indeed not justified sine it left many complications concerning international security since it affected Iraq internally by waging a civil war and it complicated relationships that are very delicate between Iraq, The United States and the Middle East. As a resultant to this war, there was a readjustment in balance of power, whereby Iraq experienced undue influence from Iran, the credibility of the US in the region also shifted and there was confusion in the Arab diplomacy. The war also increased the roles of other regional powers such as China and Russia, issues of ethnic and sectarianism conflicts escalated both in the regional neighbors as well as in Iraq. It is paramount to note that after this war, the Arab regimes stalled reforms and democratization in their respective countries since the Americans were spearheading them and the terrorist ideology and strategy were both shaped and escalated by this conflict (Dannreuther 05).
The fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime changed the traditional balance of power mainly in the Middle Asia. Iran and Iraq were the Arab powers and they formed the ultimate regional power balance before the 2003 Iraq War and because of this war, the regional power balance shifted towards Iran. Currently, the Arab nations have the perception that Iran can maneuver easily in the region’s core since Iraq acted as a buffer to Iran. Since there is no strong leadership in Iraq, the Arab regions is left exposed (Harvey 81).
It is evident from the above literature that the Iraq War did not conform to the noble principles of just war theory since there was no substantial prove for the invasion. The reasons that were initially given by Tony Blair prior to the war were only speculations that had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt. Each country is a sovereign country and in accordance to international security, there is no country, which has the right to invade the other without having sought for permission from the United Nations Security Council. Even after seeking permission from this fundamental institution, it will not allow that country to go to war but it will send its own consortium of soldiers to handle the situation. There has to be credible evidence to prove that the country to be invaded is a true threat to the other country as well as the whole region. However, despite going to war, there are other numerous methods, which can be utilized in order to avert going to war since this will only cause damage to innocent civilians as well as escalate the already thorny issue regarding refugees around the world (Morgan 58).
In conclusion, the Iraq War would have been avoided if proper adherence to stipulated policies and procedures had been followed and it is evident that indeed there was no prove that Saddam Hussein had the weapons of mass destruction. The many protests that took place worldwide prior to the war were an indication that there was something wrong with the yet to be Iraq invasion and the United Nations would have issued a stern warning to all the countries that wanted to invade Iraq to stop (Morgan 73). However, this was not the case and the Iraq War resulted to many civilians being killed and the damage to property was humongous to bear. The delicate relationships among the Middle East countries were further worsened because of the Iraq war and it is unfortunate that Iraq has never known peace since the war started to-date. There have been ethnic clashes in Iraq since the war started and the situation is only worsening since there is no lasting solution to this issue. The Iraq War led to an 8 year occupation by the US troops in Iraq and this can also be termed as overall unacceptable and unjustified war since it has absorbed government money, military resources, killed many civilians and it has thrown Iraq into chaos which is against the noble just war criteria (Dannreuther 26).
Works Citied
Dannreuther, Roland. International Security: The Contemporary Agenda. Cambridge, UK: Polity, 2007. Print.
DeFronzo, James. The Iraq War: Origins and Consequences. Bolder, CO: Westview Press, 2010. Print.
Harvey, Frank P. Explaining the Iraq War: Counterfactual Theory, Logic and Evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.
Morgan, Patrick M. International Security: Problems and Solutions. Washington, D.C: CQ Press, 2006. Print.
