Identification and Description of the Iraq War - Research Paper Example

?THE IRAQ WAR The Iraq War Word Count: 2000 (8 pages) I. Introduction The Iraq War was a travesty—not only because it was largely a waste of government time and money, but also because several lives (Iraqi and American) were expended in the name of war. Of course, many people wonder why and how the Iraq War happened. The simple answer is, that President George W. Bush invaded Iraq after having reportedly been told that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction,” now known as WMD. Based on this false information, the United States of America entered into another armed conflict that would savage Iraq, killing over 100,000 of its citizens. Without a doubt, the Iraq War was one of the more hotly-contested wars—many people arguing that this was the next Vietnam. Some eleven-thousand American lives later, it’s possible that some people would not agree. But the Iraq War, no matter how much precedent the U.S. had to invade, will always remain in the American mindset as a colossal financial drain. Here it will be attempted to: identify and describe the Iraq War; analyze the historical and contemporary causes of the Iraq war; analyze different historical interpretations of the Iraq war; and evaluate the positive and negative outcomes of the Iraq war. II. Identification and Description of the Iraq War The Iraq War was an armed conflict that took place beginning in Iraq in 2003. Although people now state that the Iraq War is technically over, there are still U.S. troops which are occupying Iraq. It was technically supposed to have ended a few years ago, but realistically, there are still American forces there, and there probably will be for some time to come. So, even though the war is technically designated as finished, it is still not finished—if that makes sense. There is no “over” for this war. The war began when President Bush acted (without Congressional authority) to unilaterally declare war on Iraq. According to Kelly (2001), “A huge controversy arose when President Bush sent troops into Iraq on March 19, 2003 claiming that the country led by Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and aiding Al Qaeda operatives…[however,] time passed and no evidence of those weapons were found in Iraq…” (pgh. 7). It was especially distressing to the American public to find out that there were, indeed, no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq. This angered much of the public and made many Americans feel like they were tricked into going into an armed conflict without all of the available evidence laid before them first. This was a major faux pas that continues to be rehashed in the media whenever people argue about whether or not the U.S. should have invaded Iraq; it will probably be a sore spot for years to come. III. Analysis of the Historical and Contemporary Causes of the Iraq War Historically speaking, the rationale that President Bush used for going to war with Iraq was the advent of 9/11. According to Hanson (2004), “[T]here is a direct connection between Iraq and our current war on terror…Whether or not one believes Iraq was involved at the planning in 9/11, there is proof that it had something to do with the first World Trade Center bombing, had intelligence meetings with…Al Qaeda [members], [and] tried to assassinate a former president of the United States…” (pp. 245). Although 9/11 is traditionally associated with the main reasons for why Bush began his “war on terror,” another reason that many people feel he went to war with Iraq was to settle an old score with Saddam Hussein for having engaged in conflict with his father (Bush 41) in Operation Desert Storm. Many people feel that one of the sole reasons that Bush went to war with Iraq was so that he could feel vindicated on the behalf of his father. One of the contemporary causes of the Iraq War was also the fact that U.S. companies stood to make millions of dollars off of the war. Vice President Dick Cheney’s construction company Halliburton was called into Iraq for most of the reconstruction of the country after its infrastructure had been destroyed. To this day, there are millions of dollars that went unaccounted for which were given to Halliburton in terms of funding for providing services. Although not a primary cause of the war, it’s worth noting. IV. Analysis of Different Historical Interpretations of the Iraq War Many Americans interpreted the Iraq war as a major victory for the U.S. with the toppling of Saddam Hussein. However, even with that level of engagement, the war was still not completed because the goals for targeting problem areas in Iraq were much wider still than that. Sectarian violence exploded in Iraq shortly after the U.S. invaded Iraq, and then it only got worse as time went on. According to Hersh (2004), “Iraq [was] on the verge of spontaneous combustion. It only need[ed] a trigger to set off a chain of events that [led] to the overthrow of Saddam” (pp. 164). Many times, the view of the war was shaped according to where people were from. In the eyes of many Americans, the U.S. was fighting an ideological war against an unknown enemy, many times characterized as someone Muslim. And, in fact, many times the U.S. tried to place people in categories because they did not necessarily fit the profile that they were looking for—for certain authorities. According to Kephart (2005), “Of the 94 foreign-born terrorists who operated in the United States, [one] study found that about two-thirds (59) committed immigration fraud prior to or in conjunction with taking part in terrorist activity” (pgh. 3). Immigrants were scrutinized and not able to live their own lives in peace in the U.S., especially if they were Muslims. Even people who were born in the United States and were Muslim were being given a difficult time because they were being unfairly profiled at airports and all manner of public places. Part of a major change in the war came with the surge, which was deemed necessary in order to help stabilize Iraq. According to North (2009), “[The surge] was [symbolically] significant, but the key change…happened before the surge was even announced—the decision by many Sunni Iraqis to turn against al-Qaeda. Without that transformation, the war in Iraq could have got even worse” (pghs. 13-15). Historically speaking there are several interpretations of how the war went and how it could have gone. Of course, “hindsight is always 20/20”—as they say—but what does this war mean for the posterity to come? Historically speaking, the war in Iraq still lives on, in some ways—especially because this war is transnational. It takes on various facets and changes as much as the places in which the war takes place. It is faceless, nameless, barely able to be described. It is more of an ideology, which stretches as far as Afghanistan and can reach anywhere. This ideology is that of any group which espouses terrorism, and we must realize the historical lessons of this war. Historically speaking, we have to realize that this was just a war that happened in one country in an isolated moment of time—no, it’s not true. The war in Iraq leaves us with many questions, many more questions, in fact. So much so that one must be vigilant. For, as it has been said, the war is not on one country—but war is declared on any nation or people which espouses the violent terrorism tactics that threaten people all across the globe. That is what is ultimately the point. Terrorism can happen anywhere—even as far away as Norway by a “Christian” terrorist. The point is, terrorism is not any one person—but it is an ideology which lives within the minds of those who seek to harm people, and it is that ideology which must be stopped at any cost. V. Evaluation of the Positive and Negative Outcomes of the Iraq War Unfortunately, one of the most negative outcomes of the war was the fact that so many American soldiers had to die as a result. According to “Iraq Terrorism Stats” (2009), fatalities from Iraq from 2000 to 2006 numbered 11,611 (pgh. 1). In addition, spending for the Iraq war spiraled out of control. According to White (2009), spending per second in Iraq was “$5,000 in 2008” (pgh. 13). Another negative impact of the war in Iraq was that sectarian violence spiked, driving the price of oil way up. According to Esposito et. al. (2010), “To the joy of its enemies, America sunk deep in Iraq's bloody sands and the war increased the price of oil by many times. Iraq's disorder triggered new waves of radicalism, ethno-sectarian conflicts and violence” (pp. 36). Other difficulties included the fact that Muslims were now not able to move freely in the U.S. without having to feel like second-class citizens. There was a new sort of inbred Islamophobia that rocked the nation, and continues to strike fear in the hearts of people everywhere at the mention of a Muslim person in passing or at the mention of a mosque. There was a large brouhaha a little while ago about a mosque being constructed a few blocks away from the 9/11 site in downtown Manhattan. According to Tirman (2006), “Transnational labor migration was sharply curtailed. Student visas were more difficult to obtain. Mosques were and are under constant surveillance. Many Muslims and Christian Arabs felt intimidated about speaking out on foreign policy and security issues, particularly the Iraq war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” (pgh. 3). Now, people tire of hearing about the war in Iraq. According to Wilkerson (2009), “That Afghanistan and Iraq are now nearly equal in coverage is a change...The sad part is, even if average media consumers were more interested, which they are not, only a few huge media outlets could afford to cover the wars constantly…” (pgh. 6). Luckily, there is some good news. The resources that the United States are (hopefully) going to be used more wisely in conjunction with the Department of Defense, now that President Obama is in office. According to “Spending: Operations Spending” (2011), “The Obama Administration announced early that [Defense] spending[, which is increasing slightly in 2011,] will focus more on intelligence, cyber security, and unmanned systems—used heavily in Iraq and maritime versions being built for the Navy” (pgh. 1). This means that more and more intelligence is going to be used remotely, which means that HUMINT (or human intelligence) is not going to be as needed as computer programs and other technology which can be operated remotely. This most likely means that the spies of yesteryear are probably not going to be employed as much as various other forms of intelligence-gathering. That is not to say that there won’t be any spies, but it will probably be intelligence of the type that is much less intrusive. Having said that, the Iraq war wasn’t a total loss. VI. Conclusion Whatever one’s political position one takes on the war in Iraq, one must come to realize that there were several factors which went into the decisions leading to the toppling of Saddam Hussein and, ultimately, the Iraq War. Having considered these factors, it is a marvel and a wonder that—eight years since war was declared on Iraq for holding “weapons of mass destruction”—American soldiers are still living in postwar Iraq now, possibly for years to come. Without a doubt, it is the ingenuity and the unique ability of the U.S. government to have been able to navigate the uncertain territory of this war so well—perhaps what has galvanized, in some measure, support for the war in Afghanistan. The war in Iraq, no doubt, was one of the most taxing armed conflicts in recent history for the United States to maintain. It still is. Even as money is drained from the U.S. treasury to support the war in Afghanistan, there are still yet many lessons to be learned from the war in Iraq. Here it was attempted to: identify and describe the Iraq War; analyze the historical and contemporary causes of the Iraq war; analyze different historical interpretations of the Iraq war; and evaluate the positive and negative outcomes of the Iraq war. REFERENCES Esposito, J., et. al. (2010). Iraq, democracy, and the future of the Muslim world. US: Taylor & Francis. Hanson, V.D. (2004). Between war and peace: lessons from Afghanistan to Iraq. US: Random House Digital, Inc. Hersh, S. (2004). Chain of command: the road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib. USA: HarperCollins Publishers. Iraqi terrorism stats. (2009). Available: http://ow.ly/p3Sm Kelly, M. (2001). Terrorist attack: world trade center on September 11. Available: http://ow.ly/p3rt Kephart, J. (2005). Immigration and terrorism: moving beyond the 9/11 staff report on terrorist travel. Available: http://bit.ly/NZc7x North, A. (2009). Afghan lessons from Iraq ‘success.’ Available: http://ow.ly/p4Ud Spending: operations spending. (2009). Available: http://ow.ly/p3Ix Tirman, J. (2006). Immigration and security: post-9/11 fear in the United States. Available: http://bit.ly/23FCLn White, D. (2011). Iraq war facts, results & statistics at June 30, 2011. Available: http://ow.ly/p3H3 Wilkerson, M. (2009). Iraq vs. Afghanistan: which war gets more U.S. news coverage? Available: http://ow.ly/p4Vb Read More