Ethical Dilemma between U.S. and Iraq - Research Paper Example

Religion and ethics are two closely related subjects. This is more significant in Iraq, which is an Islamic nation as compared to US, which is multicultural and recognizes different religions. The US is a multicultural country and, therefore, the country and the religion are two separate entities. In Iraq, the religion plays a vast role in defining what is right or wrong among the members of the society. According to the Islamic religion, it is ethical to kill other people who are against the teachings of Islam or Kafir (Velasquez, Claire, and Thomas web).

In addition, it is ethical and valuable to die while fighting for the religion. This is absurd in the United States, which considers the rules of democracy as the basis of ethics. In this case, a person has the right to choose their religion. However, U.S is against religious extremism. This is because practices such as jihad are against the rules of democracy. In addition, the US values the life of all individuals regardless of their religious or political affiliation. According the law, everyone has equal rights to live and, therefore nobody has the rights of terminating the life of another individual.

In Iraq, it is ethical for women to be subject to men while in the United States men and women are equal despite their physiological differences. The Iraq society considers men superior to women. This indicates that men have certain rights that are not accorded to women. In Iraq, every woman is expected to have a male guardian for guidance. In this case, a guardian is a husband, brother or father. The guardian is expected to lead or direct the woman on important issues such as religion, marriage and ownership of property.

In the United States, the issue of a male guardian for women has no basis. This is because all individuals are equal according to the law regardless of their gender, education or religious affiliations. This indicates that, women have equal chances of owning property, starting and managing business and making marriage decisions as men do. This issue is a major source of ethical conflict between the two societies as each country considers the other as moving in the wrong direction. Since the US led invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Sadam Hussein, the US and its western allies have been trying to establish the concept of democracy in the country.

However, Iraq seems to be many miles away from achieving a democratic state. The numerous incidences of suicide bombers in the country are a clear indication that the US democratic intentions are not applicable in Iraq. Leadership is a major source of conflicts between the two countries and, it remains a controversial issue. It is an ethical requirement that all political leaders in United States should be elected through a free and fair electoral process that is supervised by states’ electoral commissions or authority (Badd 109).

On the other hand, the Iraqis consider a leader to be someone of unique characteristics. In Iraq a good or competent leaders does not require being elected through a democratic election process but should have certain values and affiliations. It is therefore, right for the country to have a dictator such as Sadam Hussein provided he has desirable values and Islamic affiliations. In the US, upholding dictators is unacceptable. Issues of sexuality have also been a major source of