The Iraq War - Research Paper Example

The primary rationale of military intervention in Iraq as was articulated by the joint congress resolution stated that it was necessary to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein because it was developing and had previously used weapons of mass destruction (WWD), supporting and harboring terrorists and was committing serious human rights abuses (Gordon, 156). It was also argued that it was important to change rogue regimes in the Middle East to starve the support for militant Islamic extremists in the region. The U.S led invasion of Iraq however relied on the authority given by the UN Security Council Resolution that required the international community to employ all the necessary means of compelling the then Iraqi regime to comply with the international obligations.

Despite the fact that the United Nations Inspectors did not find any prior evidence of WMD, the U.N resolution was nevertheless issues based on the argument by some inspectors that they could not verify the accuracy of the Iraqi declarations regarding the weapons in its possession. Preparations for the military intervention in Iraq began as early as 2001 after President Bush highlighted the intention of the U.S government to change the regime of Saddam Hussein. . 2003, the rhetoric by the Bush administration against the Iraqi regime increased culminating to the February 2003 presentation of evidence of Iraqi WMD program by Colin Powell to the UN Security Council (Gordon, 89).

There was however significant dispute within the U.S military intelligence regarding the accuracy of the conclusions that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. The senate went ahead and approved the joint resolution thereby giving the Bush administration the necessary legal basis to launch the U.S led invasion of Iraq. The resolution reiterated the need to replace Saddam Hussein’s government and promote democratic replacement. Opposition to the Iraqi invasion however increasingly grew after the joint resolution with critics questioning the legitimacy of the invasion and legality of the war.

Protests against the Iraqi war were also witnessed in several parts of the United States. In October 2002, the former U.S president Bill Clinton criticized the planned war and warned about the potential dangers of such pre-emptive military actions. Dominique De Villepin, the former French Foreign Minister also argued that military intervention was the last solution and should not be carried out. Meanwhile a number of anti war protests were organized in many parts of the world denouncing the decision to wage war against Iraq.

The first coalition military operation began in July 2002 when a team of members of CIA special activities division and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) entered Iraq and began making preparations for the invasion by conventional allied forces. Their initial tasks included carrying out reconnaissance missions, identifying targets and persuading Iraqi commanders to surrender rather than opposing the invasion. On March 20,