Analysis of Sources that Contribute Directly to a on the History of U.S. Relations with Iraq - Research Paper Example

An Annotated Bibliography of Five Sources that Contribute Directly to a Research Paper on the History of U.S. Relations with Iraq Richard H. Immerman, Empire for Liberty: A History of American Imperialism from Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010) Whilst the focus of this book is not completely directed towards U.S. Relations with Iraq it does provide a significant background on the foundation of the American Empire right through to Modern times. What is interesting is Immerman’s ability to thoroughly explain how many of the original principles of America helped shape the current foreign policy of the nation. However in the sixth chapter begins to open the door to American relations with Iraq. In this chapter it is first identified by Immerman that Wolfowitz identifies that the Persian gulf region and Iraq had the potential to bring grave danger to the Western word owing to the fact that the West lacked a credible deterrent in the gulf region. After this pint some history was presented on how Iraq promoted the Baath Party and Iraq in general promoted Arab radicalism and committed to Israel’s destruction. Fast forward about five years when Rumsfeld traveled to Iraq as a special envoy to help assure Sadam that the U.S. was committed to the Iraqi war with Iran. It is through this storytelling method from the founding of America through to modern times that Immerman helps demonstrate that the American war on terror and the subsequent occupation of Iraq seems inevitable. 2. Broad, W. & Johnston, D.(Dec 22nd 2001) A Nation Challenged: The Anthrax Trial; U.S. Inquiry Tried, but failed, to link Iraq to Anthrax Attack. NY Times. [online] This article proves to be an interesting window into a pivotal time in American history. The ultimate theme of this particular article was a actually on the process of the inquiry, one very important theme of this article emerges regarding the examination of Anthrax that was being sent to various destinations through the united states postal service. The belief was that the Anthrax was produced in Iraq however after fierce examination by U.S. scientists it was determined that the anthrax was a domestic strain. For months and months the U.S. had worked very hard to determine whether or not it was possible for Iraq to obtain some ‘Ames’ strand of anthrax. Whilst this section gave information that was highly technical in nature and at some points any reader could get lost in the hard facts and figures the most surprising figure is the idea that the U.S. was looking for anything and everything to link Iraq to a weapon of mass destruction to allow for an invasion. Moreover the article also highlighted the fact that publicly, the White House made no specific mention of the failure to find an Iraqi connection to the Anthrax, but they have noted the inquiry intensified on the possibility of domestic production of the virus. 3. Koring, P. (August 19th 2010) Last U.S. Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq to an Uncertain Future. The Globe and Mail. This article from the Canadian Publication ‘The Globe and Mail’ provides an interesting perspective on the final days of the United States Military occupation of Iraq. What is interesting is that the article highlights that there was none of the pomp and circumstance of the initial Mission Accomplished incident after the initial invasion. Ultimately even with the last combat brigades leaving more than 50000 combat soldiers will remain in a training and support capacity, backed by serious military infrastructure. Where the article becomes interesting is that it highlights the role that the Iraqi forces will have to assume, what the training & support role will entail and some predictions of the future of the nation. By estimates more than a million Iraqi soldiers have assumed primary combat responsibilities. Moreover the article also highlights the fact that although the United States had pumped in several billion dollars most Iraqi’s have only six hours of electricity a day yet the nation has oil exports that now account for 60% of Iraqi economic output. Ultimately it was stated that real street violence has significantly decreased and Iraqis have begun filling the streets which is a far cry of the old sectarian violence that almost saw the nation plunged into a civil war. 4. Gordon, M. (Oct, 19,2004) The Strategy to Secure Iraq Did Not Foresee a 2nd War. The New York Times. [online]. The article provides a significant description of how of how the United States had expected the Iraqi regime to crumble quickly but had been unable to predict the strong insurgency that ensued. General Franks had predicted the 140,000 troops could be scaled back to approximately one division of 30,000 troops after a period of 60 days. Ultimately it was demonstrated that the Pentagon’s invasion plan was in contrast to the plans drawn up by Colin Powell. Instead of providing for a significant troop buildup (Much like in the Persian gulf war) the United States utilized a much smaller initial invasion force which left the eventual occupation forces significantly depleted. Ultimately the success of the American invasion in 2003 and subsequent miscalculations briefly after the war proved to cost the United States and coalition forces of their momentum which helped to intensify and spread the insurgency in later times. From this perspective the article proved to be a valuable resource insofar as it helped highlight some of the initial planning problems of the gulf war invasion and drew parallels between the recent conflict and that of the initial Persian Gulf conflict. Ultimately a few different ideas were postulated as to why the reconstruction era failed such as delays in obtaining funds from Congress as well as the decision of many foreign governments not to send troops added to the turmoil. 5. BBC News (September 1st 2010) Iraq War in Figures [online]. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of many of the raw numbers of the Iraqi conflict. Statistics provided regarding casualties is of particular interest insofar as it charts out graphically the death toll over eight years. What is interesting is that at the height of Iraqi civilian deaths (Excluding the initial invasion) and U.S. Military deaths occurred during the same time between 2006 and 2007. Important figures that are also included are displaced people figures, and U.S. funding for the operation in Iraq. Moreover it is also the case that the article highlights many of the major events of the Iraqi conflict and cross referenced the dates with U.S. Troop levels. For example it demonstrates how the quantity of troops had been declining right up until the execution of Saddam Hussein after which the surge began, building on this point it is clear that the withdraw of troops was gradual right up to the point when the last combat troops left the country. This article provides a great deal of statistical analysis which would be useful in a research paper. Probably the most interesting point that one could extrapolate from this study is the fact that coalition troop fatalities are reasonably easy to determine owing to excellent record keeping however deaths of Iraqi civilians and combatants are more difficult to track owing to there being no reliable recordkeeping. Read More