The Unending War in Iraq - Essay Example

Print media analysis of the unending war in Iraq Timeline of the war – the analysis of different news papers The Washington Post (2003) gave a timeline of the war by stating that it initially started out in 2003. In addition, they added that the USA military force took the initiative to attack the regime of Saddam Hussein. This event by the USA military was described as an invasion and a violation of the international law to the nation of Iraq (Rychlak, 2004). As noted by Ashkouri (2001), the international law and policy was highly violated by the USA in the terms that they invaded Iraq and they disrupted the nation’s laws and policies. Apparently, the action that the USA took in this instance was highly disregarded by nations such as France and Germany – just to mention a few. This is due to the reason that, they termed the strategic actions by the USA as uncalled for. As such, there have been actions to seek a solution that would help to normalize such actions by the USA – that is, an independent body that would be in the position to either approve or disapprove the actions that the military takes. When compared to the UK newspapers, most of them did not give a sequence of the events as outlined in The Washington Post (2003). The closest elaboration was given by The Independent UK (2013) when the mentioned that the year 2013 was the 10th anniversary of the war in Iraq. In addition to that, instead of giving a description about the events that occurred in the 10 year crisis, they spoke more about Tony Blair, his decisions to take Britain to the war in Iraq, his opinions of the war and so on. Based on that, it can be concluded that The Washington Post (2003) was more elaborative with regard to the timeline of the war (the timeline of the war was significant to the US citizens) as compared to the UK newspaper which was more of a debate seeking to answer the question “Why Britain was involved in the war”. With regard to what The Independent UK (2013) discussed, it can be stated that the war in Iraq was not much of their concern. As such, it was close to not being significant to the British citizens. Was the attack of the USA on Iraq soil was a violation of the United Nations Charter? Analysis of different news sources As described by The Guardian UK (2004), the legality in the ideology that the USA conducted a legal invasion into Iraq is still a debate that has never has a sound solution. Nations such as UK and USA have long since been debating as to whether the war that sparked after the US took the step to invade Iraq will ever come to an end. As noted by the previous UN Secretary General – Kofi Annan, the war in Iraq was very much illegal. In his statement, he mentioned that “from our point of view and the UN Charter point of view, it [the war] was illegal. In addition to that, Kofi Annan added that the USA would have taken the step to inform the Security Council about their decision rather than making a unilateral decision and acting on it without any discussion with the bodies responsible (The Guardian, 2004). With regard to that description, it should be noted that the UK Guardian newspaper was quite elaborative based on matters that were related to what opinions people had about the war both in the UK and USA. In addition to that, the newspaper was quite articulate with regard to basing the actions that were committed by the USA against the UN Charter. As such, it can be concluded that the newspaper was more about the UN charter and its legality in the war. When compared to USA newspapers, apparently very few spoke about the USA and Iraq conflict based on the UN Charter. However, the most intriguing aspect that was revealed in The New York Times (2013) was the fact that Russia was advising the USA to try and not use excessive force while dealing with countries that they are at war with. As noted, “We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement”. The aspect of moral judgement has been initiated in this newspaper. They are seeking to find a suitable channel to communicate to the high powers in the USA government to find channels in which conflicts and wars can be solved without too much chaos and disruption of the society as well as the economy like the US – Iraq war. As such, the information that this newspaper projects is more of a way out from the chaos that wars cause to the citizens of the countries affected. The ideology that The New York Times (2013) brings out can be compared to a phrase from the Geneva Conventions Article 85 that Kofi Annan was referring to, it states that, “It is a war crime to launch “an indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population in the knowledge that such an attack will cause an excessive loss of life or injury to civilians” (Global Research, 2013; Rockwell, 2004). In addition to that, the Hague Conventions Articles 22 and 23 state that, “the right of belligerents to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited" (Rockwell, 2004); "It is especially forbidden to kill treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army” (Global Research, 2014; Rockwell, 2004). With regard to which event were given more significance, it can be clearly determined that the thought of ending the war, concern for the people and the society at large was given much concern by The New York newspaper. The UK Guardian (2004) newspaper projects the reactions that were noted from Kofi Annan after a report of the extreme degradation in the way that the USA was handling events in Iraq as well as the safety that the citizens of Iraq were getting in return. Apparently, when he made these statements, the fatalities in Iraq were 200 lives lost in a span of four days and the assumptions in that instance were related to the numbers of more lives that would be lost in the event that the US- Iraq war lasted for a longer time. Kofi Annan was not the only person who was advocating for the end of the war in Iraq. Tony Blair who was the current Prime Minister in the UK also mentioned that this war was prone to be ended since he was going to a conference run up. Definitely, he was going to be interrogated about the war and what solutions he could put up to the table about the war. As such, his strategy was to try and speak about ending the war before his run up took place. With regard to that scenario, it can be established that this newspaper was more revealing to the reactions and/ or the emotions from Kofi Annan. That is, the newspaper was more of describing the Iraq situation and advocating that the actions by the USA had consequences – casualties and so on. This paper had the same ideology as that of New York Times (2013). They were both advocating for the value of human life as compared to the outcome of the events of the war between the USA and Iraq. As such, there was a moral theme by the paper to its readers. In addition to that, despite the comments that Tony Blair made about the USA not having to take such actions in Iraq, he added that Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein had initially breached the UN Security Council resolution number 1441 which had been passed back in 2002. As noted by the UN Security Council (2003), the UN Security Council Resolution 1441 was and still is a resolution that was adapted in a bid to project to Saddam Hussein an olive branch. The Charter proposed to Iraq a “final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations” that had been laid out in the charter as well as its previous resolutions which include: 660, 661, 678, 686,687, 688, 707, 715, 986 and finally 1284 (The United Nations Security Council, 2003). Based on this information, it can be said that the newspaper – New York Times (2013) was more open to projecting to the USA that the actions they were doing were quite “hard” on the people in Iraq and especially women and children who were not part of the war but victims of the war. According to the New Straits Times (1989), it is important to note that this UN resolution was vividly stated and outlined since Iraq was totally in refusal to submit to the USA their weapons of mass destruction (WMD). They were also in the consistent business of the manufacturing of weapons which were termed as illegal and highly prohibited by the USA. Moreover, Iraq was also in the business of purchasing as well as importing armaments that were prohibited by the USA. Apparently, the resolution also mentioned that Iraq was prone to compensate Kuwait for the terrors that they undertook on their soils. Apparently, the cause of the Iraq – Kuwait wars was attributed to three (3) main reasons that were projected to have led to the war in Iraq. These included: financial debt – where it was mentioned that Kuwait had for sometime – a period of 8 years funded Iraq in their war against Iran (Los Angeles Times, 1988; Global Security, N.d); the economic warfare between Iraq and Kuwait (New Straits Times, 1989); the oil drilling that Kuwait was engaging in and it was mentioned that it was part and parcel of Iraq territory (New Straits Times, 1989). The analysis projected by the Los Angeles Times (1988) was based on the beginning and/ or initialization of the war – that is, what really caused the war. The newspaper revealed that the war began as a result of a previous disruption that Iraq had with Kuwait. Based on that, the newspaper revealed the root cause of the war and why the USA indulged into the war. When compared to the New Straits Times (1989), it can be established that the paper was more detailing on aspects such as the consequences of the war. For example, the economic impacts of the war. Based on that, the moral theme projected by the newspapers was that the war had effects on the citizens of Iraq despite the harm that their leader – Saddam Hussein had caused. As mentioned by the Guardian UK (2011), the USA initiated a “Desert Storm Operation” on 17th January 1991. This was in a bid to protect Kuwait from Iraq as well as their leader Saddam Hussein. This action was backed up by 32 states that were willing to send in their man power as well as weaponry to aid the USA in their task. In addition to that, the UN resolution was part and parcel of this task which required Iraq to with draw from Kuwait with immediate effect. As such, all these actions were in the resolutions that the USA offered to Iraq to fulfil, but that was not going to be undertaken that easily by Saddam Hussein. Based on that scenario, Kuwait confronted Iraq to pay up their pending debt but Iraq wanted Kuwait to release them from the debt. As such, this is what caused the war between the two nations. The Guardian UK (2004) newspaper revealed more about the “Desert Operation” the USA took over Iraq. The consequences of the war were described as well as the resolutions that Iraq were given by the USA as well as the UN. As such, this newspaper was extremely detailed based on the US operation as compared to other newspapers. Bibliography Ashkouri, M. (2001). 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