War in Iraq - Essay Example

The United States made no attempt to get a U.N. Security Council resolution authorising military force. On the 20th of March, 2003, the invasion of Iraq began and this was considered by many to be a violation of the UN Charter2. Iraq was defeated and on the 1st of May, 2003, President Bush declared the end of major combat operations, terminating the Baath Partys rule and removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from office. This culminated in the capture of Saddam Hussein on the 13th of December, 20033.

The Gulf War forced Iraq to toe the US line, which was to make Iraq to end its military occupation of Kuwait. The United States, however, could not oust President Saddam Hussein from power. Following the Gulf War, Iraq was forced to permit a number of United Nation arms inspectors to search Iraq until 1998, with the aim of unearthing Iraq’s much publicized nuclear, biological and chemical warfare weapons. Iraq expelled these inspectors in 1998 on charges of espionage activities. In the last decade, Iraq has been subjected to severe UN economic and military sanctions.

In this period the United States and Britain imposed no-fly zones in Northern and Southern Iraq, so that Iraqi Air Force could not target Kurdish and Shia minorities who were being encouraged to rebel against President Saddam and who were being funded and being provided weapons by the United States. The ostensible war aims of the United States against Iraq are, first, to destroy the nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) warfare potential of Iraq; second, to remove and neutralize Iraq’s terrorism threat potential; and finally, to eliminate President Saddam Hussein from power.

The United States has a justifiable war aim in eliminating President Saddam Hussein as he poses a threat to the United States security interests in the region. If Iraq’s NBC capabilities are credible, for which the evidence has yet to be found, then Iraq can be said