The war in Iraq occurred in two phases. The first phase was caused by Iraq’s invasion on 20 th of March 2003 against the United States of America. What followed after this was a long phase of fighting, which involved the insurgency that was against the opposing forces and the government under rule during that period. During nine years of war between the United States of America and Iraq, America withdrew its military forces from the war front. That was in 2011. Since the withdrawal of the USA troops from Iraq, the country persisted in war up to date. The war was a military action because all through the USA had not declared war against Iraq. This topic is important to me because am from the middle east (Kuwait) and this war is a big issue in the region, and I am against the war it. Therefore this paper will discuss the impacts the human experienced in both wars throughout and subsequent to. It will also discuss the motivations of these cultures either to remain peaceful or to go to war , analyze the topic and finally discuss how the topic reflects in different civilizations (Murray, & Scales, 2013) .
The war on Iraq was conducted under the U.S. leadership second after the offensive attack in Afghanistan where Osama bin Laden took refuge and had political, humanitarian, military, anti-terrorism, and economic objectives. First, the war was an attempt to fight terrorism that had risen in the region following the U.S. attack on September 11, 2001 and other previous cases of terror attacks linked to al-Qaida. In this context, the U.S. government presented Iraq as one of the states supporting al-Qaida that is responsible for several terrorist activities in several parts of the world including the U.S. attacks of 11 September 2001. Second, the attack aimed at destruction of weapons of mass destruction that Iraq would hold. Finally, the mission was to arrest Saddam Hussein and abolish his leadership to allow democracy and peace to the region.
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Allegations were presented to the US president George bush that Iraq is producing a chemical weapon, and there is a plan that an attack was on its way to happen. This triggered the US government under the leadership of the president to start to send its troops to Iraq for disarmament operation. The aim was to take claimed chemical weapon as well as seizing the production. After the troops had been sent, it took long for them to search for the weapon. It was found that the weapon had seized from being produced and could be seen it had misplaced it. After this discovery, the US government withdrew its army from Iraq. The seizure of the troops left war on progress, and it is still experienced today. The worries that the people have on the side of Iraq is the failure of the attackers (terrorists). People say that it could have been better if the war stopped immediately after the American army was withdrawn. This could have saved the damage and loss of lives that is being experienced by the innocent dwellers of the country (Hotopf et al 1739). On the contrary, the Iraqi people have disputed the U.S. claims leveled against their country. First, according to the Iraqi people, the war has contributed to the deconstruction of their country. Although the initial goal of the war was to establish change the Baath regime and create a stable and legitimate government, this failed and the result is a nation plagues by long rebellion, civil war, and which benefits the terrorists rather than the civilians. In this context, the citizens blame the U.S. government for ignoring the fragility of their nation drawn from the historical foundations of its creation hence resulting into a complete deconstruction. In a similar context, the Iraqi people blame the American invasion of their country as responsible for deaths and starvation of their colleagues. Due to the failure of the U.S. government to establish a new democratic government, the pro-Iranian Shia groups have taken control of most resources, bagging all the benefits of the expected democracy at the expense of the civilians. Thus, many Muslims have starved and their children died in Iraq. In this case, it is apparent that over one million deaths of innocent civilians resulted either directly or indirectly from the war therefore, the citizens views the U.S. war against their nation as lack of concern against their atrocities. Therefore, the war is an intrusion and destruction of their country thus the cause of many deaths.
There are two different views regarding the war in Iraq in the text. President Bush’s administration has one view, while Dave Koehler has another view. Dave Koehler has several valid points to consider when reading President Bush’s speech in Cincinnati, OH on October 7, 2002. President Bush explains that Iraq is a threat to world peace because of its history of aggression, its drive toward an arsenal of terror, giving and possibly continuing to give shelter and support to terrorism, practicing terrorism against its own people, continuing manufacturing and the use of chemical weapons, and having plans for weapons of mass destruction that they can put into play within a fraction of time given receipt of the proper materials. Dave Koehler, on the other hand, states that President Bush’s current administration uses several fallacies to justify the war in Iraq. Dave Koehler said that President Bush’s administration is commonly known for using false dilemmas. False dilemmas are when there are two choices given, in reality; there are several more choices available (Boss, 2012). For instance, President Bush leads us to believe that the only way to settle the threat to peace is by going to war with Iraq. It is either go to war with Iraq to solve this threat against peace, or let Iraq continue its development of weapons of mass destruction. Dave Koehler also goes on to say that the fallacy of what is called a slippery slope has also been used. A slippery slope is “the faulty assumption that if certain actions are permitted, then all actions of this type will soon be permissible” (Boss, 2012). President Bush states that if we continue to let Saddam manufacture weapons of mass destruction, he will be able to give them to terrorists who will then use them against the United States (Boss, 2012). Another example of the slippery slope fallacy is when President Bush states that if we allow Saddam to manufacture weapons of mass destruction, he will not only give the weapons to terrorists to use against other countries, but could also use them as blackmail devices to get what he wants. Dave Koehler also states that President Bush uses a fallacy of what is known as ad hominem. An ad hominem is when a person criticizes a person or group instead of the issue (Boss, 2012). According to Dave, President Bush criticizes Saddam Hussein to be a murderous, evil man who can’t be trusted (Boss, 2012). This comment deviates from the issue of possible war and weapons of mass destruction and brings focus to the character of Saddam Hussein himself. The most important fallacy used by President Bush, the one that I think is the most important, is the appeal to ignorance. An appeal to ignorance fallacy is “the claim that something is true simply because no one has proven it false or that something is false simply because no one has proven it true” (Boss, 2012). No one from United States intelligence has been able to provide solid proof that Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction. It has been assumed, to be true because of this lack of proof. This could actually be classified as an assumption. President Bush “assumes” Iraq has weapons of mass destruction because no one else can prove otherwise. Just because they are rebuilding facilities that they once used to produce chemical and biological weapons does not necessarily mean that they are going to use these new buildings to do the same.
While Dave Koehler examined President Bush’s speech, he also used a couple fallacies. Dave used an unwarranted assumption. He stated that President Bush’s administration did not have any proof regarding Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, but he also did not provide any proof that President Bush did not have any proof. President Bush could very well have proof, but due to national security, could not release this information. Dave Koehler also uses a fallacy of composition. A fallacy of composition is “an erroneous inference from the characteristics of a member of a group or set about the characteristic of the entire group or set” (Boss, 2012). Dave assumes that because President Bush thinks and acts the way he does, that his entire administration is completely “onboard” with the way President Bush thinks and acts.
It is my hope that this research paper will be of great impact on changing the current situation and also help people to know the truth of the matter about the cause, the progress and the negative effects of the war. Many people do not know the truth about the war, and this paper will help in enlightening and showing them what had happened before the war, what triggered its start, and the outcomes that have been a threat to the normality of living of the people in Iraq. The economic surge is among the general negative effects that have been caused by the war. Who is responsible for the cause and the progress of the war? What are the core contributors at the war background? Which techniques can be put in place to end the war? What will be the effects of the war if it proceeds for the next decade?
To this day, the war in Iraq still divides many Americans but, was it really worth the risk that America took to fight. I feel that the United States should have gone to war with Iraq. This is because Iraq has been conducting terrorist attacks to the United States and so, therefore, we should have also attacked back in order for them to crack down on their security. I think the risk paid off in the long haul. Another reason that the United States should have gone to war with Iraq is because Iraq terrorizes the whole world and makes it unfavorable for living. People do not feel safe when you have a terrorist group that kills for no reason. There are so many terrorist groups and organizations. They teach from a very young age how to kill. They don't even feel safe in their own country of Iraq. Many innocent lives are being taken daily to this day even. The United States has the responsibility of disarming a rogue nation like Iraq by fighting them. The former president George W Bush made a good decision in wanting to fight the war on terror by going to war to show them that we will not be threatened by them (Clauset, & Gleditsch, 2012) . All the terrorists, like ISIS, have thought they could put fear in the American people when they bombed the World Trade Center September 11, 2011. All they did was making us a stronger nation who will not falter and fall when enemies come against us. We also should have gone to war to save the Iraq people from oppression. There were still many innocent lives that were victims in their own country. Iraq was able to share harmful weapons from other terrorist groups and an organization so that was another reason was to stop them from sharing these weapons with other terrorist countries. Wars will always be around us and the United States will always stand up and fight no matter what the consequences are. We have our military and troops will fight for our freedom to show these nations that we will not take them seriously (Hotopf et al 2012) . The United States of America is a strong nation fighting for freedom and justice. We will stand up for what is right and will never back down.
I am planning to interview two senior persons in the US and the Iraq government who had been in the government since the war started. This two people have experienced all what has happened all through and must be having credible know-how of the war. They will be able to provide the bare truth about the wars and its progress. This two will provide their view on the solutions that they think can better or change the situation. It will be my hope that the information that they will provide will be the truth ( Milliken, Auchterlonie & Hoge 2013). My target audiences are whoever invoked in the war. These are the people who are mostly affected by the war and have been receiving all the hurtful effects of it. These people will see hope for the solution of this problem after they read the paper. The paper will shine some light on them and give a promise that one day the war will come to an end. It will be an indication that something is being done to come up with a solution. This paper will also help in revealing some hidden truth that the target needs to know either on the causes or the contributors to the war. After the interview mentioned above, the people will decide on which side to support (Cami McCormick 2013)
In conclusion, it is apparent that from the American point of view, the War against Iraq was for a noble course that is to destroy the Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party regime and its leaders to allow for establishment of a democratic government, and reduce terrorism activities in the region. Moreover, the war had clearly stated political, humanitarian, anti-terrorism, military and economic objectives. However, the failure to meet the objectives mentioned above changed the view of the war especially among the Iraqi citizens. Notably, they view the war as an attempt to destroy their country and subject it into the hands of terrorists, starve the Muslim community in the region through subjecting the nation to several sanctions that has hindered further development in the region. Finally, the citizens view the war as an attempt of the U.S. government to control the world by leveling false claims against countries and finally destabilizing them. Therefore, American invasion of Iraq has contributed to economic destruction and deaths of hundreds of millions of civilians.
References
Murray, W., & Scales, R. H. (2013). The Iraq war: A military history . Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Belknap Press . Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/crs/98042705_npo.html
Richelson, J. T. (2015). The US intelligence community . Hachette UK. . Iraq and Weapons of Mass Destruction. Retrieved from http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB80/
Clauset, A., & Gleditsch, K. S. (2012). The developmental dynamics of terrorist organizations. PloS one , 7 (11), e48633. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorist+attack
Hotopf, M., Hull, L., Fear, N. T., Browne, T., Horn, O., Iversen, A. ... & Greenberg, N. (2012). The health of UK military personnel who deployed to the 2003 Iraq war: a cohort study. The Lancet , 367 (9524), 1731-1741.
Boss, J. A. (2012). THiNK, Critical Thinking and Logic Skills for Everyday Life. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin
Milliken, C. S., Auchterlonie, J. L., & Hoge, C. W. (2013). Longitudinal assessment of mental health problems among active and reserve component soldiers returning from the Iraq war. Jama , 298 (18), 2141-2148.
Cami McCormick, “Iraq War: Was it worth it?” CBS News , 19 March 2013, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-war-was-it-worth-it/
Scott Clememt, “Do Iraq and Afghanistan veterans think the wars were worth fighting?” The Washington Post, 1 April 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/04/01/do-iraq-and-afghanistan-veterans-think-the-wars-were-worth-fighting/?utm_term=.312ba0e8fee3
