The Argument For The Cause Of The Iraq War

On March 20, 2003, the United States, under the Bush administration, invaded the country of Iraq and commenced the Iraq War. The rationale given for the Iraq War was that the nation had weapons of mass destruction, which posed an immediate threat to the United States and its allies (Kumar, 2014). Therefore, military intervention was required, which ultimately resulted in the removal of Saddam Hussein, the President of Iraq, from power. The war lasted for eight years and had everlasting effects on the United States and Iraq. The argument of whether the United States should have invaded Iraq is a complicated and multifaceted one; a number of prior events occurring at the time must be taken into account as well as the aftermath of the war must …show more content…
The United States declared an unjust war on Iraq based on non-factual claims and the exploitation of the fear in the United States generated by acts of terror. The foremost reason provided President Bush for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in his possession that he may pass on to Al Qaeda (Kumar, 2014). However, this was a blatant lie as President Bush later admitted during a White House Press Conference in 2006 that “We thought [Saddam Hussein] had weapons of mass destruction. It turns out he didn’t, but he had the capacity to make weapons of mass destruction” (C-Span.org, 2006). Contrary to what the Bush administration claimed, Iraq contained no stockpiles of mass destruction. Not only that, it was later found that there was little evidence suggesting the possibilities of such weapons. Furthermore, the credibility of the claim that Iraq and Al Qaeda were cooperating was dispelled when in 2004, the 9 ⁄ 11 Commission reported that there was little evidence of a connection between the two. …show more content…
With the Iraq War, the United States not only set out to remove Saddam Hussein from power, it also planned to replace Iraq with a new government. This was all accomplished by the Iraq War, however the more fundamental issue resolved. Following the Iraq War, the risk of global terrorism was not mitigated, and it may in many ways have increased (Miller, 2016). The main resolution the United States sought as a result of the Iraq War did not occur. Currently, there are still terrorist groups present in Iraq. One of dominant terrorist group in Iraq is the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS). ISIS consolidated power following the Iraq War, and has a substantial political presence and economic support (Lister, 2015). The rise and prominence of ISIS would not have occurred if the United States had not invaded Iraq. If Saddam Hussein would have still been in power in Iraq, he would most likely have greater control over Iraq and the terrorist groups within it. The terror threat from Iraq was not diminished, and it may have increased with the rise of terrorist groups like ISIS. Furthermore, another goal of the United States with the Iraq War was to improve the lives of Iraqis by removing the authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein, as well as the dangerous weapons in his possession that he may have been giving to Al Qaeda (Bapat, 2007). However, due to multiple factors including