The Iraqi War

Terry Anderson

Professor Adams

English 101

19 August 2007

persuasive/ examples

The Iraqi War ( War of Deceptions)

Saddam Hussein was a horrible dictator.. His actions have caused fear and hate among th Iraqi

people he ruled and people around the world. He ruled by oppression ,fear, and committing

horrible acts such as testing chemical and biological weapons on the innocent civilians of his

own country. During his time in power, he violated nearly all the United Nations laws that

pertained to his country, and ignored those who attempted to control his violent actions. But in

attacking Iraq, the United States has acted on the same principles of Saddam Hussein. Not only

were their enormous loss of civilian life, but countless soldiers died fighting and in and after the

battle was officially over. This entire war was built on misleading statements and faulty

intelligence. The Iraq war is illegal, unjustified, and morally wrong.

Was the attack on Iraq justified under the United Nations (UN) Charter? The Bush

administration certainly felt that its interpretation of the articles pertaining to self defense in the

UN gave ample justification for the war. Article 51 states: “Nothing in the present Charter shall

impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against

a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to

maintain inter- national peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this

right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any

way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to

take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international

peace and security.”(Guntzel).The Bush administration interpreted this article as an inherent right

to invade Iraq, because it was deemed a potential threat to the United States. This interpretation

of Article 51 was not shared by many other countries within the UN. These differences in

opinion led to many debates as to whether the US led invasion into Iraq was protected by Article

51, since, according to this article, such defensive measures are only legal when an "armed

attack" occurs.

No armed attack had occurred when the United States started bombing Baghdad. In fact, there

is no evidence that Iraq was even planning to attack the US. When the United States launched its

unilateral attack against Iraq, it was nearly impossible for Iraq to attack the United States due to

its inadequate army. Iraqi military personnel lacked equipment and training, long range missiles

were non-existent, and Saddam did not posses the means to transport his military to the US.

(Guntzel). According to The Nation magazine, "the moth-eaten Baathist regime, with its poorly

equipped soldiers and unenthusiastic citizenry, was in no shape to threaten the United States or

cause world turmoil"(Pollitt)”.Since February 2003, the American invasion and occupation of

Iraq has cost America thousands of innocent lives, five thousand seriously wounded, and roughly

200 billion dollars, and adversely affected” (Polk 204).

The Bush administration has insisted on its right to unilaterally attack Iraq. To justify this end,

the administration either ignored or reinterpreted UN articles or resolutions. It is no wonder that

the majority of the international community did not support the Bush administration's

conclusions. International opinion was that the attack on Iraq was illegal under the international

laws of the UN.

After 9/11 the United States has had legitimate concerns about the threat of terrorism. This

concern became a driving force in the war on Iraq. Since Saddam Hussein is such a tyrant, it is

easy to draw conclusions that he has such ties with terrorist organizations as Al-Qaeda. There is,

however, no hard evidence to connect the two and many believe that this has actually increase

possibly terrorists attacks against the U.S.

According to CBS news, the CIA knew the true facts. "The White House ignored a request by

the CIA to remove a statement in President George Bush's State of the Union Address that Iraq

was seeking uranium from Africa for its nuclear program"(World News). That