The War In Iraq

In April of 1920, Allied Nations coming out of World War I met at the San Remo Peace Conference. It was here that a mandate involving France's desire to hold Syria and Lebanon and Great Britain's desire to hold the lands of Palestine, Transjordan, and Mesopotamia was born. Britain's holdings were renamed Iraq, which was created out of the Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra. In October of 1932, Iraq gained formal independence under Faysal I and through the League of Nations becoming its own separate country. In the years to follow, the Iraqi Oil industry flourished providing the country with its main source of income and making the Middle East as a whole the richest source of petroleum on earth. Iraq would continue with its booming oil industry even while under the constant threat of guerrilla attacks against it by neighboring countries and opposing Arab factions within the country. It would even survive a war with the United States, but with constant accusations of possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction and bombings by the US and Britain through the '90s, Iraq would eventually fall. Not for the possession of WMDs, not for leading Terrorist actions against those who would invade, and not even for the United Nations sanctioning it, because none of those things happened and Iraq was no enemy or threat to anyone. It fell because the grass is always greener on the other side, even when that grass isn't green at all, but black. The real enemy, the real aggressor, the real evil in any war is not a people whose sole goal is to protect their family, country, and freedom, but any person who seeks to steal these things from any human being for the sole purpose of furthering their own ambitions and agendas.

"The relentless demonization of Saddam Hussein over the last decade or so imparted a deeply personal flavor to the conflict with Iraq" (Anderson 34). Since the first Gulf War ended in 1991, which was under the first Bush Administration, the United States and Great Britain began a period of constant pressuring upon the Iraqi government in which the accusations of that government being a terrorist organization was brought before the United Nations. Privatizations of Iraq's oil sectors would have been a huge business deal for anyone who could seize control of them, for Iraq's petroleum reserves were second only to Saudi-Arabia in the world, a fact that the United States and Great Britain have been aware of, they knew that control of Iraq meant total control of the Iraq, Caspian Sea, and Gulf States' oil reserves. The US and Britain constantly pressured Iraq, pressuring that included several air-strikes within Iraqi territory, and the establishment of military-enforced "no-fly" zones hampering Iraqi transportation.

During this period of pressuring, UN inspections revealed holes that had been cut through the Iraqi border high-voltage electric fence between Kuwait and Iraq. Everything was professional, and it was largely believed this was executed by US Special Forces. Amidst pressuring from all sides, even from the Turkish and Kurd forces who sought an opportunity to fight amongst themselves, Iraq sought protection from those who cared little about the people, and their only means of income, and survival.

September 11, 2001, two planes crashed into the twin towers of New York's International Trade Center, another crashed into the Pentagon, and one more was taken down by the brave passengers onboard. As the sound of steel mixed with blood descending through the fog of soot and screams were heard in New York, a pin drop could be heard across the nation as a nation was shocked and left in tear-filled awe. Two months later the US invaded Afghanistan on a strike against terrorism two months after most of the terrorist forces of Afghanistan had fled. So naturally, the US and Great Britain in an act of terrorism followed the trail of terror, to Iraq...

Iraq had been the ultimate goal of the Bush Administration's war on terror all along. Six days following September 11th, President George W. Bush signed orders for the preparation of war against Taliban forces, and to prepare for war scenarios, against Iraq. Then in early 2002 the Bush Administration began labeling Iraq as a member of the "Axis of Evil" and threats demanding a "regime change or war" grew ever greater. All of these events conveniently supported and furthered plans that led as far back as 1992 held within plans and papers that stated a US defense plan and Gulf domination plan. "The Bush administration was, from its inception, more interested in pursuing a dubious agenda in Iraq than hunting terrorists like Osama bin Laden. From the mishandling of 9/11 to the still-unproven claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, to recent allegations about the threat Iran poses to the world... the Bush administration has co-opted the intelligence community for its own political ends..." (Bamford 89).

Amidst all of these actions by the US and Britain the UN was urging for further inspections of Iraq and for a peaceful resolution to the situation. During the UN summit the US made it clear it had no intention of waiting any longer before taking action against Iraq. On March 5, 2003 the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Russia stated that they would not allow passage of a UN resolution to authorize war against Iraq. This statement was a reply to a proposed draft resolution by the US, Spain, and Britain stating Saddam Hussein had missed his disarm deadline. Other council members stated their desire for the inspectors to be permitted to continue their search. Yet despite the many UN Security Council members that opposed the US actions, their warnings were paid no heed, and the US struck.

After months of threats, the United States invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Washington and Britain proceeded by cutting off UN inspections despite the protest by the UN Security Council. The US and Great Britain invaded Iraq with a force of roughly 300,000 ground troops. These assaults began with the night bombings of Baghdad, which resulted in mass destruction of both military and civilian structures. Baghdad slept, and then it burned. From the air it was never realized, but when the soldiers marched into the ruins of Baghdad, the true price of war was realized as thousands of civilians who never knew what a WMD was or why anyone would kill for oil. Families who only knew the dreams they dreamt that night, dreams that they would never awake from. War was costly, as costly as the price of oil, and so the tens of thousands of US and British forces marched into Iraq. The sky had fallen on Baghdad, and Baghdad fell. Through guerrilla warfare Iraqi forces loyal to Saddam Hussein spread across the country ambushing US and British convoys, and men and women on both sides died, neither wanting