What Were The Motivations For The War On Irag?

Today people wonder: why are we in the war against Iraq? I too have wondered this question. After doing massive research and learning about the crookedness in the Bush administration, as well as viewing the negatives and positives of Iraq I have come to the conclusion that we are in this war to expand the U.S military power and to get in on Iraq’s oil reserves. Along with the expansion of U.S military power and the oil reserves the main reason why we went to war was because of the suspicion of weapons of mass destruction.

History tells us by the 1930’s the U.S had succeeded in pressuring the British to share petroleum rights in Iraq. There was an immediate interest in the land since then. With the knowledge of petroleum the U.S and British could be very wealthy countries once making contracts with other countries to use it. In 1931, Iraq became independent under King Feisal and Nuri-as-Said. In 1941 a pro-axis coup was overturned by British involvement. During this Coup, The German foreign office got a report from General Keitel of a large shipment, including, for example, some 15,000 rifles and about 800 machine guns. The Iraqi people were receiving military support from other countries such as Germany since they were established.

In 1979 Saddam had become prime minister and had been forming a dictatorial regime. His highest officials were his family members and natives from his home town Tikriti. In 1980 the Iraq - Iran war occurred because Iran supposedly didn’t give up land Iraq had felt was theirs. Saddam invaded Iran in 1980, starting a war that cost about one million casualties. Saddam used chemical warfare against Iran and used chemical warfare to suppress internal revolts by the Kurds in the north. The main point of the war that included the US was that “The United States and Western powers supported Iraq with arms and Western companies helped Saddam build chemical, biological and nuclear weapons capabilities. In 1981, Israel attacked and destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor supplied by France, where Saddam had hoped to produce enough fissionable material to make a bomb.” 1Saddam had attempted once to build a nuclear reactor, something to worry about in the future perhaps. After the Iraq-Iran war, Iraq was seriously in debt.

In 1990 Iraq went to war with Kuwait. Kuwait was supposedly stealing oil that was Iraq’s. Iraq conquered Kuwait despite warnings from the U.S and Egypt. Iraq refused to respond to the U.S, Arab countries, and UN of warnings to withdraw from Kuwait. “UN allies led by the USA launched operation Desert Storm in February 1991, successfully reversing the invasion of Kuwait. However, the US did not try to remove Saddam Hussein from power and allowed him to suppress Kurdish and Shi'a revolts. “2 As punishment to Iraq, UN imposed many economic sanctions which could have caused Iraq’s hardship and poverty. “At the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the UN passed Resolution 687, which declared a ceasefire in the war, spelled out requirements for Iraq's disarmament of weapons of mass destruction, and imposed economic sanctions to be lifted when Iraq had fully complied with the disarmament requirements.”

In 1995 by UN Security Council Resolution 986 made the oil for food program. This program allowed Iraq to export limited quantities of oil to pay for food and medicines. Iraq in turn took advantage of the profit coming to them and used it for a program for weapons development. “Credits for cheap oil were also distributed to foreign politicians and others who could be helpful to Saddam's regime. Jordan was an active trading partner with Iraq.”3An estimated 3 billion dollars made illegally were used for developing weapons capabilities and other aggressive activities. This program was originally made so that the Iraqi government could provide its people with food, clothes and medicine. The Saddam regime needed to be removed because under the power of Saddam Iraq has done nothing but caused problems in the international community.

The war on Iraq was inevitable. Bush said it himself in an interview, when he’s faced with a problem he is thinking war, he’s a war president. Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice-President Cheney also supported the war. Both secretary Rumsfeld and Vice-President Cheney were both involved in “urging stronger military action against Iraq for a decade or more; in 1998, they signed an open letter to President Clinton demanding more aggressive military action against Iraq. Many of them were part of a campaign launched by the Project for the New American Century calling for a new foreign policy aimed at preventing any country from even aspiring to match U.S. power.”4 Not many European countries support the war. Asia, Latin America and Africa is opposed to war. “In the region, key U.S. dependents, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have reluctantly agreed to provide support to a U.S. war only if it is authorized by a new UN resolution. For that reason, the U.S. is likely to escalate the pressure - bribes, threats, and punishments - on the UN Security Council to win the necessary votes.”5 With that said the US is willing to go to any extent to get what they want especially when it comes to those resolutions that mean a lot to them.

Saddam has been untrustworthy and very inhumane. Iraqi’s have been suffering for many reasons. One could definitely be that they weren’t enjoying the riches of the oil for food program. When Saddam came to power, his Baath Party imposed careful control and a repressive political atmosphere in which opposing the party is forbidden under punishments that are swift and harsh. Iraqi’s don’t have a democracy. They lived under a dictatorship, where Saddam controlled everything. Therefore the Iraqi’s political and civil rights were violated. They do not receive our first amendment. There is no freedom of speech or assembly, no opposition parties and no free press. If a person thinks differently about something or is under the suspicion of opposing the government, this is a crime and this is usually met with arrest, and “reports of arbitrary arrests of family members, torture, and extra-judicial executions are common. Iraqi Kurds were the target of the brutal Anfal campaign of the 1980s, designed to drive Kurds out of key oil-rich regions in an "Arabization" version of ethnic cleansing.”6 Saddam was a cruel heartless dictator who ruled with an iron fist.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, we learned about Saddam’s supposal partnership with Osama