The Reasons of 2003 Invasion of Iraq

The U.S. and Britain's agreement to go to war with Iraq in 2003 was and remains one of the U.S. government's most divisive foreign policy decisions. Whether, amid the attacks, the war was a justifiable gesture, considering the fundamentally different opinions on the position of the global community at the time, remains questionable.

Iraq War, also known as the Second Persian Gulf War that took place from 2003–2011. The Iraq war was a two-stage war in Iraq. The first was a short, conventionally waged war in March–April 2003, in which a combination of U.S. and Great Britain troop force along with the help of other smaller contingents from several other countries joined forces to invade Iraq and quickly defeated Iraqi military and paramilitary forces. Following the invasion and the defeat of the Iraqi military, Iraq's major cities erupted in a looting wave mostly directed at government offices and other public institutions. With these severe outbreaks of violence, both common criminal violence and repressive acts against the former ruling clique.

What is fascinating about Iraq's political discourse is how little it has changed in the past twelve years. Although it has caused tremendous changes within our country. The underlying ethical problem of dealing with an authoritarian and destructive outlaw state with weapons of mass destruction remains essentially the same. According to Gerard F. Powers (2019). The U.S. and the Middle East are still paying the price for our political perversions in Iraq from the Big Lie to abuse to sectarian violence. To give a similar example, World War II produced an ethic of unity and collective engagement with its common contributions across all sectors of society, a feeling that there was a 'us' that transcended individualism and selfishness in the service of a higher purpose. The philosophy was utterly and finally pushed out of public consciousness by the Iraq war, already under pressure in subsequent years. Then, the Iraq War seemed to be the final step toward creating a 'looking out for number one' mentality.

There is broad agreement that a ruthless tyrant has been neutralized by removing Saddam Hussein from power. But the debate about why the U.S. went to war has become ever more bitter. The Bush administration is still vigorously defending the argument to kill Saddam. According to his critics, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction or ties between Saddam and al-Qaeda, two key elements in the pro-war argument. Which is confirmation that the government may have deceived Citizens about the threat posed by Iraq. And continued bombings in Iraq, as well as the occupation's rapidly rising cost which rose far above $100 billion so far has led those who oiginally supported the invasion to rethink their decision.

Universities, trade unions, religious groups, Charities and activist groups have been mobilizing against the invasion waged by the US / UK and the occupation of Iraq since September 2002, creating the strongest anti-war campaign in history. February 15, 2003, between 6 million and 11 million people turned out in at least 650 cities around the world to rally against the attempt by the United States to invade Iraq. It was the largest protest against the conflict and is the world's largest one-day international uprising ever seen. Americans opposed invading Iraq for various reasons, one being the fact that our top public leaders did not have a justified reason for invading Iraq. Along with American citizens opposing the invasion of Iraq regional allies widely opposed the U.S. Attack. In addition to the lack of support there wasn’t any evidence linking Iraqi to Al Qaeda or Other Anti-American Terrorists. Nor was there any proof of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. Sadly, many Americans remain skeptical about expressing their democratic rights in periods of international crisis and are unwilling to criticize the foreign policy of a leader. Which in the end resulted in serious moral, legal, political, and strategic problems with the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

According to the U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8, clause 1, The Congress shall have Power... To declare War... “To raise and support Armies,...“To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; “To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively “... Which is what granted the U.S the power to declare war on Iraq even though large amounts of citizens and allied officials did not agree with this.

However, the primary reason for intervening in fighting the Iraq War was to restore peace, which has failed miserably to bring peace and security to the Iraqi people or anyone else. Also putting this country further into debt, rendering this the 'unnecessary war.'