For The Iraq War: Original Reasons
There were several reasons given in 2002 and 2003 that President Bush gave for going to war in Iraq. Some of these reasons concerned Saddam Hussein's personal threat to human rights that he posed. There was also the hope that a new democratic government could be set up in Iraq once Saddam Hussein was ousted from government. President Bush also wanted to send a message to other dictators as to how the US would treat those who irresponsibly torture their own citizens. These are some of the reasons that President Bush gave for going to war. Why go to war against Iraq There were several reasons given for the war in Iraq in 2003. Saddam's regime proved to be one that was a dictatorship in which he tortured family members in front of each other, and committed genocide. Saddam had connections with other terrorist groups and it was thought that he might provide other terrorists with arms, maybe even weapons of mass destruction. It was also apparent by these two points that he was a major threat in the Middle East. He had also been attacking British planes that were enforcing the no-fly zone enacted before that time.
It was hoped also that a short war in Iraq could help the US economy by drastically reducing the oil prices, which were just over $2/ gallon ($40 a barrel) at the time. If we were able to put in a democratic government then we might have been able to surround Iran and Syria with all democratic nations, in effect cutting them off from direct contact with other threats in the area. More personal reasons that were given were that many people's credibility were at stake. Namely that of President Bush himself, the US as a nation and the UN. In the year before the war there had been much talk about forcing Saddam to pay for all that, he had done and threatened to get rid of him. There were terrorists in the Middle East that called the US a "paper tiger" that nothing would ever come of all of the war talk. If we had not gone to war many, felt that our authority in the world would no longer be taken seriously. Conclusion These were the reasons that President Bush and other Pro-War activists gave for the war in Iraq in 2003. Some good has come of the war. Saddam Hussein was found and he had his day in court, and no weapons of mass destruction were found. It was also later learned that there had actually no link between Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden. That was 4 years ago and even though Hussein has been judged guilty and a sentence of death has been carried out, freeing the Iraqi people, we are still in Iraq and President Bush has just sent more troops to Iraq earlier this year. |