Why did American invade Iraq?

Question

A significant proportion of the American public support the war in Iraq even in the absence of WMDs and United Nations support, why?

This confusion on my part is compounded by the fact that following the death of 6,000 innocent civilians on 9/11, the Republican Party saw fit to invade Iraq and kill a further 2,000 or more Americans in the process; this country had nothing to do with 9/11 in the first place. Apparently, for some its also unpatriotic to say that the war is unjust, that killing 2,000 innocent American soldiers is a bad idea. It is a pity that Germany thought the same way during Hitlers reign.

Supporters appear to believe that the invasion of Iraq was due to muslims envying American freedom. Why do they believe this spin? I have spent some time in a muslim area, even though I'm not muslim, and American freedom is not a phrase that is said very often or even cared about.

Answer 1

Sorry mate,

I can't answer this question. I am confused too:)

Answer 2

I think time will tell if the Iraq invasion was the right thing to do. Saddam was doing very bad things to his people, and I believe it is an obligation of a stronger party to assist a weaker party when/if possible. With strength comes obligation. There is no doubt Iraqi citizens were being gassed and that there was ethnic cleansing going on. We (or any other stronger nation) has an obligation to stop that...much like the world had an obligation to stop Hitler in the late 30s/early 40s, Pol Pot in the 70s, and Pinochet in the 70s and 80s because of the "desaparecidos".

****HOWEVER: If it were a purely moral move on the part of the US, then why no presence in Darfur? Why no presence in Somolia? Why aren't we more proactive with North Korea? Well, the answer, I believe, is oil. We can kill two birds with one stone. Take a moral stance and also hopefully reduce political volatility in the oil rich mideast. For some reason, that excuse seemed too weak...and so someone came up with the "terrorist support state" excuse.

Back in the 70s and esp the 80s, we had a tremendous arms race with the former Soviet Union. It did not look "right" back then. But, by the time the late 80s and early 90s came around....it looked like the right thing to do. Communism fell due to its implosion caused by bankruptcy, and many of the former states became free. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech, Poland, East Germany, Ukraine, etc etc all benefitted from that arms race eventually. Now, almost 20 years away from those events, seeing the forest is easy. When in the thick of it however....it is hard to see the forest for the trees.

What will we think of the Iraqi war 20 years from now? Personally, I think we will look on it as a failed attempt to bring stability to the middle east. We will recognize that the 'terrorism' argument was a convenient way to rally national support around a moral and economic agenda. I am not saying the reasons for the war are bad...but I am saying the US people should be offered THOSE reasons...not some smoke and mirror hysterical finger pointing about terrorists.

My disappointment with the start of the Iraqi war is simply this: Call it what it is- an attempt to rid a country of a dictator AND simultaneously bring stability to the middle east oil region. Tell it like it is!

Regarding Muslims envying American freedom: I too think that is an ignorant, culturally insensitive argument. I would recommend reading this book to shed a little light on that:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1574888625/sr=8-1/qid=1155216082/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-3863951-4955169?ie=UTF8

Muslims no more support violence than any other religion supports it. To say otherwise is to get caught up in the ignorant hysteria out there.

Remember the US government produced posters during WWII of the Japanese? Portraying them as rats? And of the Nazi's posters of Jews during WWII? Portraying them as animals? Well, here we are again...portraying a group as somehow less than human. Why? Its easier to justify killing an animal than it is a human.

History tends to repeat itself. Learn, read, think, understand....

Good question btw....

Answer 3

You didn't hear. The government invaded Iraq because Saddam had ties to Bin Landin that turned out to be false. Because Saddam had WMD's that turn out to be false.Because he was trying to get WMD's that turn out to be false. And last but not least to bring democracy to Iraqi, the one thing that could not be proving wrong. It only took them three excuses to get it. Good idea right? Now for the real world explanation. Iraq is in the middle of the middle east we need to set up bases there to have a strong US presence in the middle east. It doesn't hurt that they are sitting on the third largest Oil reserve in the world. Saddam was going to convert the currency of the Oil from dollars to Euros and we cant let that happen. A funny little thing that I pick up on was what they were calling the invasion of Iraq when it just started. (Operation) (Iraqi) (Liberation) O.I.L. I always thought that was very funny. We needed to get into the middle east before someone else did and we will not let anyone try and become more powerful then us. A Strong US presence in the Middle East will help unsure that we have fast access to any country tiring to move in. Its Global Chess Board and we happen to play it better then anyone else in the world. I don't agree with it but I am not blind.

Answer 4

No one believes that we invaded because of Muslims being jealous of American freedom. The reasons given were Saddam's constant threat to everyone in the middle east. The belief that he possessed and would use WMD's as he did on the Kurds. Because he ignored 16 different UN resolutions on weapons inspectors and UN mandated no fly zones. We invaded Afghanistan over 911. And to note WMD's are not just nucleaar weapons but also chemical and Biological weapons. Saddam killed thousands of people in Iraq, Kuwait, and Iran in that 7 year war. When did anyone else plan to stop him? Was the rest of the world just going to allow him to kill thousands, take smaller countries, and attack neighbors forever?

Answer 5

if you have spent sometime in a Muslim area i think you should have realized that Muslims don't encourage terrorism as most of the west now think after 9/11
the war in Iraq has no reason that a brain can accept, nuclear weapons; there are no nuclear weapons, terrorists; no terrorists, OIL; oh yes, a place in the middle east where i can start to control the east; sure
America has caused Iraq to be facing the possibility of a civil war, hundreds but more than one thousand are killed every week and thousands are injured
What the hell is going on with the world today?

Answer 6

Your right...If Muslims Cared so much about freedom and if that was a main reason for the hostility then they would have Bombed Amsterdam Years ago. I am confused as to why we invaded Iraq...I mean at first I completely supported it but then as the reasons kept changing and common sence finally settled in my brain I was looking for answers....Now the Governments current reason is Iraqi Freedom...hmmm Well thats pretty interesting since so many countries around the world aren't really free...I agree with you 100 percent..unfortunately be prepared for Idiot Neo-Cons to bash your question to peices without even reading it.

Answer 7

There were terms to end the fighting in Gulf War I. Those were that Saddam would give up his WMDs and allow UN inspectors to make sure he was complying. Once he stopped allowing UN inspectors, he was inviting the fighting to resume.

The real reason is that the US did not want to leave Saddam in power in Iraq because they were afraid of what he may do as his age advances and his health declines. He may have launched an attack on Israel that would make current fighting look like a schoolyard tiff.

Sorry to say, but those lives lost are all about the continued ready access to oil at relatively stable prices.

Answer 8

I'm in agreement with you. I believe it was all about oil and a personal vendetta. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and all the reasons for Bush going in there originally proved to be false information (yeah, right). It is comical how easy it is to pull the wool over the eyes of the American public by using patriotism.

Answer 9

The instability of the countries there would have interfeared in the delivery of Americas oil. If they wanted to simply take out the current regieme it would have been easier as a series of covert missions. What they wanted was a new decratic government which liked America and therefore ensuring the oil continued to flow in the required direction.

Or because Bush wanted something for people to remember his term in office, and Sadam was an easy target.

Answer 10

Hindsight is 20/20 so what we think we know now has no bearing on what we thought we knew then. Saddam was not a good man but he knew that only brutality could control muslims. Now the muslims are slaughtering each other with great vigor... but that's no big deal as less muslims is a good thing.

We should bring the military home and let the muslims continue slaughtering themselves. And if they decide to attack the interests of free nations, then we nuke them into oblivion.

Answer 11

By nature Americans hate people who are different.

America must break through and change that.

Everyday I become more and more disheartened by my America.

The only thing I can do is vote the idiots who wanted this war out of office.