I'm very oblivious to the world so I want to know why were are at war in Iraq?

Question

I know I sound dumb, but I live in a cave

Answer 1

I will tell you the truth. I suggest not listening to the liberal Bush haters. They don't really have much to offer as far as constructive dialogue.

It all started on 9/11/01, when terrorists attacked the united states, and essentially the western world by destroying the world trade center and pentagon.

The initial response of the US was to find out who perpetrated the attack, and bring them to justice. It was very quickly discovered that the attacks were carried out by an organization called Al Qaida, which was head quartered in Afghanistan, and supported by the govt of Afghanistan called the Taliban. The US and many allies, called on the Taliban to renounce terrorism and turn over the terrorists who orchestrated the attack on 9/11. They refused, so a coalition of militaries from western countries attacked the terrorists and Taliban.

That wasn't enough though. The Bush administration knew that this wasn't just about retribution on the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 it was about a world wide war of ideologies. Radical Islam versus essentially anyone who doesn't subscribe to their extreme version of Islam. The leader of the west is the USA so the terrorists target the US. Bush also felt that now that the terrorists had hit us on our own soil, we needed to be wary of what else they could do. He and his advisors conluded that the worst case would be terrorists in posession of deadly chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Bush also declared that any country that supports terrorism, or gives safe harbor to terrorists is just as guilty as the terrorists.

The regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq met both of those conditions. He was clearly a supporter of terrorism, and was believed by virtually all global intelligence agencies, and the UN to have WMD programs and WMD stockpiles. The UN security council had in fact unanimously passed some 15 resolutions calling on Iraq to fully disarm of its WMD. The Iraqi regime refused to cooperate with UN inspectors. Another coalition of western militaries was formed, and led by the US. The UN security council unanimously passed a final resolution calling on Saddam to disarm or face "serious consequences" Again, Saddam didn't cooperate, so the US led coalition invaded Iraq and took Saddam out of power.

President Bush also believed that a long term solution to terror was to spread democracy, freedom and economic empowerment to the middle east, where terrorism is rampant, largely due to citizens who are frustrated with their lack of economic progress. In most middle eastern countries, citizens are tough from a very young age that non muslims, and especially jews are their enemies and the cause of all their problems and that it is glorious to die killing jews and non muslims. For terror to end, this has to end, and for this to end there needs to be freedom and democracy in the middle east.

Bush and his advisors believed it would be easy to topple Saddam, and it was. What they apparently didn't anticipate was how committed the terrorists would be to stopping freedom and democracy in Iraq. I believe they also felt that Iraqis would be so happy to be free of the brutal, murderous criminal Saddam Hussein that they would unite in celebration and it wouldn't be long before Iraq was prosperous.

Unfortunately, they were wrong, and the situation has turned out badly and become much more difficult that we anticipated. To leave now, would be a huge mistake and would embolden the terrorists and would allow them to claim victory over the US and would simply lead them to attack us here rather than over in Iraq.

So we stay there and are doing our best to bring security and prosperity to the Iraqi people. We are doing our best to train their men to be able to protect their own country. Having a strong democratic ally in the middle east would be of enormous benefit to the west and the united states specifically.

I think it's worth it in the long if we succeed. Obviously some disagree, and some think there is no hope of success. Some just see a tough situation as a good opportunity to benefit themselves politically.

Time will tell. The final judgement on the George W Bush presidency won't be known for decades, perhaps even centuries.
People are still discussing the first president, so we can hardly draw meaningful historical conclusions about the 43rd.

My advice to those questioning this war is to believe that we can win, realize how important it is that we win, and think long term, very long term. Of course if you focus on the day to day violence, you're not going to support this war, but that isn't the big picture.

God bless our troops.

Answer 2

For three reasons.

Bush wants to be called Great in the history books, and thought invading Iraq and being a War President was his best shot at it.

Cheney wanted to help enrich Haliburton with governmenent contracts, and stealing the Iraqis' oil.

Rumsfeld wanted permanent bases.

Three lousy reasons for this lousy war.

The reasons they CLAIMED to go to war were that Iraq was behind 9/11 (which it wasn't), and that he had weapons of mass destruction (which he didn't). The people telling us those things knew they were lying.

Answer 3

We aren't at war with Iraq. We are at war with international terrorists, some of whom have gravitated to Iraq. We are also at war in Afghanistan, the United States, Great Britain, and other places. The terrorists are the ones who are doing the killing of innocent persons.

Answer 4

Well, since 9/11 we have had troops in the middle east. First we attacked Afghanastan. Then Bush wanted to look for 'weapons of mass destruction' in Iraq for some reason. Ever since we have had troops there.

Answer 5

I do agree with ( Openwater )
and not only you but most Americans are living in caves...

Answer 6

Do we let mad men rule the world or do we try to stop them. Deliberate murder of innocent people is the big evil here.

Answer 7

Because of oblivious people.

Answer 8

Bush and his cronies who are invested in Halliburton want the oil under "their" sand. In short, we bullied our way in there for the resource grab, and the delusion that we could have a long-term presence in the Middle East without destabilizing the region.

If you voted for Bush, you've got blood on your hands with this mess.

Answer 9

Crawl back in your cave.

Answer 10

it's part of the prophecy and in the coming years it's going to be worse

mark 13:8

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.