My father, brother, sister, and many cousins are all in the Air Force, so my family is pretty patriotic. Despite the many tragedies that have taken place during this war, I have a firm belief in the purpose of this war. I know that Saddam has murdered thousands of people, many of which were his own. I know the main purpose of this war was said to be for the safety of all people because Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The US felt the need to search Iraq in order to stop a potential threat. On the other hand, I’ve heard of some other reasons besides protection of why the US is currently at war with Iraq. For this reason, I chose to write this article on why the US is at war with Iraq. I was curious as to why people believed that there were other reasons that the US based their judgement on.
My interest in this topic began right when the war started, but it was only after watching the World News a little after this assignment that I realized that there are many other reasons for war. I began my search on the internet for articles that had reasons why the US is at war with Iraq. My Google search pulled up thousands of results, and these thousands of results listed numerous reasons for going to war. The results included newspaper and magazine articles, books, reports and essays, and even websites dedicated to discussing and understanding the US’ international relations. I not only found some good facts that had reliable evidence, but I also cam across some strong opinions of what I concluded were anti-war people. Some talked about the US as being a bully to other countries in order to get what it wanted. Others stated the fact that President Bush just wanted to finish what his father hadn’t in Desert Storm. Josey’s comment was similar because he stated that George W. Bush wanted revenge on Saddam because he tried to assassinate Bush’s dad. I know that there is alot of opposition and criticism towards the US for invading IRaq because I see it and hear about it all the time. I couldn’t understand why people were opposed to the invasion of Iraq because not only did Hussein have WMD’s, but he tested them on his own people. Clearly, Hussein was a threat not only to his own people, but other countries as well, because if he murdered thousands of his own people, who’s to say that he wouldn’t murder thousands of others?
One article stated that the reason the US went to war with Iraq was not because of WMD’s, but because the US wanted to protect the flow of oil from the Middle East. The US was just looking out for its own interest because war would guarantee the safety of oil flow from the Middle East. Another article said the US not only wanted to increase the flow of oil from the Middle East, but wanted to maintain a dominance in that area. By importing the most oil from the Middle East, the US would clearly gain the upper hand over all other countries. Others said that the US wanted to protect the dollar’s dominance over the global oil market. Not only that, but also wanted to protect the dollar against competition from the Euro. By going to war with Iraq, the US would gain the oil advantage while protecting the dollar value. Competition for oil in the world market would lessen if the US went to war with Iraq. Victory in Iraq would bring victory in the competition for oil. The main idea that I was able to pull from all of these reasons was that the US wanted to stay at the top in all regards of international relations. The US did want to protect against terrorism, but underneath I found a bigger picture. Basically, my conclusion for my research was that WMDs were a cover up to satisfy the American people and the rest of the world, but really oil and US dominance were the key motivations.
All of the reasons that I found made the US seem selfish and inconsiderate. When I first read this, I thought it was a bunch of garbage. The US saw the main threat, so the US took action to protect against the threat. But as I read further into the explanations behind the possible reasons, I began to understand why others would question US motivations. The US motive to save oil, for instance, is a good reason because oil is valuable in all countries, and Iraq has a lot of it. I want to be more open minded to others who oppose the war. I had no patience or understanding when others would tell my why they were opposed to the war. I just thought that Hussein was an evil man with WMDs, so the US invaded to protect others from terrorism. I greatly supported this image because I thought it was a noble thing to do. After finding my new information, I found out that behind others were good evidence and reasoning. I can say that I still believe in this war’s main purpose, but my new information has made me more open to other reasons. From now on, I will listen to others who are anti-war and respect their opinions.
Taynia Brunt
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