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How did the Iraq war start?

Updated: 8/23/2023
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14y ago

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In the minds of many, the reason the United States went to war with Iraq is still not clear. The historical account goes like this:

Saudi Arabia had been asking the US for a long time to leave their country, but the U.S. did not leave. That made one particular man named Osama bin Laden angry and he hatched several terrorist attack plans against the U.S, the most devastating being the attack on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. Then he went into hiding. President Bush vowed to hunt down bin Laden, and the U.S. declared war on Iraq. The reason given to the public was originally that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction; however, no weapons were found. The public was later told that the U.S. Was in Iraq to instill democracy.

Unfortunately, not finding any weapons of mass destruction left doubts in many people's minds about the "real" reasons the U.S. went to war with Iraq. It also came to light that bin Laden was trained by the C.I.A and that the bin Ladens were visitors to the White House on several occasions, In addition, during the time when all planes were grounded on 911, it was alleged that President Bush flew bin Laden's brother out of the U.S. Since 911, there have also been doubts raised about the events that occurred that day and whether bin Laden was really responsible for it, along with allegations that the U.S. Made billions of dollars from the sale of weapons to Iraq.

So, there is the historical account, but in many people's minds we may never know the real reasons the U.S. went to war with Iraq.

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11y ago
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11y ago
Why Iraq Was AttackedThe plan and motivation to attack Iraq existed ever since Central Command decided not to continue into Baghdad. Rumsfeld, Cheney, Powell, and especially Wolfowitz had wanted to continue but didn't. The Wolfowitz remained the 'next best thing' ever since the conclusion of the Gulf War. Pentagon officials had no Cold War enemy and almost a decade to make plans. The minor conflicts, research, training, contingencies, and strategies were no substitute for a real war.

In Iraq was an isolationist enemy which failed offers trade, including the Food for Oil program. Saddam Hussein had been offered plenty, and refused. He had more than a dozen imposters so that assassination attempts only resulted in an alleged attempt on George H.W. Bush's life. He had the potential to be a larger economic competitor and a threat to Saudi Arabia, not to mention Israel.

The need for a war was on another level bigger than Saddam Hussein. Dictators in Africa had worse human rights violations and Pakistan or other countries were more relevant nuclear threats. The real reason for war was for war itself.

The Pentagon had lost trillions of dollars maintaining a hulking military after the Cold War. It needed to remain intact and to prove its usefulness to another generation. Planning two generations ahead, it also needed to have enough energy resources to last the life of the current tanks, planes, and ships using limited amounts of fuel. The military would have been forced to make base closures and reduce its size, if not for a war with the fourth largest military force at the time.

The commanders of the war were/are the Bush family, Dick Cheney, and military officials. They sold the war to Americans through Rove's newspaper dealings, fear, and in particular each member of Congress's fear of not being re-elected. They sold the war itself to select corporations who provided everything going into Iraq, the military itself providing the troops. Iraq was/is limited to trading only with American companies. The conviction of Americans and the world differed because reporting of the war in America mentioned economic benefits, Saddam (downplaying possible Iraqi casualties), and any occupation (downplayed to only months) while worldwide viewers equated war so far from America with colonization.

Why We Fight is highly recommended: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xYeuzG24mo

the Americans smell

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16y ago

the United States got pulled into the war because of the Terrorist on 9/11. The War on terrorism will never end and there will always be someone that will try and keep terrorism going on in history!

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11y ago

i heard from the internet that first the US and Iraq qwrw on very good terms, but Pres. Bush declared war on Iraq.According to then-President of the United States George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of that time; Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end Saddam Hu.According to then-President of the United States George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of that time; Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."[16] According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and coalition officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.[ssein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people."[16] According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that U.S. and coalition officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.[

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Sun, May 20, 2012

Hoplologist65_____

For someone to understand the Iraq war, you need to look at the entire spectrum of operations in the middle east and the events prior. During 1991, The Gulf War codenamed "Operation Desert Storm." The United States and other coalition forces including France, The United Kingdom, & Saudi Arabia launched offensive strikes against SCUD Missile Threats. This mission was launched by the UN, led by the United States, These SCUD Missiles could have been a threat to European nations and allies in the Middle East (Israel & Saudi Arabia) At that point Kuwait was also being invaded by Iraqi Republican Guard troops. Kuwait, this can be imagined as a bank, it was rich with stone and gem trading, as well as oil industry, but it had no strong military. As a response the United States "liberated" Kuwait, and launched an offensive into the heart of Iraq to topple its leadership and establish a controlled government. And how i look at it, "To surround Iran with military bases for the final knock out blow" In order to re-stabilize this region, we must have a leader who is close to the people and can dissuade warlords from trying to seize power constantly. This tactic was similarly used in Japan after WWII by General D.MacArthur. Hope this answered your question XD
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8y ago

The US attacked Iraq in 2003 based on either misformation or disinformation, and the stated reasons have changed over time.

The Initial Justification : Weapons of Mass Destruction

The primary reason given by the administration of George W. Bush was that Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, was engaged in the production or acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). These are nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons (examples are the anthrax letter attacks in the US and the Sarin gas attacks in Tokyo--neither of which had any connection to Iraq). It was suggested that Hussein might provide these weapons to terrorists to attack the US. He had already used chemical weapons sold to him by the US against Iran, and also against Iraqi Kurds. Before the war UN inspectors announced they had found no evidence of WMDs, despite unfettered access. After the war was under way, additional investigation concluded Saddam did not have WMDs.

The war continued, however, because the occupation forces of the US were attacked by Iraqi guerrillas, many ironically supported by Iran, Iraq's enemy in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). The US supported a new democratic government within Iraq, which was opposed by various Islamic groups that traditionally held power in the country. Other factions sought to aggrandize their share of the power to be had in the new political system.

It was suggested early on the conflict was predominantly an attempt by the US to control the flow of oil from Iraq, one of the largest petroleum producers in the Middle East.

Secondary Justification: Fostering a Democracy in Iraq
Initially when the US commenced Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, it was a war against the regime in Iraq; to remove Saddam from power, as the US had failed to do in 1991. The goal of the 1991 operation was to drive Saddam from Kuwait, at which the US and its allies succeeded. When no WMDs were found, the US asserted that its mission in Iraq was two-fold: to create a modern democracy and to stop the persistent genocides that took place in that country. The US enfranchised the Shiite Majority, provided for Kurdish autonomy in the North, and assembled a Constitution for the entire Iraqi population. This is in stark contrast to Saddam Hussein who used chemical weapons on his own population and was responsible for committing genocide against the Shiite Arabs, Marsh Arabs, Kurds, Jews, Azeri, Assyrians, Yazidi, Bahai'i, and Chaldeans among others.

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14y ago

because the US wanted some oil and this made some people mad.

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12y ago

The reason we went to war with Iraq is because of 911, and we thought it was there fault. and also invasion.

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12y ago

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 caused the Iraqi war to start.

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