The Iraq War has numerous alleged and real causes. Determining the difference between them is left to the discretion of the reader. See the black headings for general categories of answers:
Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Saddam attacked Kuwait in an attempt to take over control of the entire Middle East. He "flexed his muscles" to see if the world would allow him to "expand". The world refused to allow that and Saddam was pushed back and sanctions were placed on him and his military. Saddam was instructed that he could not sell more oil to fund his military and that any oil that he sold was to be used to feed and medically treat the residents of Iraq. His air force was restricted to specific areas and other specific sanctions were imposed, including but not limited to sanctions regarding the production, storage and use of missiles, chemical weapons and nuclear devices. Almost immediately, Saddam started selling oil at a discount to Russia, France and others, making the U.N. sanctions ineffective. Intelligence reports indicated that Saddam was trying to build nuclear devices and that he had chemical weapons. In fact, Saddam claimed that he would use chemical weapons against an invading force if we tried to enforce the U.N. sanctions. Under the circumstance, there was no option but to remove him from power. France, Russia and a few others were, of course, unwilling to go along with the U.N. mandate to remove him from power, because they did not want to lose their supply of cheap oil. There is still strong evidence that Saddam and/or his military leaders moved his weapons out of the country, into Syria before the war began.
- Though the common belief for the cause of the Iraq war is the want of oil, it is because of false information delivered to the President and Congress. The CIA had information from an "Undisclosed Source" that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Oil and Petroleum Control
- President Bush wants the oil and little riches from Iraq.
- Saudi Arabia had been asking the US for a long time to leave their country, but we depend on oil like an alcoholic depends on a drink. This made one particularly radical man named Osama bin Laden angry and he hatched several terrorist attack plans against America, the most devastating being the attack on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon. Then he went into hiding in Afghanistan. President Bush was angry about the whole thing and vowed to hunt down bin Laden, so we declared war on Iraq. I know, it's a little like being punched by one guy and then running down a stranger to get back at him. The current spin on Iraq is that we're there to instill democracy and show other countries that America's way is best whether they like it or not, all while ousting dictators. I'm sure we'll take care of other trouble spots soon, like Africa, Korea, Northern Ireland...oh wait, they don't have oil. I guess those citizens craving the American dream (because, c'mon, doesn't everyone?) will just have to wait.
- Mainly oil and the fear of nuclear weapons.
- OIL REBUTTAL: If it was all about oil, US troops would be in the oilfields and patrolling the pipelines, not trying to keep rival factions from blowing each other up.
9/11 and Combating Terrorism
- Causes of Iraq War There are a multitude of reasons. First, following the attack on the US in 2001, is the overriding concern to eliminate the terrorist training grounds in that region of the world. The first ones to be eliminated were in Afghanistan. Once the Taliban in Afghanistan were no longer a threat, i.e. no longer actively cultivating and training al Qaeda terrorists, the next most threatening training areas were in Iraq and Iran. Because there was an abundance of further information of the existence of non-conventional weapons in Iraq and the likelihood that they would very soon be in the hands of al Qaeda terrorist, Iraq was the next target. This is the "weapons of mass destruction" (WMD) rationale that is so often cited. Right or wrongly, the US Government has taken the battle to the terrorists in those areas and not on US soil.
- 9/11 & TERRORISM REBUTTAL: The war in Iraq was caused by an unprovoked attack by the United States. Iraq had nothing to do with the terrorist attack of 9/11. To attack Iraq in response to 9/11 is like attacking Mexico in response to Pearl Harbor. On September 11th 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists, mostly from Saudi Arabia, hijacked four planes. They crashed two of them into the World Trade Center in New York (The Twin Towers). Both towers collapsed within two hours of the hits. Then a third plane was flown into the American Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane however never reached its destination. Believed to be heading for the White house, some of the passengers and flight crew fought to regain control of the plane. Realising that the passengers were moments from overcoming them, the terrorists rolled the plane, sending it into an unrecoverable dive. It crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Actions of Iraq in Years Prior
- Another reason is that the leader Saddam Hussein, was using chemical biological weapons on the citizens of Iraq. We stepped in to stop.
- Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and their unwillingness to obey the conditions of their surrender or cease fire that they agreed to afterward.
Expansion of American Regional Influence
- The real reason we are fighting in Iraq is to try and form a republic in the heartland of Islam hoping that it would be a moderating force against radical Islam. The reason so many neighboring countries send insurgents to disrupt this process is from either ignorance or greed. On the ignorance side of things, young Muslim men are being told that they can fight in a holy war to prevent an "American Form of Government" from invading Islam. In truth, I think we in America would feel better if the new Iraqi Government were formed like ours, but we know better than to try, so we are hoping Iraq can form a new form of Republic with a Muslim agenda. Personally I don't understand why Iraq doesn't look to Turkey for assistance in setting up a successful government with a Muslim agenda.
Conspiracies and Longer Historical Outlooks
- The United States claimed that Iraq was involved in the production of weapons of mass destruction. This reasoning was totally discredited to no one's surprise but the United States administration. That leaves us with the obvious answer 1) The US Arms Lobby needs to have a war going on to make a profit. 2) Iraq is a major supplier of oil to Europe and this has forced up the price of European oil. Europe is a competitor of the United States in the world market so the United States will end up in a stronger position competitively speaking. There are probably a thousand other reasons the US invaded but the fact that Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator had absolutely nothing to do with it if you take into account the number of dictators that the USA has financed and supported over the years.
- The driving force to the Iraq War was Dick Cheney and oil friend executives engaged in the oil business who had been attempting to get back into the mid-east oil business for more than 25 years. The primary reason the US and UK had lost this business was a result of them not adequately distributing the Iraq, Iran, and Libya government, their share of the profit. For example, in 1952 Iran decided to nationalize the oil which had been under control of UK oil companies. Shortly afterwards, the UK and US formed a coup to assassinate the leader. Since that time, the people in those countries have formed a hatred of the US and UK. Also recognize that the Bush family came into the oil related business when Prescott Bush was involved with Dresser Industries which later became Dresser-Rand was purchased by Halliburton in order to get Kellogg in 1998. Prescott was on the Dresser Board of Directors. George Bush 1 use to work for Dresser. US and UK Sanctions started sometime in the late 70's. During that time span, France, Germany, and Russia retained a relationship. That's the reason they voted against the invasion into Iraq. It all comes down to Cheney's secret meetings associated their greed for money and oil.
- The above is true for the citizens of the U.S., but what is the real truth? Bin Laden was trained by the CIA! He and his family often visited President Bush and his wife and thus, when there was Dead Air Space after 9/11 why then did President Bush fly out Bin Laden's family? One would think he would have kept them in the U.S. if it was truly Bin Laden doing all the dirty deeds. No one really knows the truth of this war and by the polls of the U.S. citizens there are more than half that don't trust the President. Bush entered this war on the pretense of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" but thus far has not shown any proof this ever existed. I am also a firm believe that when ANY country has their own house in order then they can start racing around the world telling others how they should run their country. So far there is not one country that is capable of doing that.
- Democrats and Muslims conspired together to use U.S. Tax Dollars to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq.
- Just simply politics...
Comedy
- Bush stole Saddam's lunch money.