Why did the United States invade Iraq for the 2nd time in 2003?

Answer 1

During the Iran-Iraq war and during the '91 Iraq uprising, Saddam used bioweapons against Iran (In which the US is now known to have been heavily involved in) and the Kurds, respectively.

In 1998 the UN sent weapons inspectors to Iraq, who were blocked from inspecting certain installations. Following that, President Clinton signed the Iraqi Liberation Act which stated that the US officially views Iraq as requiring a regime change, allowing military force to bring such changes.

In 2002, President Bush (jr.) enacted the Iraq Resolution which authorized direct US Military action in Iraq. Great Britain and other nations saw the same need to disarm Iraq of WMDs. Throughout the invasion and subsequent war, many labs equipped to make bioweapons were found, along with empty caches. It was discovered that Iraq destroyed a large number of their bioweapons following the Persian Gulf War and sent the majority to the Assad regime in Syria.

Future edit: The Bush administration used the testimony of a defected Iraqi nuclear scientist, now known to be a fraud, to justify invasion on the pretense that Iraq was at the time developing nuclear weapons. Whether or not this was about nuclear weapons is debatable as none were ever found besides old IAEA-sealed nuclear components from the long-defunct Iraqi nuclear program. However the Bush administration saw immediate regime change as the safest option to solving regional instability as Iraq and Iran were vying for regional hegemony, both of which threatened Gulf oil production.

Answer 2

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

The main two reasons to invade Iraq are:

1. Getting control of the Iraqi oil
2. To destroy the Iraqi army that emerged as the second strongest army (after Egypt that already set in peace with Israel) and destroying its history

The evidence is that:

1. They claimed Iraq is promoting nuclear weapons that had been proved its falsification.
2. The American ambassador in Iraq persuaded Iraq to invade Kuwait claiming that it is an internal issue that the Us has nothing to do against. This is to assure another justification for the war.
3. Immediately after occupying Iraq, both the army and the police forces were dissolved without any replacement.
4. Iraq practically now divided into three parts with daily terrorist acts and civilian victims
5. Iraq now suffering of no democracy, no peace, and terrorist clashes.

Answer 3

There was no reason other then Bush family spite. Besides Iraq was the only country in the region that still had freedom of religion and was basically free of terrorist influence.