Suddam Hussein and Iraq, in the end, had nothing to do with the attacks on 911. It was born out of paranoia and a belief he had to have something to do with it. The day of the
The Iraq War 6
attacks, and in the following days, the administration tried to confirm this suspicion. The 911 report states” President Bush told him and some of his staff to explore possible Iraqi links to 9/11. “See if Saddam did this,” Clarke recalls the President telling them.” The
administration had already made up its mind. They were going to use this as an excuse to attack Iraq. The 911 Report says a”briefing book on the strategic concept for the war on terrorism specified three priority targets for initial action: al Qaeda, the Taliban, and Iraq”
The basic point here is that by going to war with Iraq because Suddam was a terrorist threat doesn't hold water. He had enough on his plate dealing with the U.N. inspectors, domestic unrest, and the threat of reprisal by the U.S. if he stepped out of line.
Liberating the Iraqi People
While liberating the Iraqi people is a noble cause it was overestimated how easy it would be. This is not to say that the military battle would be difficult. The overthrowing of Suddam's regime was fairly easy. Rather it is the installation of a working government that has proven to be difficult. Many politicians want to compare the problems the U.S. is facing in Iraq to Vietnam, but actually it is like the model of when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. They also easily overthrew the Afghan government. It was securing the country that they never accomplished.
The reasons for this are the same as the U.S. is running into; rebel forces, help to the rebels from outside the country, sectarian violence, and a resistance to another government telling them how to rule their own country
Their citizens also eventually grew tired of the war as the will of the American people is beginning to do. The strain on their economy, the loss of life, and the drudge of no end in sight all took a toll. Just like the Soviet Union the U.S. may end up leaving Iraq in worse shape than it found it.
The Cost
The cost of the war can be broken down into three categories: monetary, human life, and credibility.
The war in Iraq is costing $200 million a day according to the Congressional Budget Office. In January 2003 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the budget department came up with “a number that's something under $50 billion”. Yale economist William Nordhaus did an extensive study before the war began that estimated the potential cost,” a war and occupation could cost anywhere from $100 billion to $1.9 trillion in 2002 dollars, depending on the difficulty of the conflict, the length of occupation and the impact on oil costs”
The cost in human life is sad. According to a CNN on February 7, 2007,” There have been 3,354 coalition deaths - 3,100 Americans, two Australians, 131 Britons, 13 Bulgarians, six Danes, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Fijian, one Hungarian, 32 Italians, one Kazakh, three Latvian, 18 Poles, two Romanians, five Salvadoran, four Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 18 Ukrainians.” At one point in 2006, 100 Iraqi's were dieing per day. The total number of Iraqi civilian deaths has been hard to determine. It ranges from 50,000 to 70,000.
The final cost is to U.S. credibility as a world leader. With the failure of the Intelligence Department to get the WMD question correct, and the inability to secure the country of Iraq and install a working government, other countries are not so quick to side with the U.S. As Ex-President George H.W. Bush wrote in his essay, “American Leadership and the Prevention of Deadly Conflict,” Credibility is an idea that is simple to express and a quality that is easy to squander.” He states later, ” It is almost impossible to exaggerate not only the value of U.S. credibility, but its vulnerability to serious
damage when our rhetoric runs ahead of our capabilities and will.” That is price the U.S. is paying with the Iraq war. To think the U.S. could fight a war on two fronts, try to install new governments in two Middle Eastern countries, and fight terrorism across the globe, was an underestimated the task.
In the end, the United States could have found other options than going to war with Iraq. It is accomplishing nothing. Actually it is doing more harm than good. Iraqi's are dying, U.S. service men are dying, and U.S. credibility is dying. There turned out to be no WMD's, and the hawks were too overzealous. If only the U.S. could go back in time and undo the mess it has created.
