To get the thread started:
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Originally Posted by Chacmool Was the US invasion justified? |
The first war in Iraq was justified, the second was not. Presence of weapons of mass destruction or parts that could be made to be WMD very soon was claimed to be the reason for the attack, but it was a vicarious motive. Contrary to what the US admin would like the world to believe, the UN weapon inspectors did a good job in both the periods they inspected weapons in Iraq. The US weapon inspectors findings supports that view.
WMD was a reason for war that the administration knew they would get support for in congress. They would not have gotten congressional support for the argument: lets go and take out Saddam because he is a bad guy and kills his own people and the Kurds.
There would not be any support for the argument: lets go and make Iraq democratic
And there certainly would not be open support for: Lets go and invade Iraq to get control over the Iraqi oil.
It might be possible to construct after-the-fact justifications for the war, but the justifications used to get the congress and other allies to agree was the use of the WMD argument, that several people at the time thought was flawed, including americans. Unfortunately, those of us that claimed that there were no WMD in Iraq got it right, and it was truly a war entered without reasonable justification.
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What does the future hold?
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Hopefully, US has learned some economic and political lessons from the war in Iraq. First of all, it was totally wrong to go to war in Iraq when they were still fighting in Afghanistan.
Focus! Get one job done, before starting another. The war is not over just because the fighting stops.
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Is there really a link between the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq?
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Yes and no!
There was no detectable link between Al-Quaida and Saddam Hussain, but there were a link between Saddam and palestinian suicide bombers, as Saddam paid families of suicide bombers compensation. Both Saddam and Bin Laden had common friends though: americans.
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Why does it seem that the US only gets involved in battles where oil involved?
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I believe the previous poster summed that up nicely as national interest. I do not think that the US goes to war for the oil alone, but when picking battles, I am sure they think about potential future benefits if the war is successful, including access to oil.
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Why aren't the US getting more involved in the horrific battles going on in Africa?
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Well, they have had a few setbacks in Africa from earlier attempts. I do believe that instead of sending forces, US should instead be involved in training security forces for the AU. The US Army have great knowledge about how to fight an armed war, but it often fails miserably when trying to win the hearts and minds.
There is a lot of things that are wrong with UN, that they objected to the war in Iraq is not one of them. Remember that UN is not a separate entity, without action from its member states it cannot do anything.
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Should more countries get involved in Iraq?
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Probably not a good idea, at least not visibly on iraqi soil. It is the presence of foreign troops and the buildup of the national security that seems to trigger most of the insurgency in Iraq. Since the damage is already done, I think that supporting the buildup of police forces and national security forces is the only way to go.
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Should the Iraqi people sort themselves out?
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In principle yes. Changes to communities generally work better when they arise from within, than when they are when enforced from outside. We should assist them in building the institutions, but they need to feel like they own their country and their institutions if the people are going to respect them.
I have probably stepped onto some land-mines when posting these...I am more comfortable posting about biology than politics, peace and war.
Personally, I am a pacifist (conscious objector), social democrat and situated in Norway, Europe, where UN-route traditionally is seen as the best approach, even if we see the need for reforms. My views are of course influenced by this background.
