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The Invasion of Iraq

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The Invasion of Iraq
Did America invade Iraq simply for economical reasons? Or was it an act of imperialism? Was it an attack to retaliate the attacks on 9/11? There are numerous of reasons why America invaded Iraq. One can’t simply identify one single reason for why the war occurred. However, one can examine and debate whether one explanation has more significant importance than another. One can break the debate down to whether the invasion was a result of materialistic interests or by ideological reasons. There is a fair amount of dispute amongst people regarding the explanations for the war in Iraq. Some argue that the previous relations between the Iraqi regime and the US was already bad, and that after the 9/11 attacks U.S officials had a legitimate reason for going to war. On the other side a lot of people are convinced the war was a result of U.S national interest in gaining control over Iraq’s oil fields.

On the 20th of September 2001 president Bush declared war on terror. In congress president bush stated, “From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime (Bush, 2001). The Bush administration further claimed that Saddam Hussein had developed weapons of mass destruction and feared that the regime would use such weapons towards the U.S and or towards Israel. Was America’s invasion of Iraq a consequence of the attacks on 9/11? It was already clear at the time that the US had huge interest in the Middle East due to its oil reserves. The Petroleum Economist Magazine had estimated that Iraq had approximately 200 billion barrels of oil in undiscovered reserves. (Brookings, 2003). One might argue that after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center; the Bush administration had a legitimate reason for invading Iraq, as it became a significant part of U.S national interest. However, the question and debate lies whether the Bush administration motives were to retaliate the attacks and spread


Bibliography: - - About (2001) Full text: President Bush Declares “war on terror” (ONLINE) Accessed on 06.12.2012 from: http://middleeast.about.com/od/usmideastpolicy/a/bush-war-on-terror-speech_2.htm - - Brookings (2003) How much does Iraq have? (ONLINE) accessed on 07.12.2012 from: http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2003/05/12globalenvironment-luft - - Theguardian (2004) Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict (ONLINE) Accessed on 07.12.2012 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/18/iraq.iraq1 - - Hinnebusch (2007) The US invasion of Iraq: Explanations and Implications, Critique: Critical Middle eastern Studies, 16 (3) pp.209-228 (ONLINE) Accessed on 03.12.2012 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=cac1e98f-135b-4d11-8a4f-401222fdcd40%40sessionmgr110&vid=6&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=26946313 - - Foreign Affairs (1994) The spiders’s web: The Seceret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq (ONLINE) Accessed on 08.12.2012 from: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/49560/stephen-e-ambrose/the-spiders-web-the-secret-history-of-how-the-white-house-illega - - Wall Street Journal (2008) Why we went to war in Iraq (ONLINE) Accessed on 08.12.2012 from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121504452359324921.html - - The Telegraph (2012) North Korea could have fuel for 48 nuclear weapons by 2015 (ONLINE) Accessed on 08.12.2012 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9487574/North-Korea-could-have-fuel-for-48-nuclear-weapons-by-2015.html# - OPEC (2012) OPEC Share of World Crude Oil Reserves 2011 (ONLINE) Accessed on 09.12.2012 from: http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/330.htm - MRP (2001) The Iraqi Klondike Oil and Regional Trade (ONLINE) Accessed on 07.12.2012 from: http://www.merip.org/mer/mer220/iraqi-klondike - - Jhaveri (2004) Petroimperialsim: US Oil Interests and the Iraq War, Antipode 36 (1) pp2-11 (ONLINE) Accessed on 06.12.2012 from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=e4cf700c-ae85-4ac1-8db0-bfd5060f1ba4%40sessionmgr110&vid=5&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=12408081
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