Why Is The Iraq War Inevitable

Alejandro Plata
10/29/07
An Inevitable War: Iraq [pic]
“We may have had enough troops to win the war-but not nearly enough to win the peace.” (Philip Carter, 2003, p. 82) There is much debate going on in the U.S. about the war in Iraq. Some people argue that the U.S is fighting a war that it should never have started; others argue U.S. intervention on Iraq has created a war with no end and we should come home immediately. However, I strongly believe that the war in Iraq was an inevitable, justified war and that, from a Liberal point of view, the US should remain in Iraq until we have helped the Iraqis establish a strong government that represents and protects all the people.
The war was inevitable because the U.S. and Iraq have shared a
For the past decade, the U.S. has pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraq regime without war. In 1991, Iraq pledged to reveal and destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War. However, Iraq’s actions never appeared to be truthful or honest. More than a dozen resolutions have been passed in the United Nations Council but the Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. Over the years U.N. weapons inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged, and systematically deceived. The U.S. has devoted 12 years of diplomacy to this issue but peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime failed many times, “because we are not dealing with peaceful men.” (George W. Bush, 2003, p. 22)
A further reason the Iraq war is justified is the September 11, 2001 attack on the U.S. The Bush administration made it very clear that it would act unilaterally and preemptively if its security was threaten. September 11 was the perfect opportunity for the U.S. to knock Hussein off his throne. The failure to remove Saddam would mean that, despite the terrorist attack, we as a nation were unwilling to shoulder the responsibilities of world leadership, even to protect ourselves. (Security
This is very possible because the three different ethnic groups (Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis) that exist in Iraq cannot seem to settle their differences. It is just a matter of time before one of these ethnic groups comes to power and exploits the others. America’s mission to save Iraq is hard but not impossible. The chances of America establishing some type of democratic government in Iraq are very high because it has done it before. For example, in the aftermath of WWII, Japan and Germany were nations utterly destroyed by war with long traditions of military rule. With the support of the U.S., Japan and Germany were reborn into full-functioning democracies within ten years. Furthermore, if we are successful in Iraq, another benefit the U.S. would receive from establishing a strong government there would be a more stable Middle East. A problematic Iran would be surrounded by two reform governments, Iraq and Afghanistan, and in addition, countries such as Pakistan, India, Israel, and Egypt would be less inclined to go to war. We must continue fighting in Iraq so