WHY IRAQ?

9/11 enormous trauma to the American people but also all around the world who believed that every person, regardless of who they are, where they come from and what they belong to, have the right to live. We could argue in so many different ways on how best we can avenge the death of the approximately three thousand people who lost their lives on that fateful day. But when it comes to ensuring that such thing never happens, at least on the American soil, we need to pursue, find and crush alkaeda (talibans). But if this must be done; it must be done well but also responsibly.

George Bush led America to war with Afghanistan, the country believed to have provided safe haven for Bin laden and Alkaeda. In 2003, the wars attention was diverted to Iraq. Now, there are so many theories surrounding Bush’s decision to go to Iraq: like the interest Iraq’s natural resources such as the oil etc. but we can draw a conclusion based on what we know today. The very reason George Bush gave to the American people, the United Nations and to the rest of the world for going to Iraq was because Saddam Hussein has a weapon of mass destruction which, if unchecked, could be use unwisely. But After seven years of killing innocent men and women on the streets of Baghdad, after seven years of killing young American men and women, after seven years of huge government spending: we all know today, that there is no such thing as the Weapon of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Democracy is not restored and each and every day we see Iraq climb higher and higher the ladder of chaos, insecurity and revenge. So back to my question, why did we go to Iraq?

H.D.S Greenway of the Boston Globe answered my question in 2008. That “When all the various reasons for a preemptive war against Iraq are examined – the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, spreading democracy, helping Israel, etc., etc. – it all boiled down to the worst of all possible reasons: Bush invaded Iraq because he could” (Boston Globe). George Bush and America for this matter, has missed an opportunity to work with the majority of Muslims who believe, like America does, that there is no justification for killing innocent lives on the basis of Islam and perpetrators must be pursued, found and crushed. But instead the United States under George Bush responded to 9/11 not because it was the right thing to, or because the world including the islmaic nations stand by it, but just because it has the power to do so.

I’m writing this blog to remind readers and the class that, the concern is not with today, but tomorrow. Imagine a child on the street of Baghdad who lost all he has, his family, because of this war. Imagine a wife who lost her husband or a husband who lost his wife in the course of this war. Imagine a man who worked so hard, saved everything just to acquire a comfortable house for himself and his family, only to have his house brought down by bombs. Imagine a strong Iraq, thirty or forty years from now, but also an entire generation of Iraqis who will stop at nothing to avenge the death or loss of the very thing that meant everything to them: innocent mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and homes. This is what I want readers to think about. But unless we think about these things before going to war, there will be no lasting peace.



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