Topic > The Controversy Over American Involvement in the Iraq War

The Iraq War is arguably the most controversial event in modern history, the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and sparked harsh criticism from peace groups and also of many countries. Those in power in Washington at the time had been accused of lying to the public about weapons of mass destruction. One of the main accusations made was that the United States coveted Iraq's abundant oil reserves and wanted to get its hands on them, thus launching the slogan “No blood for oil”. Prominent leftists such as Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore feared that the war would increase anger and hatred towards the United States and other Western powers, thus increasing the risk of terrorist attacks. However, these accusations did not discourage the course of the war, also because President George HW Bush firmly believed that Saddam Hussein intended to build weapons of mass destruction and represented a threat to the entire world. Saddam Hussein actually violated sixteen United Nations Security Council resolutions, two of which included a further "reaffirmation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." The United States therefore had real concerns about Saddam Hussein, but those who opposed the war associate George HW Bush with the war and blame him for what happened. However, in 1998, under the leadership of Bill Clinton, the US Congress passed the Iraq Liberation Act, after which the Bush administration simply acted upon it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay On August 2, 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and thus began the Persian Gulf War, Hussein did this to assimilate Kuwait into Iraq and in the process acquire its rich oil reserves. The following day the UN invited Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, a coalition led by the United States ended the occupation in 1991. After the defeat in Kuwait Hussein had to repress the revolts of the Kurds and Shiite Arabs, Iraq did not it was safer for the Kurds so the United States and its allies established a “safe haven” in northern Iraq. The United States and its allies patrolled so-called “no-fly” zones in northern Iraq, where Iraqi planes were banned. Additionally, economic sanctions were implemented against Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing biological, nuclear, and chemical weapons commonly known as weapons of mass destruction. In the mid-1990s the UN ordered an inspection of Iraq and discovered prohibited weapons and technologies, which greatly frustrated the international community. In 1998, US President Bill Clinton ordered airstrikes on targeted Iraqi military facilities, this action was codenamed Operation Desert Fox. After the bombing, Hussein banned UN inspectors from re-entering Iraq, causing sanctions to slowly evaporate and neighboring countries began trading with Iraq again. On September 11, 2001, two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, killing approximately 3,000 people. In 2002, President George W. Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in his possession and in production. The Bush administration claimed that Iraq supported terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaeda. A few months after the September 11 attacks, the United States made disarmament of Iraq a renewed priority. At the end of 2002 the UN passed resolution 1441, calling for the return of the inspectors. The United States claimed that Iraq again obstructed the inspectors and subsequently gave Saddam Hussein an ultimatum; had 48 hours to.