Operation Iraqi Freedom - Research Paper Example

IRAQ Introduction During the Cold War, the world was haunted by horrors of death, and this was personified by the Christian Bible’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – pestilence, war, famine, and death. These four are now interchanged with pandemic, terror, climate change and nuclear proliferation. The subject of the Middle East can be haunted by the Four Horsemen. Terror and nuclear proliferation were then linked to Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambition. The story of Iraq and Iraqi freedom is a story of years of conflict and oppression, of ethnic rivalry and submission of a people who wanted peace but are confused enough whom to follow. When terrorists attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, the United States shifted its foreign policy and verbally attacked the three countries which were believed to be sponsoring terrorism – Iraq, Iran and North Korea. These three countries were dubbed by President Bush as the ‘axis of evil’. The reason is because some terrorist organizations have been seen to be ‘in good terms’ with these countries. Let us dig a few notes from a distant past how this all happened. In pre-history, Iraq was Persia, Babylon or Mesopotamia. This is the land situated between the rivers Tigris and Euphrate which was a great land attracting many peoples. During the 5th century BC, Babylon became a great and powerful kingdom ruled by Nebuchadnezzar who invaded Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah. Baghdad was one of the cities built which was named the “City of Peace” by Abbasid Arab Caliph. Islam came to Iraq which saved the population from continuous war at that time. In modern history however, the Ottoman Turks began to rule Iraq. The Ottomans considered Iraq as a rich agricultural land. But oil was discovered during the mid 1900s and this happened in the Russian controlled Azerbaijan. (Imam, 2004, pp. 9-14) In the early 20th century, British expansionism allowed General Allenby to occupy Baghdad, which led to the British occupation of Iraq. In the mid-fifties, Iraq was made to join an alliance known as the Baghdad Pact. This was a Cold War strategy of the United States and Britain. Previously before the Second World War, Iraq was plagued by internal conflicts because it never accepted British rule. After the war, Iraq was faced with military coups. The Baath Party rose to power and in July 30, 1968, Saddam Hussein became the leader of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council. 1. Discussion There are a number of controversial issues involved in the subject of Iraq, and these are the Middle East Cold War dynamics, intra-regional rivalries among the neighboring countries, anti-American sentiments, and the unending ethnic rivalries which have been the cause of conflicts. The countries in this part of the world have a multiplicity of cultures, religions, ethnic groups, and political systems, which have challenged policy makers of the United States and the world. (Hahn, 2005) The Middle East is the most troubled region of the world. The states in the region have been involved in some kind of trouble, one way or the other. Saddam was in the blacklist of the United States as one producing nuclear weapons or in the process of producing weapons’ grade uranium. In 1990, Saddam fulfilled his ambition to seize Kuwait’s oil fields by attacking this small country. To Saddam, Kuwait was a tiny but precious territory that should be controlled. Iraq and Kuwait share a border which has a rich oilfield in Rumilla. Before this, a dispute had been going on between Saddam and the Gulf States because of oil. (Weston, 1994) Saddam’s treacherous attack was condemned by the countries of the world, including the major powers, the United States, Great Britain, and the United Nations. The United States and Britain acted quickly by dispatching naval forces and troops to the area of conflict. The rapid response of the United States and its allies was to show to Saddam Hussein they were ready to protect Saudi Arabia and other areas of the Middle East, especially the vast oil fields of Saudi Arabia and the neighboring states. Operation Desert Shield brought together the might of the US armed forces and the coalition forces; 200,000 troops were brought to Saudi Arabia to prepare for battle. Later, this was increased to 500,000 troops. First, the United Nations imposed economic sanctions against Iraq, but it appeared later that Saddam would not give in and that the use of force was about to be commenced. A UN Resolution became the opening salvo for a war when it authorized the coalition forces to use force and every possible means to get Saddam’s forces out of Kuwait. On the 16th of January 1991, Operation Desert Storm was launched and the Iraqi forces were defeated. It was a victory for the allied forces but the political battle still went on. Saddam’s ambition to make Iraq a powerful nation militarily and politically in the Middle East had yet to soar. What makes Iraq unique from the rest of the Middle Eastern countries, not to mention Saddam Hussein and its rich history? After the Gulf War, Saddam was left powerful in Iraq. This is something of a puzzle. And during the Iran-Iraq War, the United States supported Iraq. After the September 11 attacks, the Americans were decided to remove him from power. Iraq is considered a part of a larger puzzle. This is so because Middle East countries have always been in trouble and the reasons are quite obvious – oil and the quest for supremacy. The United States maintains its guard on this region, purporting to show that it has to perform its role as the policeman of the world, or to guard the region from any trouble by some rogue states. Historically, US foreign policy on the Middle East and Iraq has been shrouded with ambiguous interests and controversies since the years before World War II, and during the Cold War. This includes economic issues and oil. After the attacks against the United States in September 11, 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan, and in 2003, it led an international force to invade Iraq. The United States has always tried to make its presence in the Middle East. Its involvement in this region is ever growing. This can be intimidating on the part of the leaders of the countries in the Gulf. Leaders would like to have something that can deter – at least – US involvement in the region. Rogue countries like Iran (and North Korea) seek nuclear weapons as a deterrent. This was what Saddam Hussein had envisioned from the start. And this led to his downfall and execution when the United States successfully invaded Iraq, put up a democratic government, and a court established to try Saddam ordered his execution. It was believed by some commentators that the United States’ attack and subsequent occupation of Iraq was a scheming success perpetrated by Bin Laden, the infamous leader of Al Qaeda, and his cohorts. Why? After the September 11 attacks, the United States hunted down Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but the Americans stopped there. Instead, they attacked Iraq and now al Qaeda has a solid base in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan. What has been claimed as just a short, ordinary conflict against terrorists is now a long protracted war against al Qaeda. (Riedel, 2007, p. 24) Al Qaeda used unconventional weapons in creating chaos in Iraq so that the United States would fail. (Cordesman and Burke, 2007) What this shows is that the United States is not as scheming and intelligent as the al Qaeda operatives. To fight terrorists is to use all possible means to fight them, not just ordinary high-tech weapons the United States has been using. It is obvious that helicopter gunships, laser-guided missiles, and all those high-tech gear being used by American soldiers have not been too effective. If it has, it would have ended the wars in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world. What is effective is the terrorists’ suicide bombing, the sacrifice of young lives to kill as many people as they can. Bin Laden’s unconventional way is to weaken his enemy by bombings and remain in the shadows. (September 11 News.com) The Bush administration then pursued a policy of regime change. A long-term goal by the US for Iraq was an installation of a friendly regime. The United States called for tightening of sanctions, and threatening military strikes if Saddam would not permit UN inspectors. President Bush promoted the concept of pre-emption as self-defence against regime developing weapons of mass destruction, more so if that country is promoting or has links with terrorist groups (Davies, 2008, p. 385). And Saddam has always been considered by the United States as a sponsor of terrorism, or having links to some terrorist groups. To date, the United States has spent about $400 billion in its occupation of Iraq. At the height of its occupation, it was spending $8 billion per month. (Iraq Study Group, 2006, p. 5) The primary reason why the US entered and invaded Iraq was because they believed the befallen leader was building a nuclear weapon or weapons’ grade uranium to make an atomic bomb. But the war turned out that that was not true. There was no evidence of a nuclear weapon or weapon’s based uranium being built at that time. Operation Iraqi Freedom, though successful as it may seemed from the start, created casualties after casualties for the coalition forces and the civilian population. The war has become and anti-insurgency campaign. Suicide bombings and insurgency continue to plague the present dispensation or the elected government of Iraq. Quest for political power can be the cause for insurgency. The American people see the Iraq War as similar to that of the Vietnam War. (Pirnie & O’Connell, 2008, p. xiii) Inside Iraq now, there is a mix of several ethnic but armed groups whose objectives for joining the war are varied but some are vague. However, they have one motive common to the majority of the groups, i.e. they are all against the U.S. occupation. There are also others who see the continuing conflict inside Iraq as part of the cause for which they have fought, and that is jihad. The United States may not have seen the real problem for this conflict. Saddam may have been gone but his soul remains haunting the American policy makers. They continue to have the feeling of fighting the Iraqi successor when in fact he is not anymore there. 2. Conclusion After the war, insurgency continues to be the main problem of Iraq and the coalition forces. It has been seen by those studying the present conflict inside Iraq and the scholars studying Iraq’s war that the war has turned into a guerilla type. Ethnic groups and armed groups abound in the background ready to strike anytime. War has become a culture. The American forces, under the orders of President Obama, are slowly withdrawing. For us, this is a good sign that the US government wants to be serious in giving the Iraqi people the freedom they have long dreamed of. The people have long been in need of a free country but there are still those who want chaos and conflict in the midst of the now silence from guns and rumors of war. The United States government and its policy makers should continue to support Iraq, now without Saddam, because it went there to get Saddam because of purported build-up of nuclear bombs which were found out to be untrue. It is also time that the US leave the Iraqi people alone. Nobody and no nation states can ever solve the problem of Iraq except the Iraqi people. As we have described in the introduction, pre-historic and historic Iraq has been plagued with conflicts, war and coups d’etat. Sometimes, it is a question of material things and the ambitions of some of its leaders. Iraq is an attraction to some ambition-seeking and covetous leaders. They see the country as rich in material things, oil, and history. The Iraqis want peace, and they want to be left alone. References Anthony H. Cordesman, & A. Burke, A. (2007). “Iraq’s insurgency and civil violence,” Retrieved from http://www.csis.org/media/csis/pubs/070822_cordesman_iraq_report.pdf. Baker, J. et al. (2006). Iraq study group report. United Stated of America: Diane Publishing. Davies, G., 2008. Strategic cooperation, the invasion of Iraq and the behaviour of the ‘axis of evil’, 1990 2004. Journal of Peace Research 2008; 45; 385. DOI: 10.1177/0022343308088817. Hahn, P. (2005). "The United States and the Middle East since 1967." A Companion to American Foreign Relations. Schulzinger, Robert D. Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Blackwell Reference Online. 24 March 2010. Retrieved from http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode?id=g9781405149860_chunk_g978140514986022 Imam, Z. (2004). Iraq-2003: The return of imperialism. Delhi, India: Aakar Books. Pirnie, B. R. & O’Conell, E. (2008). Counterinsurgency in Iraq (2003-2006). United States of America: Rand Corporation. Riedel, B. (2007). “Al Qaeda Strikes Back,” Foreign Affairs, May-June 2007, p. 24 September 11 News.com (2003). Information on Osama bin Laden, Al-Aqeda, and the Jihad (Holy War). Retrieved from http://www.september11news.com/OsamaBinLaden.htm. Weston, D. (1994). "Gulf War." A Dictionary of Military History. Corvisier, André (ed). Blackwell Publishing, 1994. Blackwell Reference Online. 5 January 2010. Retrieved from http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode?id=g9780631168485_chunk_g978063116848511_ss1-35 Read More