The Iraq War and the Reason to Fight

The Iraq war, started during the Bush era, was a war filled with misconceptions and innocent deaths. The media sometimes bloated the facts, and sometimes the government ignored things it shouldn't have. The majority of American people were misinformed, and misunderstand what was really happening.

The war began in 2003, after the US invaded with the goal of toppling the dictator's regime. Saddam Hussein was a leader who used fear to remain in power. The US needed to justify going into Iraq, so somehow americans were lead to believe that the Iraqi government had chemical weapons. America couldn't allow this, so we needed to go in there and get them out. In reality, after the war we found out that there wasn't any chemical weapons, and there never had been. The war lasted for over 8 years, however it didn't take very long at all to get Hussein out of office. He disappeared, but was eventually found hiding, and was given a "show trial" and then killed. However, America couldn't just leave. If they did, the situation would only get worse. They needed to remain in Iraq as the people worked to set up a democratic government. But, that meant that bloodshed would continue. After all, we were still in the land that we had invaded, and some civilians wanted us out.

There is an important question that the Iraq war leads us to, in the modern world with technology and instant media, what has changed about war? In the past, as far back as ancient times, war was used to gain power, land, and resources. It was expected that you go in, slaughter every man you see, and take their gold, land, and wives as your own. War was something that the ancient economies were hinged on. The governments and states of Ancient Rome relied on the gold that was brought back in order to stay in power. Also, war is what decided the boundary lines. Rome started as a small city-state and grew into one of the largest empires of the ancient world. One key aspect was that civilians of the past didn't get to see the atrocities of war, unless they were being attacked. They didn't see the murder of an innocent child playing in the street. They didn't feel the fear chunning inside them as the ground started to throb with the sound of horses charging. The people who were protected by the larger and more powerful government never knew of the war crimes and torture. However, now we can. America is absolutely one of the safest places to live. I have never, NEVER, been in the midst of a battle. But, I can see videos online taken by a person who is in a war. I can watch a soldier talk about the terrible things he had to do, and how it has destroyed him inside. I can read the stories of people who I will never get a chance to meet, but who have survived things I pray I never have to encounter.

War has changed. No longer is it used to win a lady or some gold, rather it is used for politics and safety. Now, war must be justified. The people demand a reason to allow the bloodshed of others. While it may not be as widely reported, every person, at least deep down inside them, feels that war means innocent dying. When is it okay for us as Americans to allow that to happen? One answer is that it is okay when government says that it is a humanitarian act. However, war will always result in the deaths of many of the people that we are trying to help. War tears apart cities, families, and takes years to rebuild from. Even minor conflicts result in years and money needed to repair the damage, and there is always the emotional damage that no one can repair. Perhaps another answer is that the only time America should get involved is when another country is killing the innocent, when there is a mass genocide and the 'bad guys' don't care who dies. That does seem like an option, but does that mean that there are no times a countries people needs the current regime ousted, or needs help even when they aren't being killed already? There is no easy answer for war. There is no humanitarian war, but there are humanitarian reasons that we fight it.

Some say that we won the Iraq War. Some are wrong. Yes, we did get rid of Saddam Hussein, but did we gain anything? We were left with billions of dollars in the debt and american soldiers dead. We didn't get rid of chemical weapons because there never were any. We didn't stop communism. We are responsible for the of thousands of Iraqi civilians who are now dead. We are responsible for the damage we did in Iraq, and I don't think that getting rid of the dictator justifies all of that. No one won in Iraq, people only lost. Lost a loved one, lost their house, lost their life. I am not sure that in this modern world we can really say who wins and who looses. We like things to be simple, and like in our comic books, we root for the good guys and cower from the bad. But, who are the good guys and who are the bad? Is it the people who the americans are fighting? Perhaps for us that is the case. But for the children who learn to raise their arms in defeat before they learn to speak, is that the case? There isn't a good side and a bad side. There are just two sides, duking it out, and the people who are stuck in the middle.