2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq: Analyzing the Morality and Legality

Rachael Riggs

National American University

2003 U.S. Invasion of Iraq: Analyzing the Morality and Legality

In March of 2003, President Bush announced his decision to send United States troops into Iraq. The mission he had proclaimed, was to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that Saddam Hussein was hiding. He instilled fear onto American's, stating that if something was not done to stop Hussein, catastrophic consequences would follow. Weapons of mass destruction were never found in Iraq, leaving more questions than answers.

Iraq’s History of WMD

To briefly overview the history Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq, beginning from 1980-1988 Iraq had gone to war with Iran and during this time, weapons of mass destruction were used regularly by both sides, mainly Iraq. (History.Com, 2018) In June of 1991 trucks carrying calutrons were observed and photographed, just months later, on September 23, 1991, chief inspector David Kay found a paper describing the planned Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Iraq resisted transparency, consistently provided incomplete or false information and Iraqi helicopters intentionally endangered air safety while also attempting to shoot down U.S. air force and in 1996 Iraq denied inspectors access to "Sensitive Sites." (Blix, 2004) With this all combined and Saddam Hussein’s unwillingness to cooperate with all inspections it wasn’t unbelievable that Iraq could have been harboring WMD that they had intended to use.

In President Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address, while appealing to the people’s emotions, Bush states that Iraq had attempted to buy significant amounts of uranium indicating that he was using this to produce chemical weapons. (Bush, 2003) If Bush had believed this information to be accurate, then infiltrating Iraq likely seemed necessary. Bush may have genuinely thought that he was taking a proactive approach and stopping the problem before it was too late, but this seems highly unlikely considering the intelligence information that he received at the time stated "that Hussein did not have 'sufficient material’ to manufacture any nuclear weapons and 'the information we have on Iraqi nuclear personnel does not appear consistent with a coherent effort to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program’." (Leopold, 2015)

The Intelligence report that Bush had received was not public information at that time, but as American citizens, we must examine what information could have been omitted or what information was relayed deceptively. Was Saddam capable of obtaining uranium? Bush gave Hussein 48 hours to give up power and leave Iraq, leaving him an ultimatum. For whatever reason, Bush instilled the idea to the American people that there were only two options, Saddam removes himself from power, or Iraq faces attack. After the invasion, Saddam had disappeared entirely, basically removing himself from power. The only people hurt at this point appeared to be the people of Iraq. These events show that many options could have been imposed. U.S. troops could have pulled out after the evidence that there was no WMD, if there had been, they would have used them upon attack. If inspectors remained in Iraq and given adequate time, would the intelligence not have confirmed that there was no threat?

“War on Terror”

After the realization that WMD did not exist and support from other countries began to diminish, the focus of the war and the reasons behind it became that of overthrowing Saddam Hussein stating that he was a brutal dictator that needed to be stopped. The battle was now a "war on terror." The justification for this included the fact that Iraq lacked democracy, Saddam was brutal to the Iraqi people and diminishing his power would greatly benefit the country. He was a constant threat to the middle east, and the most significant reason was that he supported, equipped, and trained terrorist activity. (Pan, 2005) (Heinrich M. N., 2015) It would be hard to find anybody that would disagree with the fact that Saddam needed to be removed from power, but the question remains, was the United States the one responsible for ensuring this happened? Was bringing war, hostility and financial ruin to a country the way to provide the freedom for the Iraqi people from Hussein?

After the attacks of 9/11, President Bush may have felt America had something to prove. The attack caught everybody off guard and Bush was positioned to establish that America would not allow this. The U.S. now appeared vulnerable and without action, could have been viewed as an easy target. Any association with a terrorist group that a country had, now was immediately addressed and action taken. Iraq had provided training camps as well as supported terrorist groups, though Saddam was never proved to have direct links to aiding al Qaeda. (Heinrich M. N., 2015) In an attempt to protect the reputation of the U.S. and maintain that the U.S. is the “sole remaining superpower” (Antic, 2009) the invasion of Iraq could have been a show of power, disguised to be that of peace.

President Bush

Many have theorized that this war, was about oil. In 1990 Hussein had attempted to take over 19% of the world’s oil supply by invading Kuwait. Because of this Operation Desert Storm was enacted, led by the U.S. and president George W. Bush’s father president George HW. Bush. Some have viewed the war to be that of a continuance of his father’s war.

According to sources including Paul O’Neill, ex-treasury secretary, Bush had intended to go to war with Iraq long before public knowledge. (O'Neill, 2004) While convincing the American people that this was an attempt to peacefully handle Hussein, behind closed doors he was preparing an army to go into war. (Mckinney, 2005)

Analyzing the Morality and Legality

The reasoning for Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq likely includes a combination of these ideas. In examining his decision, one must consider the process and exterior influences that led him to arrive at this decision. Whatever his real motives may have been regarding the decisions that he made, the bigger question is, what were the results of his choices?

Was this war legal? The United Nations is an organization that aims to keep the peace between the nations. In the United Nations Charter Article 2, 3-4 it states:

3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.

4. All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

In an effort to legalize his actions, President Bush claimed self-defense stating that Iraq had ties to Al-Qaeda; however, there has been no evidence to prove this statement. Self-defense refers to the use of countermeasures to protect yourself against force or actual and imminent threats; this was not the case with Iraq. There was not even evidence to prove that future harm could exist (Kramer, Michalowski, & Rothe, 2005). If Iraq had WMD, they certainly would have utilized them in the first attacks by the U.S. troops. The fact that they had not used them suggests that the ones in need of self-defense were the citizens of Iraq.

There are an estimated 500,000 killed in Iraq since 2003. This corrupted country has faced severe financial repercussions and is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world. (Arraf, 2018) Today's Iraq faces much improvement, and it will be years if not decades before they are able to see a come back from the damages that occurred. Many families and homes have been lost and after the damage has been done, was it the right decision? That question will linger, and arguments for both sides will remain, and there will be arguments that we should not help Iraq in recovery, but now it is essential that the United States oblige to bring hope and peace to Iraq. The people of Iraq deserve a promising future.

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