My LEGO Nexus Organization

 This is a debate to argue whether or not you think that the reason the US went into Iraq was justified, and why.

 Personally, I think that going in there was a terrible idea, and that we had no reason. The "weapons of mass destruction" were non-existant, and millions of dollars have been wasted in searching for fantasy material.

The beginning of our involvement in Iraq began long before "weapons of mass destruction"
In fact we were in Iraq before you were born.


The invasion of Kuwait by Iraqi troops that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. Thus began the Gulf War.

But the United States has a much longer history of involvement with that nation, a background which provides essential perspective on today’s crisis and Washington’s role in Iraqi politics over the past half-century.

America’s interest in the Middle East grew exponentially after World War II because of oil. The Middle East was serving as a pipeline for British and French empires prior to the war, but the U.S. quickly came to dominate the petroleum resources of the region; by 1944 American corporations controlled over 40 percent of Middle East oil reserves, and by 1955 U.S. companies were producing over 50 percent of oil from the region, and providing Europe with over 90 percent of its oil imports.

Of course, such economic interests would require political hegemony as well, and the United States acted forcefully in the postwar era to consolidate control over Middle Eastern states. In 1953, the CIA organized a successful coup against Iran’s nationalist leader, Mohammed Mossadegh, who was planning to nationalize oil resources, and in 1955, the U.S. facilitated the establishment of the Baghdad Pact. The Baghdad Pact was created by the US,  Britain, Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan with the aim of strengthening regional defense and preventing the infiltration of the Soviet Union into the Middle East.

The world today, of course, is different.

The West's enemy is no longer communism, but Islamic fundamentalism and international terrorism.

The United States believed that by reshaping the Middle East and installing modern democratic regimes, terrorism will be uprooted.  That has not seemed to be effective.

The main issue I see is that BOTH major parties use international affairs and diplomacy to further the parties agenda instead of the countries best interests.

 Okay, this is what I meant, apparently the message was mostly clear to just me. =P

 Why did Bush decide that we needed a full out search on Iraq, using half our military and billions of dollars in war money? That was because of the so called "weapons of mass destruction". Have you ever watched "The Green Zone"? It's a great movie about a military commander Iraq, and most of it is actually true.

Iraq was by and large a massive waste of US resources for no gain for either side. Iraq is now on the verge of civil war because the instability of leadership change kicked the door open for the Iranians.

Great planning, guys.

In theory, it's the regime's own fault that they got invaded by the United States. For their economy to function properly, the US needs oil, so they have a huge intrest in the Middle East. This is why the first Gulf War started: Kuwait had oil reserves and was an ally of the US. It Kuwait didn't have oil, it'd end up sort of like Libya, airstrikes to show token support but no real land campaign, due to the fact that Libya exports its oil to Europe mostly. That's why Europeans are supporting them more then the US. Everything revolves around money in the end.

Anyway, US needs to controll oil from the Middle East. If they have a puppet goverment in place there, it is far easier to get that oil. And then terrorism and fear of nuclear weapons in Iraq come in and give them a perfect excuse the attack. And they get NATO to go with it too.

Now, personaly, I'm all for democracy in the Middle East, but the US achieved little in that regard. The reason why they can't retreat out fast is because they have to clean up the mess they made. They got the oil tho.

Because he wanted to have impact on world news and history. The main motivator for many leaders in many countries and often in the US. War has also been used to stimulate the US economy.


I am primarily anti war.. I'd rather see the dollars spent here. However, I firmly believe if we DO get involved in a war we need to go in, kick tuchus and come the heck home. Make so fast and so scary that they never want to mess with us again. Heck, the way we have been fighting the past 40 or more years, most countries use conflict with the US as a kind of foreign aide.

But it doesn't work that way. If you come in with a carrier based strike force, change the regime and get out, you're doing more harm to the country, yourself and the global community. Especialy with a country like Iraq in the world we live in today.
You have to establish infrastructure, get investors to exploit the goods (oil), train the defense force, protect the democratic goverment for at least a few years while the situation stabilizes... War is no longer fought for glory and honor. It is fought for resources, and there has to be some major political or economic goal that has to be secured.