Was The American Invasion Of Iraq Justified

Was the American Invasion of Iraq Justified?

The Iraq War was an eight-year conflict between a US-led coalition and Saddam Hussein’s regime. The Bush Administration suspected that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and was planning attacks on American soil. On the Twentieth of March, 2003 the Coalition invaded Iraq, and within weeks toppled its government (Keegan). Many historians question whether the American actions were actually justified. Given the information that American intelligence had at the time, it is clear that the invasion of Iraq was justified. The Americans acted to secure what they thought to be a large cache of WMD, they upheld UN resolutions, and they offered a deterrent against future attacks.

The Americans

After 9/11, the Americans felt weakened in the eyes of the world and had to show their strength. America could not be taken advantage of in its time of vulnerability and had to set an example for the rest of the world. The invasion showed what the consequences of threatening the United States would be. Saddam crossed a ‘red line’ and the Americans retaliated. The US managed to deter many of their enemies in a single blow. They utterly destroyed the Iraqi regime, defeating one enemy, while simultaneously putting Iran and Libya in check. With many American troops already in Afghanistan in the East and now hundreds of thousands of troops on Iran’s western border, the Iranian regime was surrounded (Pollak). The Americans had just shown the world what happens when one threatens them, and the Iranian government took heed. In 2003 Iran slowed its nuclear program, while as the American forces began to pull out of Iraq in 2011, the Iranians began developing WMD again (Richie). Another example of a successful deterrent caused by the invasion of Iraq occurred in Libya. Following the destruction of Iraq, Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, saw how the Americans dealt with Saddam Hussein and his regime. He believed that the Americans would turn their sights on his own WMD next, and turned all of his chemical weapons over to the UN. He also joined the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPI), an organisation devoted to “preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, [and] [promoting] cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy” (Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons). The Iraq War shows how the destruction of one country led to the removal of three major threats to American security (Libya).

In summary, though the Iraq War was both long and death-ridden it was completely justified. The Americans acted according to the best information they had at the time. They