After nearly nine years, the Iraq war finally came to anend. This bittersweet moment left many asking why America invaded Iraq in thefirst place and did we accomplish anything before we left? From the get-go, theIraq War has been based on shaky evidence and questionable intelligence, all ofwhich have led to the controversies we still discuss today.
The most recent incident to spark controversy and criticismof the Iraq war was the release of a video showing four U.S. Marines urinatingon dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The video was made between March andSeptember 2011 and was released in early January 2012. The infamous videocirculated around the world, provoking condemnation from the Afghan presidentas well as the Obama administration. The Marines featured on camera may facecriminal charges.
The capture and killing of Osama bin Laden was agroundbreaking moment in the Iraq war. Obama said the incident was asignificant moment in the United States' mission to defeat Al Qaeda and bringdown the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Although it was momentous for America,there was quite a bit of controversy over his sea burial that allegedly tookplace within 24 hours of his death. Many questioned why the U.S. gave bin Ladena burial that was in accordance with Islamic tradition, and others wondered ifany of it actually happened due to the promptness and mystery behind hisburial.
The United States' decision to invade Iraq was fueled by theidea that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administrationvehemently backed this belief and felt that it was a direct threat to Americaand its allies. After years of hunting for the alleged WMD, neither the UN northe CIA weapons inspectors were able to find any. In 2005, the investigation ofWMD came to a close and Bush later admitted to jumping the gun on declaring warwithout feasible evidence.
In 2007, Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17Iraqi civilians without any justifiable reason or provocation. Thecontroversial incident underwent thorough federal investigation and in 2011 FBIscientists could not match the bullets from the shooting to the guns used bythe Blackwater guards. They also found foreign cartridges that were not linkedto the U.S. military. The case was reopened in 2011, due to"systemic" errors in the district court's dismissal of the guards in2009.
Throughout the war, many Americans speculated that the realreason the U.S. invaded Iraq was to control the country's oil production.Officials said Saddam had planned to take control of the Strait of Hormuz andcontrol oil shipments in the Middle East, which would have hurt the west in abig way. The Bush administration denied allegations that the invasion wasmotivated by oil, and was backed when not a single U.S. company secured acontract with the multibillion-dollar oil reserves in 2009.
The execution of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein in 2006caused mixed reactions around the world. Ending Saddam's regime was a huge featfor the U.S., whose goal was to free Iraq from the rule of Hussein and bringdemocracy to the war-torn country. The United States justified its capture anddetainment of Hussein because he was a threat to the nation and justice neededto be served. However, many felt it was not America's place to determine whatwas right for Iraq and who should lead its people.
One of the goals of invading Iraq was to bring democracy tothe country and develop a lasting partnership with them. As the war carried on,American officials began to back away from their vision of a democracy andfocused more on developing a secure and working government. Iraq experiencedsome glimpses of a democratic system when Saddam's regime was taken down andmillions of Iraqis got to vote, but the instability of the national governmentand military have overshadowed Iraq's ability to become a fully functioningdemocracy.
In 2004, a video was released showing Islamic militantsbeheading American soldier, Nick Berg, on camera. The 26-year-old soldier wasabducted and beheaded to retaliate for the U.S. military's abuse of Iraqiprisoners. The barbaric act was posted to a radical Islamic website and wasbelieved to be initiated by Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The war in Iraq received unprecedented coverage around theworld. The media came under fire for bias reporting, propaganda, andcensorship. One of the most controversial topics was the reporting of casualtymilestones. Many newspapers, news channels, and online publications kept aticking tally of military personnel killed in the war and would highlight the1,000th, 2,000th, and 3,000th casualty as a milestone. The use of casualtytallies and milestones was criticized by both supporters and opponents of thewar.
One of the biggest controversies of the war was trying tojustify why America invaded Iraq in the first place. In 2008, President Bushadmitted that going to war on flawed intelligence was a "regretful"decision. White House officials adopted the belief that Saddam had weapons ofmass destruction, but weren't going to pull out when CIA reported that no WMDwere found in Iraq. There were several different excuses as to why the U.S.invaded Iraq, but even eight years later, the real reason still remains a hugequestion mark.
Contacts and sources:
Jena Ellis
http://www.onlinecertificateprograms.org/blog/2012/top-10-controversies-from-the-iraq-war/
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