Analysis Post

In this blog post I am analyzing why the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are controversial, and how they started. I am describing the events after the wars started to explain how they started and how the general public feels about the wars.

The war in Afghanistan officially started after the 9/11 attacks. The war in Iraq started after President Bush told the American people that Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction” and the American public was told that going to war would be the best and only option if we wanted to be safe. But, after we went to war, Americans found out that there were no weapons of mass destruction. However, some sources claim that President Bush did not know that there were no weapons of mass destruction, and he had to make a decision. While many people speculate that he may have known that there were none but wanted to justify going to war. But, either way not finding weapons of mass destruction, damaged Bush’s reputation because many people thought that he lied about the weapons to justify the war,or that he was at least stretching the truth. In an article by the Washington Post it was discussed that Iraq's oil was another reason why America might have gone to war with Iraq. Because, we are so dependent on oil it isn't stretch to think that securing oil was a major part of the reasons why we went to war.  However, in an article in the New York Times, Carl Rove, Bush's chief political advisor, said that the reason they decided to go to war was the threat of weapons of mass destruction and without that threat, Bush would not have decided to go to war. In an article in Wikipedia, it said that the majority of the public did not want to go to war but, once the war started, the majority of Americans supported the war. But the number started decreasing at the end of 2004. By that point many people were beginning to think that the war was a mistake. People were not happy with the way the war was going because there was not a lot of progress and many casualties. 

The war is a controversial issue because many people were upset that the only reason why we went to war was because of weapons of mass destruction, and then there were none. And, on the other side many people think that we should have gone to Iraq to help the oppressed people of Iraq. Now, there were some positive things to come from the war. We were able to help the Iraqi people to become freer, and we also helped to spread democracy to the people of Iraq. However, there were a lot of negatives to come from the war as well. There were many lives lost, not only American and allied troops, but also Iraqi civilians. There is also a large amount of debt that is adversely affecting the economy. There is also no exit strategy in place for when we do decide to leave Iraq. Now, some people do not want to leave Iraq because they do not Iraq to become even more chaotic, but it is difficult for us to make progress and it is hurting us more than it is helping Iraq. Now, we have done some good for Iraq, but I think it is time for us to leave and let them take charge of their own country. In an article in BBC News, it discusses how there is no exit strategy, but gradual withdraw would be a good plan to consider. And, there is still a lot of debate about when and how to leave, but I think it should be sooner rather than later. 

We have already used a lot of money and resources, that could have been spent on other things to help benefit America. The economy has been in a downward spiral for awhile now, but that is not surprising considering we have spent close to a trillion dollars on the war in Iraq. If you want to see the running count of money spent on Iraq and Afghanistan go to the national priorities project. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are becoming more costly than the Vietnam war, and all the money spent on war could have been used for other things to improve our economy or the country. One article called Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes said that not only is the U.S. the top military spending, but we also spend more than the next top 15 countries combined, this includes not only the wars but all military expenses. But, it also demonstrates how the government thinks that military is more important than other government projects that could improve our country, such as education. We could have also used the money that is spent in Iraq on alternative energy, which would improve the economy and the environment. Now, I do think that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan used a lot of money that could have been used on improving American. But, there are a lot of ongoing debates right now about how much money President Obama has been spending. In an article on cnsnews.com, it discussed how Obama will spend a larger amount of money on welfare, than was spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not to mention the amount of money he spent on the failed stimulus package. So the point I am trying to make is that there has been a lot of money spent on the war, but it has been spent over the span of years. And, I understand that President Bush had a tough decision that had to be made when he was deciding whether or not to go to war with Iraq. The point is that I understand why we went to war, and a trillion dollars has been spent over the course of years. But, it is still a large amount of money that could have been spent on other things. Now, while I think that we should leave Iraq because we have done about as much as we can. There are some people who do not want to leave Iraq because they think that soldiers will have died in vain, but others say that the longer we are there the more soldiers that will die unnecessarily. An article titled Iraq: A US effort that was in Vain? discusses if the war was worth it or not. I understand why Bush decided to go to war, but I think we have over stayed our welcome in Iraq. At this point there is not much more that can be accomplished and more soldiers will die and more money will be spent on a war that is going nowhere. Not to mention all the things that we could have used the money on to improve lives.