Blog
Post #2
On
September 11, 2001 the world as we knew it changed. Everything was a target;
everyone was a target; there felt as if there was nowhere to hide. The tragedy
that was executed that day changed the course of history for the next decade
and beyond. Americans were overwhelmingly sad, angry, and upset and were ready
to hit back at the terrorists who threatened their way of life. With this
newfound zeal to eliminate our enemies, President George W. Bush declared that
the US was going to war in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda in Operation Enduring
Freedom less than a month after the 9/11 attacks sparking the begging of the
War on Terror. In Afghanistan, the War on Terror seemed to have been a rational
course of action with American and Coalition forces eliminating members of
Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization. While US and Coalition forces were
fighting against terrorists in Afghanistan, back in Washington, President Bush was
obsessing with the idea of toppling a dictator in Iraq. This new agenda item
seemed as if it was from left field, as Iraq had not a hot topic issue for
years. So why did President Bush launch the Iraq war in 2003?
Many
argue that President Bush attacked Iraq because of the country’s abundance of
oil, while the President and others argue that we went to war in Iraq because
Saddam Hussein was building weapons of mass destruction. My belief is that
President Bush used the vulnerability, fear, and anger that the American people
felt after 9/11, the same feelings that led to the launch of Operation Enduring
Freedom, to take out an old enemy in Saddam Hussein.
I
believe this because Iraq was on the radar of President Bush since the Gulf War
in the 1990s. Because the US was unable to topple the tyrannical regime in
Baghdad during the Gulf War, it became a top priority for President Bush to once
and for all remove Saddam from power. I believe that because of the anger and
vulnerability that followed 9/11, President Bush found a window of opportunity
to finally take down his longtime foe, Saddam Hussein, and he jumped for it.
I agree with you, Michael. I feel like the Bush administration used fear-mongering rhetoric to persuade the public sentiment in support of the Iraq War. This was a deceitful move on the administration's part. But, I feel like this is a testimony to why the public needs to keep themselves informed. If everyone kept up with current events, then maybe we wouldn't be so easily swayed by the White House.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Bush used the emotional state of America to finish a job that was not relevant at the time. I think he thrived off of America's nationalism and enthusiasm to "make someone pay" for what happened and he directed this emotion to bringing down Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Do you think that Bush could have received America's support for going in to Iraq and taking down Saddam Hussein if he had done it at a different time?
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