America’s decision to invade Iraq in 2004 is now well regarded as one of the more unnecessary and tragic things the U.S. military has ever done. The rationale behind the invasion was that doing so would weaken al-Qaeda, the terrorist group behind 9/11. However, in reality,
Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda. Then, how did the U.S. justify invading a country that posed no imminent danger to them? The answer is that they didn’t. The fact that the Twin Towers were just hit by al-Qaeda three years ago provoked a fear in the American people to the point where their judgment became clouded. In the first chapter of The Assault On Reason by Al Gore, Gore argues how fear has a direct impact on our judgment. He tries to prove that as a result of feeling fear, decisions cannot be made with a fully rational mindset. He does this by focusing on the dichotomy of fear and reason, and supports this focus by displaying examples of expertise in the area and by organizing his argument in a certain way.
In trying to prove that fear will affect reason negatively, Gore uses the concepts of fear and reason, focusing especially on the division between the two. His emphasis on fear being the almost polar opposite of reason is showed in the numerous philosophers he references in the beginning, starting with the Founders of the United States, saying that they “had a healthy respect for the threat fear poses to reason.” (23) He is saying that having fear will affect our capacity to reason in a negative
Fear and Drive Reduction model is a way to persuade you to think and feel about a situation. The use of fear is to get you to listen or pay attention to a situation you are in. The Reduction is centralized on the pleasure-pain principle. You are attracted to a rewarding situation and seek to eliminate an uncomfortable situation. If your mom yelled at you for having bad grades in school, you will do anything to get out of the situation and to not feel fear or a presupposed threat.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011 prompted the world to reevaluate and drastically modify airport and airline security. “Four targets had been chosen, all iconic American buildings that would send a clear message of the depth of their hatred for the United States. All four planes crashed, killing all on board—terrorists, crew members, and passengers, along with hundreds who were killed inside the structures, on the ground, and the men and women who ran into collapsing buildings in an effort to try and save others” (Smutz 1). As Jason Villemez said “the decade after the 9/11 attacks reshaped many facets of life in America” (Villemez 1). Before the attacks, people did not think that large scale hostility towards innocent people in
Fear is a phycological element that causes one to feel unpleasant emotions by belief that something is of threat. It relates directly with prejudice as ignorance breeds agitation for
The invasion of Iraq was held on March of 2003 and initiated the war of Iraq, the American occupation of Iraq has cost America thousands lives, thousand seriously wounded, and approximately $900 billion, and has negatively affected American interests throughout the world. The costs are not over. The 2003 Invasion of Iraq was promoted by America it was a polemical historical event in our society and around the world. Detractors against the war differed with the resolution of George W. Bush, President of the United States, to go to conflict with Iraq. While activists, pro-war supported his declaration for the invasion. Opponents of the invasion made claims that the war was a mistake “To invade Iraq without the U.N’s approval, because we think
The non-legitimacy of the humanitarian intervention is evident whereby, the invasion in Iraq by the US, Great Britain along with other coalition forces turned out to be disastrous. This is because, it aggravated the humanitarian crisis and also had a major political, military, legal, economic and strategic consequences. Even though Saddam Hussein did not set any fires to the Iraqi oil fields or use the alleged weapons related to mass destruction, the war had numerous serious results that ranged from death along with destruction in Iraq, and also led to regional instability (Wehrey, 2010), despite the fact that itdid not take long.
“If Hussein's brutal dictatorship warranted war, then we might also need to invade Zaire, Zimbabwe, Syria, Libya, China, and a host of other countries” (Babka) . This is a common argument that has been brought up by others who believe the invasion of Iraq was illegal. However, the failed diplomatic policies of the United States are what led to the failed invasion of Iraq.
The Iraq War, also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom, took place in 2003 and dragged on for almost nine years, until the withdrawal of US troops in December 2011. The invasion was justified by the US using the new National Security Strategy that was proposed by the Bush administration. One of the key features of the National Security strategy was the justification that the US could preemptively strike targets nations that it deemed a threat to the security of the US. In order to justify the invasion of Iraq, the governmental leaders in the US claimed that Saddam Hussein had ties to Al-Qaeda and other terror groups, as well as using Saddam’s use of chemical weapons as legitimization for the war. Once the war began on March 20, 2003, the original
Members of the Bush administration suspected that Saddam Hussein had aided Osama Bin-Laden and more so President Bush himself named Iraq as a member of the “Axis of Evil”, any country that develops WMD and is known to support terrorism (Biography.com). In a post 9/11 society, the world could not take the chance for another terrorist attack on American soil. The Americans had to do something to ensure that Saddam would not fire his missiles at them or sell them to terrorist that would (Pollak). Saddam refused to cooperate with the United Nations and to hand over his WMD. The Secretary of State at the time, Madeleine Albright is quoted to have said “Iraq is a long way from [America], but what happens there matters a great deal. The risk that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us is the greatest threat we face” (Weapons). The US government was terrified that Saddam would launch a rocket at them and that a ‘9/11’ like event would happen once again. They could not wait for this to happen so they had to take the preemptive measures and take these WMD by
The United States has been at war since its creation in 1776. Notably, one of the most crucial wars was the War on Terror. Beginning in March of 2003, this war initially served the purpose of getting rid of the country 's leader Saddam Hussein to prevent his use of suspected stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Hussein was best-known as a Middle Eastern ruler with a violent regime. He governed Iraq from 1979 until his capture in 2003when President Bush presumed he was harboring chemical weapons such as synthetic warheads, shells, or aviation bombs. While politics justified invading Iraq, the conflict between the U.S. and Iraq began long before the war. In the post-election leading up to the war, political officials such as George Bush attested repeatedly that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and posed a danger to the U.S. and other targets. Bush sold the war to Americans by attesting these cases of threat to Americans openly with supreme certainty. The United States of America should not have invaded Iraq as it allowed the establishment of government power and democracy without evidence under prior resolutions, increased violence, and forced American citizens to inquire significant debt including the injuries and hardships sustained by U.S. soldiers.
The United States attacked Iraq on March 20, 2003, after months of threats and a long military buildup. It cooperated with more than thirty-one countries for this invasion. One of the biggest events of the past decade, the Iraq war has been dominating news outlets, especially in the Middle East. This war has caused the biggest casualties of civilians in the history of Iraq and the US Army for several decades. According to the "The Invasion of Iraq: A Balance Sheet" by Brian Jenkins, "The Iraq War cost the lives of 4,480 U.S. soldiers and at least 3,400 U.S. contractors. In addition, 31,928 American soldiers were wounded in action, many suffering serious disabilities that will impose a continuing burden
This was done to help the citizens to feel safer, and to deter any more possible attempts from terrorist to attempt ill will towards the Americans.
The first mistake the Western architects of the war made was to invade at all. The decision itself was based on false premises—that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that the US would be greeted as liberators, and that the war would be swift and successful. Sky characterizes the war as a “modern-day Crusade of ideologues and idealists and the ignorance, arrogance and naivety” (128). The architects of the war—from President George Bush to
The war against Iraq began on March 20, 2002, when the U.S lunched “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. This was after President Bush called Iraq part of an “axis of evil”, also calling the country dangerous which is threatening U.S with the world’s most destructive weapons. The major phase of the war began when U.S troops marched within 50 miles of Baghdad with heavy aerial attacks on Baghdad and other cities. After the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon which was believed to be the work of Al Qaeda, U.S was concerned about the security of the Untied States which lead to the war in Iraq. Even though U.S officials felt the war in Iraq is the main priority, but many people in U.S opposes the war which brings up a lot of controversial issues.
Lindstrom explains that "uniting us against a common enemy, fear also brings humans together", which is a stark statement, but definitely not an inconceivable one. This is such interesting prose, because when we humans feel afraid, the last thing we are thinking about is how united we are. We
After the gulf wars, a ceasefire was negotiated between the United Nations coalition and Iraq. During the ceasefire, the United Nations became aware that Iraq had started a biological warfare program in the 1980s, as well as a chemical warfare program. Upon further investigation, they found that these programs had not continued after the war. As a result, the United States main focus moving forward was the removal of the Saddam regime, their official foreign policy for years to come focused on this goal. With the suspicions that Saddam Hussein had the abilities to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration going as far as to claim he already had them, the United States and other countries began devising a plan of action. These countries strongly believed that Iraq was a treat to its neighbors and the rest of the world, and that the only solution was to invade Iraq. The United States invading Iraq in 2003 was a turning point in the reason why relationship between Iraq and the United States is the way it is today.