Invasion of Iraq

Bush’s presidential rating was at an all time high after 9/11. It was close to 73% approval, but during the War in Iraq, it dropped way down. The American people had realized President Bush was not doing a great job. Experts on war and combat discussed how the war was being fought wrong, congressmen and congresswomen discussed how the war was unnecessary, and Bush himself realized that seeking out Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction was a waste of time. All of these people knew he had made a very large mistake that cost the lives of over one hundred thousand Iraq civilians and thousands of American lives, but the apparent reasoning does not make sense. Why did Bush really invade Iraq?

                Some critics claim that he only invaded Iraq to protect the United States’ oil interest in the region which is a pretty low criticism of President Bush. I do not believe Bush would risk the lives of American troops just for economic reasons. By sending troops into Iraq, he was spending billions of dollars of our tax money on our military which does stimulate the economy but does drain the budget to address other issues. Bush did not have a deep reason to invade Iraq.

                Maybe Bush invaded Iraq for the reason he told the American people. He did not want another attack on American soil like 9/11. This reason sounds convincing when the connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq is not made. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were enemies. They despised each other and believed in different values: one was a socialist and one believed in an Islamic state. Saddam would not orchestrate an act of terror on American soil because he knows Iraq would have been wiped off the face of the planet by the United States in retaliation. However, if Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, the United States was in grave danger, but there was never proof of these weapons and there was proof against this existence. Saddam would have never caused another 9/11.

                Bush may have invaded Iraq because he hated Saddam. This reason is very weak and does not hold up to any sound logic. Again, like with the United States oil interest, President Bush would not risk the lives of American troops. A personal vendetta against the leader of one nation does not cause enough reasoning to invade it.

                The most plausible reason for Bush invading Iraq is that he fell into the hands of the Neo Conservatives. The neocons wanted to preemptively strike to protect the United States from any threat. This plan became the basis for the Bush Doctrine to attack any nation that could be perceived as a threat which still does not rationally make any sense. However, the neocons invaded the Bush administration and planted their ideas for Bush to adopt. They invaded their way in through normal means of promotion, but their toxic ideas created a mistake for Bush to believe in. It still does not explain how the neocons were able to gain so much power and how they were able to make their plans become the agenda for the Bush administration. All of these reasons could be possible, but I do not really know which one is believable. They could work together to have created this huge mistake.