*Updated:* 11:50PM MST, 12/21/2003
The Cautioneer has a post in which he shows some of the justification for the war in Iraq. It’s a response to a post and subsequent discussion at Nowheresville.
(Herein are contained my thoughts on the war based on what I know and believe to be true. Some if it may be wrong ’cause I know I’m not perfect and don’t know all there is to know about Iraq, so I’m willing to listen to reasoned debate on this. Not all of this post is related to those posted at the other sites, but also thoughts I’ve been having prompted by friends.)
In any case, if you want to know some of the reasons the US has gone to war with Iraq, just check out Cautioneer’s post. There are other motives as well, but I believe these (Iraq violations of UN agreements and state-supported terrorism) are at the heart of George W. Bush’s policy and interests. Economics may also play some part in the war.
The economy is certainly a factor in the war with Iraq. However, the slumping US economy circa war-start would be a bad reason to start a war. I don’t think this is Bush’s motivation in Iraq. Although wars can assist the economy to overcome stagnation, it takes a large war to do this and economies can enter a recession upon war end because of decreased military production and spending. Perhaps the war helped the economy recover in some way, but the ammount of factors involved with the economy are huge and a lot of it is government policies (esp. taxes) and giving business time to adjust to market changes.
Sure, we want their oil, too. I’d rather have it than giving it to the French. As it was, without changes Saddam would’ve continued to pocket a lot of the money himself. The UN Oil-for-Food program in Iraq supposedly allowed oil sale and trade occur so the money could be used for humanitarian purposes, but this didn’t happen. “Since oil began to flow under the program, in December 1996, the UN raised $64 billion in revenue from the sale of Iraqi oil. Humanitarian imports, which began to arrive in Iraq in March 1997, total no more than $45 billion.” (World Magazine) There’s other documented evidence of the money being misspent. Even on the economic side of things, with the removal of Saddam the Iraqi people will have more economic freedom and prosperity than possible under a dictatorship.
Maybe Bush is playing us all for fools and he doesn’t give a hell about anyone. Being in Iraq and removing Saddam shows he does care. Even with other interests involved, in the end the people in Iraq are better off now than they were a year ago. Hopefully at the end of our “occupation”, they’ll be stable enough to remain better off for a long time. Sacrifices have and will continue to occur to get there. I hope it will be worth it in the end. In the course it’s on, I think it will be.
*Outside Resources*
Oil for palaces – World Magazine: The UN’s oily dealings, GooFigure
Good analysis, I’m certainly no economist but what you say makes sense to me. If you ever do write an extended essay on this topic, I’d really like to read it.
Good stuff. I was glad to see a link to World Magazine. I read them often. Maybe you already know this, but there is also a World Magazine Blog (http://www.worldmagblog.com/) that I find useful. Have a great Christmas.