Why Bush Invaded Iraq

On March 19, 2003, 160,000 troops invaded Iraq on the orders of President George W Bush, which resulted in eight years of war, insurgency, and violence. An evil dictator was removed from power and Iraq became a struggling democracy, but in the process: Iraqi order and infrastructure were damaged, local terrorism flourished as terrorists flocked to the scene to defeat America and used the invasion as anti-American propaganda, Iraq fell into deadly civil strife, Iran’s power grew, over 4,700 U.S. and allied troops were killed, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians lost their lives, and in time, former Iraqi military and al Qaeda combined to form ISIS which invaded Iraq from Syria before eventually being defeated.

Why did the U.S. do this? Why did the United States invade Iraq? One man had the ultimate power to make the call. The U.S. Congress passed a resolution that made the war legal under the U.S. Constitution. Advisors like Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and Colin Powel had influence. So did foreign allies. But ultimately, George W Bush made the decision. Why did George W Bush make war on Saddam Hussein?

Primarily, Bush was motived by security. Bush feared what Saddam would do with weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In the context of 9/11, an attack on the U.S. homeland that killed thousands of people, American leaders were on edge and didn’t want to take any chance that there would be a second attack, especially a second attack with weapons of mass destruction.

Several other factors may have influenced the decision. Saddam had a history of violence toward foreign countries and his own people; and a history of repeatedly lying to the international community, including about weapons of mass destruction. Intelligence services around the world thought Saddam had such weapons and such weapons programs. On the eve of the invasion, Saddam didn’t fully cooperate with weapons inspectors.

The U.S. pushed Saddam out of Kuwait in 1990, and maintained not only sanctions but no-fly zones over Iraq. The U.S. Congress had even passed a bill saying that United States policy on Iraq was regime change.

American leaders thought taking out Saddam would strike fear into other states who may have wanted to develop weapons of mass destruction or harbor or aid terrorists.

Bush and his advisors underestimated how hard the post-war transition would be. And, some of them hoped that by creating a democracy in the heart of the Middle East…