The International View on Iraq

The international view on Iraq

The United States has made some controversial decisions in the past. The most recent was the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The invasion started on March 13, 2003. The invasion took place because President Bush believed that the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was in possession of “weapons of mass destruction” (Bush specifically meant nuclear and biological bombs). He believes this occupation is justified even though searches by UN weapons inspectors turned up nothing (un). The invasion was met by mixed opinions around the world. The mixed reactions make us wonder, what does the world think of the US involvement in Iraq? Most of the reactions are in the forms of protests and polls showing negative reactions for the American response to Iraq (CNN). So it’s obvious that most of the world thinks that the US involvement in Iraq is pointless and uncalled for.

The United Nations still remains skeptical about the war in Iraq (un). On July 5, 2002 Iraq rejected UN weapons inspectors’ proposal. Before any serious plans could be made about an Iraq invasion, the US had to go to the United Nations. President Bush went to Untied Nations and the reason for this was he needed support from other nations and money. Some of the nations were against the war, for example Russia and France were the outspoken opposing nations (un). There were not enough nations to make to make a convincing argument. The secretary general of the UN, Kofi Annan, does not approve of the occupation in Iraq (un). The secretary general doesn’t like the war in Iraq because the invasion was in clear violation of the United Nations charter (cnn). Article one of the United Nations charter which was written in June of 1945 says “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations”(un/charter). What the charter is saying is that nations have to settle their disputes non-violently.

The United Kingdom is the next biggest country in Iraq besides the US in Iraq (BBC) The United Kingdom showed up at the country roughly the same time as the US forces. They entered with fewer troops then the US. The UK still has fewer troops stationed in Iraq then the Americans (number10). Maybe this is because the country only supports the war half-heartedly. Although Prime Minister Tony Blair supports the war and has not mentioned plans to withdraw all British forces and begin the process for ending the war.(number10), most of the British and Irish public is against the war(all 7 of the e-mails from people in those countries). The results of a recent online poll posted by the British Broadcasting Corporation the results showed that 63% of the people surveyed answered that they were against the war (BBC). This poll was created two years ago. The number of people who now oppose the war has most likely increased as the body count has gotten higher and money put into Iraq has passed over the 200 billion mark. There are 27 countries other then the US and the UK that have placed people in Iraq. 27 nations may sound like a massive force of allies, but considering that there are 192 countries in the world, 27 is a very small amount of participation. The countries are Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan,