War on Terror

Justifiable War on Terror

There is a lot of debate and discussion on the Iraq war of late. Some say we shouldn’t be over there, Bush lied and the war is illegal. Any one who pays attention to the situation knows the war is legal and Bush lied about nothing. A more legitimate question would be is the Presidents war on terror and the war in Iraq justifiable? It is my contention that the Presidents war on terror and the war in Iraq are necessary to make the world safer. A short history of the first Gulf War, to put things in perspective, and then explain some of the things that Bush has done on the war on terror and the effects the war has had on the terrorists. This should lead you to the conclusion that the war is having an effect on the terrorists and that we need to ‘stay the course’, if you will, in order to prevail against the terrorists.

On August 2nd 1990, Iraq invaded the small oil rich country of Kuwait on its southeastern border. Iraq claimed that Kuwait was a long time province from the 1800’s and early 1900s’, whose lands belonged under control of Iraq, a so-called province. Saddam Hussein also argued that Kuwait was pumping oil from an oil field that was on the border of the two countries and belonged to Iraq. Upon gaining control of Kuwait, Hussein was able to eliminate his previous debt to Kuwait and gain its substantial oil wealth, roughly 10% of the worlds oil supply. Regardless of the motives behind Iraq’s invasion, under international law, none of Iraq’s claims against Kuwait justified its invasion of that country. The world perception of Iraq was one of greed, where Hussein had taken the defenseless country of Kuwait for its oil wealth in order to secure his own power with OPEC and among his own people. The United Nations Security Council immediately placed a trade embargo on Iraq and demanded that they withdraw from Kuwait. When Hussein failed to comply, a world coalition of 39 countries, mainly led by the United States and the United Nations, was given the order to take action. Air strikes soon commenced followed by a full scale ground invasion, which lasted technically until late February of 1991, in which Hussein’s forces were totally removed from Kuwait. Now fast forward to September 11th, 2001.

In the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, the world has had a sobering look at world terrorism. Led mainly by the United States, and supported by the United Nations, a new war on terrorism has begun. Overwhelming support worldwide has surfaced as President Bush has vowed to punish those who decide to commit terrorist acts, as well as those who harbor or condone these activities. So far Bush has followed through on his promise with the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq, following the October 2, 2002 passing of a resolution that authorized the President to go into Iraq. The resolution states clearly that “…Iraq both poses a continuing threat to the national security of the United States and International peace and security in the Persian Gulf region….and (is) supporting and harboring terrorist organizations”. This clearly shows that both the President and the U.S. Congress are aware of