What were the Bush Admins reason for invading Iraq
- Publicly stated reasons o Hussein has or is seeking WMD o Husseins connections to terrorists Cheney 1% doctrine o Liberate oppressed Iraqi people - Not pursuing diplomatic resolutions - UN resolution to force Iraq back into the nuclear and chemical monitoring regime o Operation desert fox
Why was there a concern that Saddam had WMD’s
1998-2003 no inspections of nuclear sites
- Nobody knows if he has chemical or biological weapons
- They did discover chemical weapons that weren’t very usable
Everybody thought he had chemical and nuclear weapons
But we do know now in a tape recorded meeting with his top generals
- Saddam Hussein we know longer have WMD we have dismantaled it since 1998
Why did Saddam bluff that he had WMD’s
- Deterrence
o But also to maintain control of population
o Domestic detterence - Key weapons used against iran
o Deterrence - Regional clout to stand up to the united states by using chemical weapons
- Strategic calculation
o The united states would bomb Iraq thoroughly not a ground attack thus they could survive that
o And by pretending that he had chemical weapons he could deter the ground attack from the Americans
What were some of the not publicly stated reasons for the war
Not very publicly stated reasons for the war
- Hussein with military capability is a destabilizing factor in Middle East
- Linchpin for democratizing Middle East
o Reflects 2 or 3 of the three pillars of GWT
- Makes credible American policy of pre-emption
- Tried to assassinate GHW Bush (tried to kill my dad)
Why did the war go so wrong
- Poor planning for the Post war period
- Poor Governance
- Inappropriate response to emerging insurgency
How did Bremers decisions impact ISIS
o Paul Bremer Rumsfeld asked Bremer to run the political side of the transition period • Bremer gives 2 orders o Removes the Bafas Party This excluded thousands of people o Disband the Iraqi military Lost their jobs Brought home guns They couldn’t maintain world This later gave an outflow of soldiers to to work for ISIS
What was the catalyst for the civil war breakout and how did it effect casualties
- Bombing of Al-askari Mosque (samarra) 2006 Feburarry 22
o Shia mosque
Al-quida was trying to start a civil war
o Most casualties start from civil war
what was the surge
o Temporary injection of 25,000 troops
o However in Afghanistan starts to ramp up so committing more troops becomes more difficult
What was the Bush Admin on the War in 2006
- War is not supported
- Democrats win the house in 2006
- Rumsfeld is replaced
o Bob gates replaces him - Cabinet is largely gone so a change in policy can occur
- Bush is adamant to rescue this operation
- Counterinsurgency document
o Attributed to general atraius
o James mattis also contributed
What was one reason the surge was working
- Ultimately surge starts to work in dampening down violence
o Part of one of the reasons why it works
Anbar Awakening
Middle of 2006, Marine core units starts communicating with local tribal leaders, due to foreign terrorists are subjugating the people of Iraq so they went to the Americans for help
• Marines start to reach out to Tribal leaders to provide securities
Sunni
What were the impacts of bringing General Petraeusin
tries to implement the same process with Shia leaders as the marines did with Sunni tribal leaderes
o Idea of surge is the idea of dampening down the insurgency
o Trying to pull a vaiable Iraq out of this situation
- New counter insurgency doctrine
o Push units out and have them live with Iraqi military and police in the neighbourhoods
o Protects civilians at night
What were some consequences of the Iraq War
- Hubris around the WMD claim
o Non were found - They wanted to establish a Jeffersonian democracy
o Did not happen - Neo-conservative view on democratising the world shown to be flawed
- Crediblity of the United States takes a hit as they were lying and left Iraq far worse off
