How do current radical right groups such as sovereign citizens threaten the legitimate federal authority in the United States?
In the United States, a radical right group is a term used to assign common depiction to each extreme side of the political spectrum (Johnson 46). Radical right groups comprise of a number of fanatic movements that support nationalistic leanings. These groups can be classified into supremacist movements, militia movements, sovereign citizens’ movements, and various single-issue movements (Johnson 46).
Among these groups, sovereign citizens are the most active. The groups, together with other right groups in the United States threaten the legitimate federal authority in a number of ways. As such, these groups champion for secession. They want to fight for the removal of their states from the United States. These groups argue that state separation is a constitutional right that the federal government should respect.
Based on these motives, it is apparent that these extremist groups are after undermining the legitimate federal authority of the US. Similarly, sovereign citizens have always insisted that the US federal government is illegitimate. Therefore, they have always tried to reinstate an idealized and an inconspicuous government that has never been in existence in the US.
To date, these groups wage confrontations against the federal government and similar related authorities by use of paper terrorism, pestering, threat tactics, and infrequently resorting to aggression (Johnson 47). In addition, sovereign citizens assert that the county is the legitimate seat of command in the US. Their ideology is supported by the fact that county administration is nearer to the citizens than the federal government.
Why does the FBI classify this group as domestic terrorists?
According to the FBI, domestic terrorism group is a faction that satisfies the below characteristics (Johnson 47). The first attribute is that a group must be planning dangerous acts against fellow humans contrary to the national or state law.
Second attribute is that a group must seem to be intentionally threatening civilians, undermining the policy of a government through threats, and have an effect on the behavior of a government by mass obliteration, murdering or abducting.
Lastly, for a group to be considered a domestic terrorist it acts must occur inside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States and be carried out by its citizens. Sovereign citizens are categorized as internal terrorists because they exhibit the above characteristics. For instance, ever since the fall of the Posse the group has witnessed a momentous increase in numbers of its acts.
These acts comprise of attempts of aggression frequently against the legislative body of the government. During the year 1993, radical escapees Linda Lyon Block and George Sibley, who were the members of the group, assassinated a police officer in Alabama (Hamm 217). In mid 1990s, a gang of radicals linked with the extremists battered Karen Mathews at her residence.
Similarly, in the year 1998 two members belonging to the group fired their guns at two firefighters in Ohio. They attacked the firefighters because the two servicepersons’ vehicle had blocked their way. At irregular intervals, the group members have engaged themselves in high-profile confrontation with the authorities.
In spite of aggressive activity, the favored weapon of this group is referred to as paper terrorism. Paper terrorism utilizes the use of fake legal credentials and filings. Similarly, paper terrorism employs the misuse of lawful credentials and filings. These acts are undertaken to threaten, annoy, and pressurize public officials, police officers, and the public (Johnson 46).
Works Cited
Hamm, Mark S.. Terrorism as crime: from Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and beyond. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Print.
Johnson, Daryl. Right wing resurgence: how a domestic terrorist threat is being ignored. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. Print.
In the twentieth century states were boasting about their nuclear power since nuclear weapons were the most sophisticated type of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, at present nuclear weapons are regarded as a primitive type of WMD and biological weapons come into play. Many countries are getting concerned about this potential threat. Admittedly, in a globalized environment proliferations of biological weapons can cause millions of deaths.
The reason why biological weapons should be regarded as a more dangerous threat than, for example, nuclear weapons is that the former “combine maximum destructiveness and easy availability” (Betts 1998, 4).
Apart from this biological weapons are characterized by “low visibility, high potency” and “relatively easy delivery” (Danzig & Berkowsky 1997, 431). Reputedly, creation (and/or transportation if necessary) of nuclear weapons requires significant financing, whereas biological weapons are quite easy to obtain.
The agents of the biological weapons are bacteria, toxins and viruses which “occur naturally in the environment” and, what is more, “many are used for wholly legitimate medical purposes (such as the development of antibiotics and vaccines)” (Danzig & Berkowsky 1997, 431).
It is necessary to point out that there is no need in transporting biological weapons since aerosolization is the major method of this kind of weapons proliferation. Basically, anyone “with modest finances and basic training in biology and engineering” can create one of the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction (Danzig & Berkowsky 1997, 431).
It is also important to note that insignificant amount of any type of biological weapons will suffice to cause thousand or even millions of deaths. For instance, only a “millionth of a gram of anthrax constitutes a lethal inhalation dose”, it is not difficult to imagine how many people can day if a kilo of the substance will be aerosolized (Danzig & Berkowsky 1997, 431).
Anthrax is not the only potential threat. Among agents and diseases which can be used as a biological weapon are Burkholderia bacteria, plague, smallpox, typhus, volatile nerve agents (Building a Stronger Defense 2007, 2).
Some argue that there is no need to be preoccupied with biological weapons since they were not used and are not likely to be used in future. However, it is possible to find many records about the use of biological weapons since the Middle Ages.
For instance, soldiers catapulted cadavers “over the walls of European cities and castles under siege” or “the British supplied Indians with smallpox-infected blankets” during the French and Indian Wars (Danzig & Berkowsky 1997, 431-432). The twentieth century also had several cases of the use of biological weapons (there were numerous tests on prisoners during the World War II).
Apparently, such stories can become a real threat at present since non-state violent actors (NSVAs) (or even state violent actors) can use biological weapons. In the modern globalized world terroristic groups and other NSVAs can easily access any type of biological weapons and aerosolize it in some territory.
In fact, there is already such term as “bioterrorism” which refers to “a deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, fungi or toxins from living organisms to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants” (Building a Stronger Defense 2007, 1).
Admittedly, the major aim of terroristic groups is to cause panic among civilians, and with the help of biological weapons they can easily achieve their major. Millions of people can be infected and the rest of population of the country where a biological weapon was proliferated (or even several countries) can become terrified to act against the terroristic group.
When considering potential threats of biological weapons proliferation, it is necessary to take into account the spread of such pandemic diseases as the Spanish flu or bird flu which rapidly spread all over the planet. Thus, the problem of biological weapons proliferation is a concern of every country in the world since this type of WMD can potentially cause millions of deaths.
Reference List
Betts, Richard K. 1998. “The New Threat of Mass Destruction.” Foreign Affairs, January/February. Web.
Danzig, Richard and Pamela B. Berkowsky. “Why Should We Be Concerned about Biological Warfare?” Journal of American Medical Association 278, no. 5 (1997): 431-432.
“Building a Stronger Defense against Bioterrorism.” FDA Consumer Health Infromation. Web.
The United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 came at a time when the war on terrorism was at its peak. After the events of the September 11, 2001, the Bush Administration vowed to combat all acts of terror within and outside U.S borders.
While this initiative was highly applauded by the international community and especially the member countries which had suffered huge humanitarian losses in the hands of terror suspects, the plan to ouster Saddam Hussein from power as part of curbing the spread of terrorism was not received kindly from some quarters.
The historical account of the authoritarian rule of Saddam Hussein in the run up to the 2003 attack by United States has been discussed in this essay. Furthermore, the real impacts of the war as occasioned by U.S foreign policy on Iraq have been deliberated in detail.
The unipolar nature of the 2003 attack on Iraq has also been used as the springboard in dissecting the role played by United Nations Security Council before and during the attack.
While the outcome of the war was visibly felt far and wide, the essay attempts to critically evaluate how Americans and the people of Iraq were negatively impacted by the unstable relations between the two countries. Finally, the justification of the war as well as its legitimacy has been incorporated in this theoretical research study.
Background and synopsis of poor rule in Iraq
Iraq has faced challenges like the long history of authoritarian rule and the crushing of democracy, the rivalry between Sunni and Shia, separatist claims of the Kurds and the demands of the Turkmen coupled with foreign interference like in the case of 2003 invasion by United States and its allies. The contemporary history of Iraq commenced immediately after the breakup of the old Ottoman Empire.
In the campaigns against the Central powers the British military invaded Iraq and was initially defeated by Turkey. Thereafter, the British troupes regrouped and later captured Baghdad. Later, an agreement was signed by the British and French that led to the carving out of Iraq from Ottoman Empire.
The agreement became conclusive in May 1916. In 1920, the carved out territory came under the control of the British with the name “State of Iraq” (Wollack, 2010, p.22).
When the British established the Hashemite monarchy in the new territory it did not take into consideration the politics of different religious as well as ethnic groups. This offered a chance for the Kurds and the Shiites to begin fighting for independence. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom initially established two regions which were Basra region and Baghdad region, but later the two were merged.
In 1932, Britain granted Iraq independence; however, the British still hung on to the armed forces bases and also the privileges of transfer for the British military powers. There were subsequent wars and conflicts in Iraq, even after independence had been granted.
The 1941 coup d’état saw the ousting from power of Abd al-llah who was the president at that time. The military wing soon took over the custody of the country. The Hashemite monarchy which was brought back thereafter operated up and until 1958. Another coup took place and the monarchy was sent packing by the Iraqi troops (Wollack, 2010, p.23). A series of forceful power take over followed later that is in 1966 and 1968.
During these undemocratic power changes, the military was the decider of which political party was the next head of government. Therefore, bloody conflicts between political parties were the most visible type of conflicts in the Iraqi political arena (Stimson, 2010, pp.63-64).
Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Iraq at the beginning of the twentieth century, successive governments played the role of authoritarian suppressor rather than as mediator of governance in a multi-ethnic and religious country.
The use of assassinations and executions were the usual tools rather than negotiations in Iraq’s politics (Rex, 2011, p.97). Such politics became rather a political culture where Iraq could only be ruled through a strong central government with very limited rights to minorities.
This was the case until April 2003, when the United States leading the “Coalition of the willing” invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam’s Baath regime. The United Sates promised the Iraqi people and the whole region of Middle East of new democratic era (Wollack, 2010, p.24).
The Ba’ath Party had been ruling Iraq for a considerable length of time before the decline of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Nevertheless, in the post-Saddam era, the state of Iraq went into a political transition, struggling with the collective challenges of instituting structures of governance and allocating power within the institutions of the country.
Such tasks proved to be difficult since the majority of the state institutions were not functioning due to thirty years of iron fist rule of the Ba’ath party. It is more than seven years since the US assault on the state of Iraq, and vigorous debates about the future of Iraq continue in every level of society (Wilbanks & Karsh, 2010, pp. 65-70).
Most internal critics believe that a great deal of the instability within Iraq over the past seven years is due to struggles between the different political, sectarian and ethnic groups that constitute Iraq’s population rather than the ousting of President Saddam Hussein from power. Foreign interference was also visible on the grounds where neighbouring countries supported certain sectors or ethnic groups over another.
However, Iraq has at all times been culturally and religiously varied and has historically allowed minority communities to co-exist in agreement with the majority of the populace (Osborn, 2011, p. 13). Nonetheless, both the past and current regimes have been full of dispute and violence between the different factions leading to what the Bush administration perceived as the source of terrorism.
When Iraq was attacked by United States, opponents of Iraq that expected to gain the support of the USA termed it a wrong war and never approved of it; this was because the opponents were against the liberation of Iraq. The coalition that joined forces with USA in liberating Iraq initially comprised of 49 nations.
After the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, the US supported the establishment of democracy under a new constitution. While the Bush administration strongly believed that Saddam Hussein was harbouring Weapons of Mass Destruction that could be potentially used to perpetrate acts of terrorism, the opponents of the 2003 invasion, and especially those drawn from the Middle East were firmly convinced that the then US government was largely after controlling oil resources in Iraq.
Nonetheless, it is also imperative to note that much of the conflict being witnessed up to date may not necessarily be the aftermath of 2003 war (Jacobson, 2010, pp.586-588). There are internal differences in perceptions and sectarian tensions.
Two options exist so far; creation of a strong central government focused on keeping the country politically unified or allowing a decentralized power structure in which minority groups are granted political self rule in parts of Iraq (Polk, 2006, pp.95-100).
The latter solution was guaranteed by the 2005 Iraqi constitution but left without mentioning the mechanism of establishing such federation system which has triggered a territory disputes and serious claims by political powers over oil rich cities such as Kirkuk.
The oil debate
The justifications of the 2003 war on Iraq by the Bush Administration did not single out ‘oil interests’ as one of the reasons for the attack. Definitely, the American public and the world at large could not have expected such a rationale to be put forward. Nonetheless, critics of the Bush Administration reiterated that the latter had some underneath agenda on the oil resources found in Iraq (Bremer, 2006, p.47).
An earlier blue print by the neo-conservative group known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) emphasized the dire need for the United States government to restore its 20th century superpower image and global domination.
Indeed, the acquisition of Iraq oil resources through indirect control was thought as one way of not only advancing U.S foreign policy in Middle East, but also a way of building a robust U.S economy through cheap or ‘near-free’ imports of crude oil from Iraq.
In addition, the U.S pre-eminence in global affairs in an attempt to derail efforts by upcoming superpowers like Japan and China was also evident in the PNAC document. This would best be achieved by remodeling the international security order to be in line with the United States foreign policies and domestic principles (Arnove, 2007, p.81).
Hence, it can be observed that although oil factor was at the center of the debate for Iraq war, the Bush Administration, similar to previous regimes, was also propelling the U.S primacy ideals, perhaps an effort to make the country a self-appointed international watchdog for ‘rogue’ members of the world like Iraq under President Saddam Hussein.
According to the report, it was necessary for the new ‘American grand strategy’ on foreign policies to be rigorously pushed into posterity. Prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the report had already pointed out the need for the succeeding U.S governments to continually pursue a mission of fighting, and winning multiple wars as part and parcel of stamping its authority on the world.
This further exemplifies that the core mission of Iraq war was not necessarily after the oil resources; the Bush Administration was largely pursuing a long term supremacy goal that has been an agenda since the post World War II era.
Another astounding revelation from the PNAC document is that the plans to ouster Saddam Hussein from power was already in place long before September 11 attacks in New York and Washington. It was also revealed that George Bush and his administration to be agenda to topple Saddam’s government was pre-eminent long before Bush stepped into White House.
On the other hand, the then Vice President Dick Cheney proclaimed that Iraq remained to be a major factor in the instability experienced in the international oil market. Therefore, tackling the energy challenge in United States would only be possible if Iraq regime was toppled.
One of the other key fears posed by United States was that Saddam Hussein was an architect in using oil resources in his country not only as lethal weapon to economically jeopardize his opponents but also as a tool of advancing his illicit motives on terrorism. This, according to the Bush government, would threaten both international peace and global economy bearing in mind that oil is a major resource needed in energy security.
At some point, these allegations by United States government under President Bush were considered by some sections of the veto members of the United Nations Security Council as ‘selfish’ and were not adequate enough to warrant any war on Iraq. It should also be noted that the UN Charter on international peace was presumable ignored by United States even as it proceeded to attack Iraq (Anderson & Stansfleld, 2004)
The blame game
The 2003 war on Iraq may have been bitterly criticized by the opponents of the Bush Administration although it was apparently the best tool to apply for that desperate moment. In a more objective manner though, it is worth to recall that the totalitarian Iraq regime under Saddam Hussein was never a darling even to the Iraqi citizens themselves (Marshall, 2010, pp.32-33).
As discussed in the next section of this essay, it is profound to note that Saddam Hussein went in record as one of the most inhuman leaders who rarely acted as the custodian of his people.
For example, the humanitarian crisis brought about by war and refugee problem in Iraq is just one outstanding example to reckon with. As much as the country was and is still a major producer of oil, its citizens presumably lived in squalor conditions with only a handful of his cronies sharing the national cake.
It is also well understood that before the onset of the war, several United Nations Security Council resolutions were passed in a bid to restrain Saddam from demonstrating his war-like ability. Most of the resolutions passed were in the interest of peace and global security.
Although Saddam consistently denied to be harboring Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), one of the fears that gripped the world at this time was mainly to do with his (Saddam’s) close working relationship with the Islamic insurgents in Iraq who were also doubling up as terror gangs.
He was regularly in hostile terms with his neighbors in the Middle East region, a phenomenon that jeopardized his relationship with the entire global community (Rex, 2011). Indeed, if such actions by Saddam were anything to go by, then the attack by United States, in spite of the consequences, was highly justified.
Similarly, the United States had quite often pointed out Middle East as the origin of global terrorism. Such utterances were more pronounced during the Bush Administration. Although Barrack Obama also promised to deal firmly with terrorism when he ascended to presidency, he has quite often reiterated that the war on terrorism has little or nothing to do with Islam (Stimson, 2010, p.63).
In fact, whether Islamic religion is one and the same thing as terrorism or a operating on a clean slate has remained debatable over time with the targeted groups such as Al Qaeda and Jihadist movement arguing that they are merely fighting for their rights or protecting their religious beliefs and practices.
Justification of the Iraq War
Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in United Sates, the Bush administration was strongly convinced that the Iraq, under the autocratic rule of President Saddam Hussein, was the main ground where terrorism bred from (Doucot, 2010, pp. 38-39). Hence, prior to the war, Bush had more than sufficient justifications was put in place immediately after September 11, 2001 and roughly a year later.
In spite of the fact that Osama Bin Laden, the purported ring leader of Al Qaeda, was the main suspect, the focus was switched to Saddam Hussein. Surprisingly, Saddam was accused shortly after the 9/11 incidence. All the same, the world was left in a state of confusion with the shifting sands of rationales why the Bush administration attacked Iraq.
Some critics of the Bush administration even commented that the United States military troops may have as well caused terrorism in Iraq rather than preventing it. The fact that Saddam Hussein was not found with Weapons of Mass Destruction did not deter U.S from gathering other reasons (Fawn & Hinnebusch, 2006, p.56).
To begin with, the justification of the war in 2003 was that the Al Qaeda terror wing had close links and associations with Iraq while the latter was an architect in the manufacture of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
For the American public, these were enough grounds for going into the war to fight terrorism bearing in mind that the 9/11 incidence left a bitter taste and experience not only on the victims but also to the United States economy at large.
The 2003 justifications prior to the war were strong enough, making the public and several U.S allies to support the Iraq mission. Some of the reasons put forward by United States before launching an attack on Iraq included but not limited to:
Protracted history of authoritarian rule by Saddam Hussein
Harbouring of Islamic insurgents in Iraq by Saddam who later turned out to be terrorists
The inability of Baghdad government to uproot the spread of terrorism in the Middle East Country
Saddam’s defiance of UN resolutions on international peace and security
Alleged involvement with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) and therefore a potential threat to international peace and security.
To begin with, the Bush administration asserted that the architect of September 11 attacks and Al Qaeda had very powerful connections with the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (Bose, 2010, p.86). Such links were thought to be potential enough to breed and spread acts of terror far and wide.
Additionally, terrorists might have accessed some of the Weapons of Mass Destruction that were purportedly being manufactured by Saddam Hussein. Hence, it was only wise to bring down the reign of Saddam Hussein as the best way of curtailing the growth and spread of terrorism.
On the same note, the mysterious death of Abu Nidal way back in 2002 in Iraqi capital raised eyebrows on how certain terror organizations had thrived so well in Iraq under the protection of Saddam’s government. Unfortunately, it was quite cumbersome to substantiate these claims upon the onset of the war, which could not be stopped at that critical time.
In an interesting twist of events, the period between 2003 and 2005 was laced with a new set of justifications. Foreign terrorists were believed to be the key insurgents in the 9/11 attacks. The Jihadist movement attached to Islam was accused of having launched the 2003 terror attacks against U.S occupation.
Although this movement was not directly linked with Saddam Hussein, the Bush administration emphasized that it originated from neighbouring countries to Iraq such as the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Syria.
The fact they were both neighbours to Iraq was enough grounds to say that the jihadist movement might have as well spread to Iraq (Marshall, 2010, pp. 32-33). For instance, the Sunni insurgency that was being led by Musab Al Zarqawi was believed by U.S to be a major threat to peace and security. No wonder, he was later assassinated by US.
The Iraqi insurgents were largely perceived by the United States government to be a real threat to peace in the sense that Saddam Hussein was apparently condoning their activities which were all linked to acts of terror. The insurgency that was fast infiltrating in Iraqi capital could not be conclusively established.
Even if that was possible, it could equally be close to impossible to ascertain whether these insurgents were really responsible for acts of terrorism especially on the international platform. Some critics of the Bush administration argued that the U.S acts of terror were home-grown and that targeting the Middle East bloc was an exercise in futility (Bose, 2010, p.861).
Further, critics have reiterated that the U.S foreign policy on security matters and other jurisdictions is the major reason why violence has escalated over the years. Towards the close of 2006, the U.S-Iraq affair on the fight against terrorism had developed into a rather tricky affair bearing in mind that the Iraq factor was a top priority agenda in the war against terrorism with or without the said justifications.
According to the argument put forward by Anderson (2010), the Bush administration was firmly adamant that the war on terrorism would not leave out the Iraq factor while at the same time; the military troops were well convinced that everything had culminated into a civil war between the two factions of Muslims namely the Sunni and Shiite.
Before the elections in 2006, both the Republicans and Democrats were heavily divided on the question of withdrawing U.S troops from Iraq.
According to Democrats, the security situation in Iraq was as a result of the civil war between the struggling factions while the Republicans maintained that there were extremely bad insurgents in Iraq which the United States was determined to fight as a way of destroying the growth and spread of terrorism (Anderson, 2010, p.180).
The Jihadist movement was also linked with the Iraqi war in the sense that the latter was fuelling the former. This was in a quick rejoinder by the Democrats who had earlier asserted that the civil war’ in Iraq had nothing to do with acts of terrorism in United States.
At the start of 2007, there were no viable grounds to justify the war on Iraq. Both the Republicans and Democrats were silent about the Iraq affair and could not provide further direction on the issue.
Later on, Bush emphasized that the fight against acts of terror could only be won if Iraq was thoroughly combed of all internal insurgents (Clarke, 2004, p.49). This position was evident when President Bush gave speeches on the State of the Union address and Iraq policy. Both of these speeches resonated government’s effort and position on the war against Iraq (Dodge, 2006).
As the year moved on, Iran was also implicated in the spread of terrorism since it was using Iraq as the launch pad for acts of terror. As a terror front, the Bush administration was emphatic that Iraq would be the best ground to initiate war on terrorism, and that terrorism was being sponsored by the neighbouring Iran (Stieber, 2010, p.31).
The intelligence politics of United States under Bush administration also played a key role in fuelling the Iraq crisis. The motives of the White House for heavily criticized on the basis that the alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) were not found even after the war. It is also highly likely that the White House intelligence was to a large extent abused.
In fact, the second term of George W. Bush was negatively impacted following the polarization of Washington. For Bush, the second term was a murky affair bearing in mind that he failed to gather solid support from both divides, namely the Republicans and Democrats (Cockburn & Patrick, 2002, pp.106-108).
Legitimacy of the Iraq war
The legitimacy of the war on Iraq has been debated far and wide with some arguing that the invasion was legitimate under United Nations Security Council resolution no. 616.
On the contrary, some critics have posed that in spite of the so-called legitimacy, the 2003 invasion of Iraq would have been prevented if not avoided completely, adding that Iraq was and is still an independent and sovereign state that deserves dignity in running its own affairs.
Similarly, personalities and individual countries that were opposed to the war resonated that the attack was a gross violation of international law and that the United States was merely after pushing forward its unpopular and inhuman foreign policies.
Prior to the onset of the war, quite a number of United Nations Security Council resolutions were passed. Besides, the Congressional Joint Resolution 114 was also in place in justifying and assessing whether the war was really legitimate. For instance, there were two main resolutions passed by United Nations namely Resolutions 678 and 1441(Wollack, 2010, p.23).
These resolutions gave a go ahead for United States under President Bush, to invade Iraq. Nonetheless, those who argued on the contrary clearly asserted that the very resolutions passed by the Security Council were not applied in totality as per the requirements. For example, both resolutions have prescribed conditions that ought to be fulfilled before any war can be initiated.
Moreover, an ‘aggressor’ can only be forcibly attacked in the event that its actions may potentially jeopardize peace. Unlike the 2003 war, there were no acts of militarism that would be considered to endanger peaceful co-existence within and beyond borders of Iraq (Duffy, 2005, p.112).
Although the United Nations Security Council was supposedly responsible in endorsing the war, there were other key determinants worth considering before United States could go ahead with its intended plan. Resolution 678 of the Security Council, according to the Bush Administration, endorsed the 2003 invasion.
Hence, this provided a strong basis for United States to launch a attack on Iraq, having accused the latter as not only a thriving ground for terrorism, but also supporting internal insurgents through the manufacture of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Additionally, the then United States government argued that no single international law was infringed.
It is only articles 39-42 of the United Nations Charter that can be expressly used to justify war on any real or perceived international aggressor.
While Resolution 660 was implemented by the United Nations member states, and especially United States, little has been debated so far on Resolution 678 that was instrumental in starting the war. Hence, it is a quite a challenge to determine or establish the legal jurisdiction used by the Bush administration in attacking Iraq.
Shortly before the war in 2003, the Security Council held a short meeting to deliberate on the involved legal claims. While the council was to finalize and give out its verdict on the Iraq question, the United States and its allies went ahead and initiated the attack. In unclear circumstances though, the U.N Security Council has not met since 2003 to revisit and review the matter.
Nonetheless, the U.S ignorance of the U.N resolution on the Iraqi may have been prompted by the French veto since the latter U.N member has a veto power. As public debate on the legitimacy of Iraq war continues, Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations also added his voice to the public opinion, lamenting that Iraq invasion was done in bad faith since the UN charter was not followed to the letter.
Saddam’s record
The legitimacy of the Iraq war with United States was also widely supported by poor Saddam’s track record of political leadership. The region suffered greatly due to security lapse created and worsened President Saddam Hussein. He attached least importance to peace in Iraq.
For instance, the Iraq-Iran war fought between 1980 and 1988 was a landmark experience to the international community that Saddam Hussein was not a caretaker of peace at all costs. It is interesting to learn that Baghdad was supported by White House during the eight-year long war, a political friendship that went on the rocks after a short while.
The events before the Iraq-Iran war were not anything to go by (Duffy, 2005, p.109). However, it was reported that Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) were used by Saddam in attacking the enemy. Apart from attacking innocent civilians, the very WMDs were used in at least ten different occasions (Jacobson, 2010, p.610).
Two years later after winding up the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein went into loggerheads with Kuwait. The 1990 Gulf War left a bitter taste in the mouth of civilians and the neighbouring countries largely due to displacement of civilians both internally and externally. Both Kuwait and Iraq suffered heavy political and economic losses.
Having set an undesirable track record in political leadership, the United Nations Security Council enacted and directed not less than sixteen peaceful resolutions to conflict. Nonetheless, the period between 1990 and 2002 was marked with gross violation of these resolutions.
The regime officials who were interviewed by Iraq Survey Group confirmed that special scientists dealing with research and manufacture of WMDs were being taken care of by President Saddam Hussein. The officials also claimed that the nuclear and other WMD program that Saddam had already started was in the course of being revived. Although weapons inspectors received an audit report from Saddam, it was alleged to be untrue.
In spite of the fact that this was the last opportunity for Saddam to comply with the United Nations Security Resolution 1441, he failed to do so justifying every reason to be invaded for the interest of international peace and security.
The period when the Gulf War was on-going also demonstrated Saddam’s non-committal tendency towards peace. For example, an unprecedented scale of foreign civilians was taken hostage by his regime.
Additionally, President Bush Senior administration also faced terror threats from Saddam Hussein during the Persian Gulf War era. These were bad records set by President Saddam Hussein, a phenomenon that would only worsen international relations in years to come.
Saddam Hussein was also historically known to be a silent crusader of terrorists especially in the proxy Palestine neighbour. The main reason why he probably supported unilateral attacks against his neighbours in form of terrorism was the sour relationship that had hitherto existed between the two warring parties namely Iraq and Palestine.
He was alleged to be giving out financial incentives especially to suicide bombers and their families. He was also purportedly hosting terror groups who had sought refuge from nearby home countries.
Undoubtedly, these were serious claims against the Iraqi President since he was made to appear as a threat to peace not just within the Gulf region per se, but also internationally and across continents. In a nutshell, Saddam’s human rights record was not impressive not just within the face of Iraqi citizens but also in the eyes of the wider international community.
The Kirkuk factor
While the first phase of Kirkuk history was mainly dominated by tye fight for independence, supremacy and control over the oil-rich region, the second phase was mainly donned with modern history which started during the control of the Baath regime in Iraq(Duffy, 2005, p.76).
Through the rule of the Baath regime the city of Kirkuk went through a series of both socio-economic and political turmoil with a bid for the Baghdad government to have total control of the oil field in Kirkuk. The first ever attempt which marked the Kurdish history that the current Kurdish political leaders referred to in their claim over the city, was made by Saddam Hussein to gain control of Kirkuk.
A major initiative by the Baath regime was the encouragement the Arab population to move into the region. This was known as Arabization policy. The programwas meant to enable Arabs sympathetic to the Saddam regime control the city and the region around it(Anderson, 2010, p.180). In achieving this program, Saddam’s regime forced out the original inhabitants of Kirkuk to other designated locations.
Moreover, the government implemented some amendments on the registration procedures to ensure that Kirkuk remained under the control of Saddam Hussein. This actually followed the policy of Arabisation of the city which, amongst other things, demanded that only Iraqis of Arab origin could register as the natives of the city. Subsequent registrations were to be done on the basis of different ethnic groups.
The worst affected group was the Kurdish people. In a relentless effort however, the Kurdish people maintained that Kirkuk was their cultural identity, an assertion that led to incessant wrangles and disputes between the Kurds and the Saddam’s totalitarian government.
Kirkuk city was equally devastated in terms of the huge Kurdish population which was a hitherto moved to the Kurdish regions in neighbouring Iran.
As a result, constant wrangles persisted between the Saddam’s government and the Kurds on the ownership of this oil-rich region.
One of the worst attacks which took place in Kirkuk targeting the adamant Kurdish people was witnessed way back in the late 70s and early 80s soon after President Saddam Hussein had declared himself the ruler of Iraq. Over three thousand Kurdish settlements were pulled down by the Iraqi forces. This destruction was not a onetime event but it persisted throughout the reign of Saddam Hussein.
A consequence of the second phase particularly the Arabization policy have created an ethnic group and added more complexity to Kirkuk’s modern history.
Arabs who moved to the city encouraged by the incentives given by Saddam’s regime have also claimed ownership over the city and denied any wrong doing; nonetheless, Most of the properties given to Arabs belong to deported Kurds. Tension was raised when the deported Kurds moved back to city and demanded a return of their confiscated properties in 2003.
Saddam Hussein’s cousin Ali Hasan Al-Majeed carried out the Al-Anfal Campaign in 1988. This campaign aimed at capturing and massacring all the able-bodied men between the ages of 15 and 70. Both the Shia south and the Kurdish north were attacked and crushed by forces allied to Saddam’s government.
In an attempt to cool down the rising tempers from both the north and south, close to 100,000 Shiites and Kurds were executed. However, this did not calm down the situation. It only triggered more violent attacks and anti-government campaigns.
One of the worst social ills perpetrated by Saddam’s regime was the indoctrination of minors into the military. The joint report released by International Federation of Human rights League documented how Saddam Hussein used children as young as five years in carrying out his war mission. These children were segregated from their families and taken through forceful training.
When Dick Cheney, the then United States Vice President was interviewed (2006), he reiterated that Iraq would have been invaded even if intelligence reports could not reveal any WMDs (Anderson, 2010, pp.180-181).
He emphasized that Saddam Hussein had a dark history of either sympathizing with terrorists or using Weapons of Mass Destruction among other human rights violation. Hence, being ousted from power was an initial integral step in fighting terrorism emanating from Middle East.
The role played by United Nations Security Council
What about the role played by the United Nations in legitimising the U.S invasion of Iraq? There were quite a number of resolutions courtesy of the U.N Security Council that were directed towards Iraq under President Saddam Hussein.
As already mentioned in the earlier part of this literature, one of the dominant resolutions that Saddam Hussein was supposed to adhere to was the inspection of his weaponry base and establish whether he was harbouring WMDs of nuclear, biological or chemical nature. This was resolution 687. However, 13 other resolutions followed later which reaffirmed that the process of inspecting weapons was to continue.
The subsequent resolutions also sought to make sure that Iraq did not flout any of the commands. Notwithstanding the numerous resolutions by the UN Security Council, the cooperation between Iraq and UNSCOM was suspended by the former, an occurrence that was sharply condemned by the Council on 9th September 1998.
Less than one month later, the Baghdad government declared that at no given time will it cooperate with UNSCOM again (Anderson, 2010, p.180). This only worked towards weakening tightening the relationship between Iraq and UNSCOM. Eventually, this would justify legitimise the war against Iraq since the latter had already proved to be adamant enough.
Further declaration of the no-fly-zone by U.N Security Council during the Operation Desert Fox bombing did not sweeten the Iraq-U.N relations that were on the rocks. Rampant shooting of planes flying in the U.N restricted region was ordered by the then vice president of Iraq.
This region was supposed to remain neutral and void of any undue interference by any state. After myriad of pressures from the international community, weapon inspectors were permitted back to Iraq. Nevertheless, some of them were shortly ordered out before the onset of the 2003 invasion.
The genesis of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Saddam is believed to have access to Weapons of Mass Destruction long before the Gulf War broke out. Major western economies namely United Kingdom, United States, France and Germany are alleged to have supplied chemical weapons to Iraq especially during the Iraq-Iran War which was fought for nearly eight years(Stieber, 2010, p.33).
Furthermore, the Kurdish population in Iraq who had been contesting oil resources with the Baghdad government were bombed with the very chemical weapons. These chemical weapons would have been used during the Persian Gulf War but it was reported that the Iraqi military forces could not bear the brunt of the chemicals emitted by these weapons since they did not have adequate protective gear.
Another inhibiting factor was that the open desert was quickly besieged by the U.S forces before Iraqi military could set their attacking base. To date, no tangible evidence on the existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction has been detected in this country. The only piece of evidence is the chemical munitions that cannot be used to manufacture WMDs since they have long been degraded and outdated.
The chemical analysis of the degraded samples revealed that they must have been used sometimes back in 1991, directly matching with the earlier hypothesis that use of WMDs was instrumental during the Iraq-Iran war of 1980 to 1988.
Further reports on the WMD claims by White House has it that a former CIA official asserted that even before United States invaded Iraq, the officials knew quite well that the alleged WMDs were non-existent and mere fabrications (Osborn, 2011, p.14).
Such conflicting evidence on the WMDs story is indeed worrying bearing in mind that the impact of the war is still being felt by both countries. Needless to say, the humanitarian crisis in Iraq has not been fully addressed while the United States government under Obama administration is still lagging its feet to withdraw troops from Iraq since their continual existence can only be interpreted to mean no ceasefire to violence.
The position of various states
A total of 49 states threw their weight behind United States endeavour to invade and occupy Iraq. Some of the support provided by these countries included logistical support as well as combat and support troops.
As per the legality of this war, critics of the Bush administration argued that the fact that Iraq violated some of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions did not imply that any country would assume express authority to enforce them on Iraq. According to the U.N Charter on international peace and security, a majority support among the countries with veto power would be required before any aggressor could be invaded.
United States was bitterly accused of applying double standards in its quest to fight terrorism since nuclear weapons exist in such countries like Israel but no tangible action has ever been taken against such ‘faithful violators’.
To some, the United States invasion of Iraq had some hidden agenda. For instance, it is alleged that the Bush administration was probably targeting to exploit oil resources in Iraq at the pretext of WMDs (Polk, 2006, p.95). Perhaps, this may be politically factual bearing in mind that the northern Kirkuk region is rich in oil. Kirkuk is also known for the production of oil and gas for both domestic and industrial use.
Oil and gas production is the heart of Iraq’s economy and a fair distribution of its revenue is essential in the future stability of Iraq government and for the stabilization of its prices and economic activities.
It will solve the problems of inequality in wealth distribution between the federal and regional government in Kurdistan (Stieber, 2010, p.33). Oil exports forms the backbone of Iraq’s economy and revenue distribution. Kirkuk is the city with secured oil reserves.
The U.S invasion of Iraq over the alleged weapons of mass destruction and consequent execution of Saddam Hussein is a vivid example of its foreign policies. There are many advantages that are enjoyed whenever power and supremacy are on board. This is the policy which the United States pursued prior to its engagement in the War. The writer further expounds that power does not guarantee influence all the time.
This is the very reason why US did not get the simple majority support in the Iraq War (Dodge, 2006, pp. 188-190). The nine of fifteen votes could not be reached by the United Nations Security Council to allow this super power stamp its authority in Iraq.
Surprisingly, even those countries who were mostly assisted by US like Chile and Mexico rejected to support it (Burbach & Tarbell, 2004, p.96). Owing to the reason that no country could compare itself with U.S in military and arms race, itwent ahead and attacked Iraq. This was a “foreign policy” that left thousands of innocent Iraqis with dire consequences.
The innocent civilians are yet to come to terms with the humanitarian crisis that followed after the war. What about the U.S allegations that Saddam was harbouring weapons of mass destruction? Indeed, he was later executed on the basis of these claims. The world is still sceptical over what the U.S targeted in this Middle East country.
The US and Iraq today
It is imperative and inevitable to explore the contemporary U.S foreign policy under President Obama in order to evaluate and conclude on the past and modern policy genetic traits (Dodge, 2003, pp.103-105). To begin with, the Obama administration often reiterated that Islam is not a foe and that the war on terrorism has little to do with U.S engagement.
Moreover, the United States need to have a breathless pursuit over nuclear program alongside other issues (Polk, 2006, p.88). There are a myriad of foreign policies as stipulated in the current administrative structure. From the previous analysis however, we wonder why U.S was interested in controlling Saudi Arabia. Was it a strategy to fight terrorism emerging from the Middle East?
But then, is it only U.S facing the threat of terrorism in the contemporary world? Sincerely speaking, underlying interests contrary to the war against terror is evident here. There is a lot to be desired in the manner in which U.S has been handling international.
George W. Bush had become neoconservative by the threshold of his second term. In other words, he opted to embrace new U.S foreign policies that would not only the American public of their security, but that which would also re-energize the fight against terror that leads to humanitarian crisis.
Bush was once quoted to have said that that the U.S military is not meant to build the nation but rather to “fight and win war”. Moreover, his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice added her voice to this matter when she asserted that US troops had not duty escorting children to school (Stimson, 2010). These assertions were coherent enough to brand U.S as non-committed to the path of democracy.
In fact, George W. Bush was more than ready to extend his “war and win” agenda to Iraq. As Fukuyama observes, Bush attempted to ideologically justify a war that would have been prevented. This, according to many of his critics, soiled the political governance of his second term. It is also quite of a surprise if posterity will be western.
For instance, China is a real threat and big challenger to US. With a population four times that of U.S, China boasts of an uninterrupted human resource supply even as it plans to expand its economic boundaries to the western world.
Meanwhile, as the United States is attempting to mould a new world order, its political allies are keenly watching the episodes. Nevertheless, both the American and European civilizations have managed to remain strong in terms of influencing world policies.
To a larger extent, this has been triggered by U.S aggressions policy to remain politically, economically and socially strong. The early beginning of 21st century has witnessed American leadership transgressing in international affairs culminating to conflicts (Callinicos, 2003, p. 72).
Impacts of the war
One of the impacts of the U.S invasion of Iraq was that the politics of intelligence took centre stage with some questioning the legitimacy of the war (Callinicos, 2003, p. 64).
In some way, the Iraq war is blamed on the inability by most Arab countries (particularly Iraq) to modernize their states and restrain the rampant invasion by the Western world. For most of them, dependency theory has been the common experience, by letting the west set both the economic and political agenda for them.
Both the radical Islam and policy making by United Sates towards Iraq has been identified by scholars as major impacts after the 2003 invasion. Internal insurgency increased rapidly following the aftermath of the war with several Islamist factions seeking autonomy and control over some critical affairs.
The debate whether the invasion of Iraq by United States really liberated women or not has also been on-going for sometimes now. According to Bremer (2006, pp. 38-45), women’s rights has been severely damaged since the end of Iraq war with U.S. for instance, both infrastructure and basic needs were spoilt owing to deployment of violent campaigns.
In addition, most of the women’s movement were demobilised following erosion of political institutions that were handy in propelling their specific needs. Moreover, the original Iraq economic culture that inherently supported women is no longer there, a phenomenon that can only be explained by the ravaging 2003 attack (Jeremy & Brendan, 2005, p.63).
Even with the reforms being carried out among the Iraqi institutions and political structures, the impact of the war can still be felt. For example, reforms like those targeting the unpopular policies of the Bath party have not been effective. In fact, the interests of women on the national platform are believed to have been impeded by these poor reforms.
The welfare and healthcare frameworks that address women’s concerns are not on track as well. Before the onset of the war in with a bid to fight terrorism in the Middle East country, women groups and their individual family dependants were well bound and taken care of by some well established healthcare groups in spite of the dictatorial rule of the Saddam regime.
However, women no longer have the liberty to work freely in a peaceful environment owing to the fact that the U.S occupation of Iraq has elevated violence to an extent that some of them cannot leave their places of residence at all (Wollack, 2010, p.24).
Months before the Bush administration launched a scathing attack on Iraq, some humanitarian organisations had warned the government of the likelihood of humanitarian crisis should the U.S go ahead with its intended plan (Stimson, 2010, pp.63-64) The fact that these warnings were not taken seriously by the Bush regime led to an estimated of 2.7 million refugees, all of them internally displaced as they seek safety and security.
The worst part of it was that no prior preparations were made to take care of the aftermath of the war. Worse still, yet another two million were externally displaced. This accounted for about fifteen percent of the entire population, either internally or externally displaced due to the raging conflict and subsequent lack of control by the government (Sky, 2011, pp.120-121).
The refugee problem has extended far and beyond any ordinary imagination. Apart from being a major agent of social stratification, brain drain due to massive exodus of scholars to other secure locations has jeopardized major state functions since there are few professionals deployed in the country in important sectors such as education and health.
The refugee crisis has also spilled over to the neighbouring nations like Syria and Jordan. Although the challenge is enormous, the host countries are accepting the exiles on the basis that peace will eventually be a reality. Additionally, the similarities that exist between Iraqi refugees and neighbouring states such as the linguistic environment and socio-cultural patterns has also made it possible to accept the displaced.
One of the currently glaring challenges facing the state of Iraq is the high rate of unemployment. Systems and structures which used to exist are no longer functional. As a result, women have been exploited, sexual abuse on the rampant as well as domestic violence(Callinicos, 2003, p. 54).
On the same note, formal education is a pipe dream for Iraqi children. The worst fear is that they risk being deported back to their home country should they avail their personal legitimate details needed for registering for a formal education.
Children who have not been enrolled in formal schooling system are also victims of bullying. As it stands since the invasion of Iraq, less than 25% of Iraq children are receiving formal education(Bose, 2011, p.215). Apparently, a significant number of them are living in dilapidated conditions since they can hardly afford associated costs in education.
A case study of Iraqi refugees in Syria reveals a more pathetic situation for the worst hit victims. For instance, they are frequently compelled to sell part of the food rations donated by international food agencies so that they can cater for living expenses such as payment of rent.
While countless doctors have sought refuge in other countries, there are Iraqi refugees who have reportedly developed mental and other psychological problems resulting from continual stress, trauma and depression. The mental health challenege is fast growing in a country that has been ravaged by both international conflicts and internal aggressions.
At present, about 17% of the displaced Iraqis are suffering or are at the verge of developing psychological disorders (Callinicos, 2003, p. 53). The appalling condition of Iraqi refuges seems to have not moved United States and England even for an inch.
It is vivid that admitting the refugee crisis would be translated to mean that the United States foreign policy in this war-torn country is a mess and an indication of failure to the whole world.
The United States economy
The war on Iraq and subsequent demand to withdraw U.S troops has elicited mixed reactions both from the American law makers and the public at large. In itself, the dispute has already stretched the taxpayers’ pockets deeper alongside the deteriorating domestic economy.
It is imperative to note that as Obama administration continues to support Iraq operations, there are miscellaneous emergency bills out of the normal budgeting that the Congress has to pass from time to time. These are additional expenses supporting foreign policies that are no longer viable.
Although economists are not unanimous on the scaling cost of the war, they, however, concur that direct appropriations and the cost of the war are not proportional at all. This implies that the country may have excessive spending on the war, especially now that it has to maintain its large number of troops in Iraq although the current level of troops indicates that the deployment is reducing.
One of the evident effects of the war is the rising oil prices and huge deficits in the country’s annual budget. It is unfortunate that politics has been entangled by the economics of the country.
The Congressional Budget Office which is also non-partisan in U.S politics estimated that over 750 billion U.S dollars has been spent on U.S foreign policy since September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. if this figure is anything to go by, then the cost of the war has surpassed the initial tentative budget (Bose, 2011, p.214).
Worse still, some economists like Joseph Stiglitz based in Columbia University, reiterate that the above figure is just a tiny percentage of what has already been spent in cushioning the Iraqi war. It is also vital to note that the cost of war has stretched beyond just maintaining troops abroad.
For instance, there are those families who have been economically negatively impacted since their sole breadwinners departed in the war. Besides, the government has to spend an extra dollar in taking care of war veterans who were disabled in the war, such as cushioning their healthcare needs.
On the same note, the surging oil prices as a result of the war has had worst impact on the economy bearing in mind that the country relies heavily on oil resources. Nevertheless, the 2003 war cannot be solely blamed on the skyrocketing prices of oil in the world market.
It has been estimated that up to $600 billion could have been spent for war veterans who are disabled. The economic doldrums facing United States today has been blamed on the Iraq war. For example, political economists have emphasized time and again that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) cannot be improved with increased spending on defence (Bilmes & Stiglitz, 2008, p.143).
There are also other economic effects of the war that may not be felt now but will emerge in later years. For instance, the unsecured junk home loans may indeed be an economic peril in future. It is highly likely that foreign investors will continue to fund U.S foreign debts. Consequently, the standards of living will definitely go down.
One are that is expected to feel the pinch of the war in coming years is healthcare sector that has always demanded huge spending. There are others who argue that it is crucial for the Obama administration to seek ways and devise strategies of striking an equilibrium between the price tag of the war against other intangibles if the nation it to survive in this hard economic times (Bremer, 2006, p.39).
National security
Every American citizen today is overly concerned with the status of the country’s national security especially following the events of the September 11, 2001 (Bilmes & Stiglitz, 2008, pp.102-104). Indeed, as United States continues to fund its military action in Iraq among other unpopular foreign policies, the worry is that a repeat of terror attack might be in the offing.
Right from the very beginning, the war on Iraq was presumably misguided, at least according to the critics of former President Bush Administration. It is definite that the state of national security hangs in the balance following the 2003 aggression on Iraq. The United States government and the general public is living in fear of being attacked by organized terrorism.
No wonder, the Department of Homeland Security was immediately formed in 2002 after the 9/11 incidence and thereafter followed by the 2003 invasion. Sincerely speaking, the threat to WMDs is glaring even as the government is trying to cushion itself by creating systems and structures to monitor and fight terrorism (Ackerman & Hathaway, 2011, p.448).
The surging oil prices
The earlier prediction by the then vice President Dick Cheney that oil and gas prices would soon resume to normal did not come to pass. The total oil output from Iraq stagnated at 1.5 million barrels per day contrary to the expected 3 million barrels per day (Arnove, 2007, p.66).
The drop in oil and gas production went down by 50% immediately after the onset of the war, thereby leading to skyrocketing of prices of this rare commodity in the international market. At this point, it is also imperative to note that the flow of Iraq oil has been hindered by other producers as well.
By 2006, the global output of oil was anticipated to increase by about 0.8 million barrels per day. However, the shortfall experienced in Iraq as a result of the war was significant enough to derail the expected output. The graph below illustrates the volume of oil production in Iraq in seven consecutive years from 2000-2006.
As can be observed from the graph above, the 2003 invasion almost crippled oil production in Iraq. The total volume of output during this time was almost negligible, only to experience a slight upward growth a year later. Even after the war, production of oil remained quite unstable, with a serious slump in output in January 2006.
As expected, both the Iraq and United States economies were duly affected since both of them relied heavily on the local production of oil in Iraq. In both countries, the taxpayers had to dig deeper into their pockets to meet the rising cost of living occasioned by the drop in oil production in Iraq due to political instability.
Notwithstanding the above oil trend since the onset of the war, the graph now shows that the production of oil has recovered to pre-war levels.
Conclusion
In recap, it is pertinent to reiterate that the war on terrorism cannot be fought by an iron fist. Any form of threat to international peace and security should be handled with due care and sensitivity it deserves to avoid casing myriad challenges that only jeopardize innocent lives. Indeed, the 2003 invasion of Iraq is a critical example on how power and supremacy can be misdirected.
While we appreciate the fact that the nation should be defended against the threat of WMDs, it is also important to note that two wrongs do not make a right.
So far, DHS national guidelines developed and implemented nationwide have provided a durable framework for multi-agency coordination and cooperation. it is also crucial to emphasize that although oil factor may be part of the “American grand design” to stamp global authority and spearhead supremacy as a superpower, the 2003 invasion of Iraq by United States should not be purely paralleled to relentless quest for oil in the Middle East state.
The post World War era has been characterized with dire needs by long term superpowers to remain visibly strong in the face of real and perceived enemies. It is a an ubiquitous global trend for most developed economies like United States to seek primacy by ‘whatever it takes’.
In addition, the recent killing of Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 incidence, is a vivid indication that although the war on terrorism is a worthy affair that needs to be applauded by all and sundry, the credits taken by Obama Administration on Bin Laden’s murder by U.S troops was extremely overwhelming.
Currently, the global attention seems to be shifting from Bin Laden to the effectiveness of the Obama Administration on fighting terrorism. Once again, the United States foreign policy on international peace and security has been rejuvenated. This was definitely not about oil in Pakistan or Afghanistan.
References
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Anderson, F. 2010. Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with Its Enemies. Middle East Policy, 17(3):180-182.
Anderson, L. & Stansfleld, G. 2004. The Future of Iraq, Dictatorship, Democracy or Division? New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Arnove, A. 2007. Iraq the logic of withdrawal, New York: Metropolitan Books.
Bilmes, L & Stiglitz, J, 2008. The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, New York: Penguin Group.
Bose, M. 2010. Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security-From World War II to the War on Terrorism. The Journal of American History 97, no. 3, (December 1): 860-861. Web.
Bose, M. 2011. National Security in the Obama Administration: Reassessing the Bush Doctrine. Presidential Studies Quarterly 41, no. 1, (March 1): 214-215. Web.
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Clarke, R. 2004. Against all Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror, London: Free Press.
Cockburn, A. & Patrick C. 2002. Saddam Hussein: An American Obsession, London: Verso.
Cockburn, P. 2006. The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq, London: Verso.
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The usage of force as a tool of humanitarian war has been a subject of contention in years since the First World War. Some schools of thought argue that it is not legally acceptable to use violence in trying to achieve particular humanitarian objectives. On the other hand, there are some scholars who believe that in some cases it is virtually impossible to solve humanitarian crises without the using forceful strategies.
This essay seeks to illustrate that the usage of war in addressing humanitarian issues can be unjustified in some grounds while at the same time justifiable in other bases. To this end, a review of the Kosovo invasion by NATO shall be conducted to illustrate the extents to which forceful means were used in addressing the humanitarian crisis in the region.
The research for this essay was based on secondary data collection. Data was extracted from various journals, articles and books. The criteria of selection for the literature was relevance to the research topic and the year of publication. Both public and private libraries as well as online libraries were visited to access the data.
Some of the online databases that were accessed include Ebsco, Questia, Emerald and Science Direct among others. This research was partly evidence based and partly founded on professional research by professionals in the field. Various articles were studied in order to provide background information which will essentially give credibility to the final essay.
Information from the books will serve to provide explanation as regards to the NATO invasion of Kosovo. This was very vital information that made the research appeal to both professionals and the general public.
For the latter, it required that some of the information obtained from the books and other publications be broken down into simple language and at the same time illustrations drawn from data on the Kosovo invasion by NATO. Proper citation of the sources of information as well as the applicable UN conventions was also given proper concentration in the final presentation.
Can use of Force be justified as a Humanitarian War?
A humanitarian war is generally defined as the trans-boundary use of military force for the main purpose of protecting citizens undergoing abuse from their government, either directly, or by allowing and aiding extreme mistreatment (Heinze 8).
The invasion of Kosovo by NATO military forces in 1999 is widely perceived by many as the almost perfect example of a humanitarian war given that it is the first war to have been declared on humanitarian grounds (Bacevich and Cohen 79). It is therefore the best war to analyze and investigate to find out if the use of force can be justified as a humanitarian war.
In March 1999, the forces of NATO under the command of General Wesley Clark of the US army started a bombing campaign against Serbia particularly targeting the region’s military forces with the aim of rescuing innocent civilians from a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing (Badsey and Latawski 135).
As much as the war was staged based on genuine humanitarian concerns, it is widely acknowledged that, as a legal matter, NATO indeed violated chapter seven of the UN Charter by using force without authorization from the UN Security Council (Segell 210). Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the use of force on humanitarian grounds although there are exceptions included in the Charter which allow for the employment of force.
As noted by Malone (30), chapter seven of the Charter allows for force by any member of the UN in situations that threaten international security and peace. Article 51 also allows for the use of force if it is for the purpose of self-defense. NATO’s use of force did not satisfy any of the above conditions.
This therefore implies that when the war is examined from a legal perspective, the use of force in the invasion was as a matter of principle, in breach of international law and therefore was unjustified (Wilson 49). The invasion was even criticized by China and Russia, though they lost the vote to stop the invasion (Rushefsky 142), and after the invasion, NATO was accused of falsifying genocide charges so it could find the excuse to engage in the war.
Be that as it may, by examining the invasion from a moral perspective, the illegality of the war can be challenged. To determine whether the use of force was justified morally, one has to examine whether or not a humanitarian emergency existed before the intervention by NATO forces, and whether a humanitarian crisis would have taken place, perhaps over a number of years had the situation been left to continue without intervention.
A close examination of the situation in Kosovo results in an affirmative answer for both considerations. This is so because tensions between the communities in Kosovo and Serbia were present for a lengthy time period in the 20th century and at times, these tensions culminated into wars (Totten and Parsons 441). Just before the invasion, the administration of President Milosevic was accused of carrying out cruel acts against innocent citizens (Ham and Medvedev 17).
There were reports of mass killings and numerous refugees seeking solace from the oppression they were being subjected to by the Serbians and this clearly indicated a humanitarian emergency.
At the rate at which the seriousness of the situation was escalating, had NATO had not intervened, there is high chance that many more in innocent civilians would have ended up being refugees and at work been killed by the Serbs. This therefore leads to the conclusion that the invasion of Kosovo through the use of military force by NATO, though unjustified under international laws, was justified on moral grounds.
Works Cited
Bacevich, Andrew and Cohen, Eliot. War over Kosovo: Politics and strategy in a global age. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2001.
Badsey, Stephen and Latawski, Paul. Britain, NATO, and the lessons of the Balkan conflicts, 1991-1999. London, Taylor & Francis, 2004.
Ham, Peter and Medvedev, Sergei. Mapping European security after Kosovo. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002.
Heinze, Eric. Waging humanitarian war: the ethics, law and politics of humanitarian intervention. New York, NY: SUNY Press, 2009.
Malone, Linda. International Law. New York, NY: Aspen Publishers, 2008.
Rushesfsky, Mark. Public policy in the United States: at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002.
Totten, Samuel and Parsons, William. Century of genocide: critical essays and eyewitness accounts. London: Taylor & Francis, 2008.
Wilson, Stephanie. Effectiveness, Legitimacy, and the Use of Force in Modern Wars: The Relentless Battle for Hearts and Minds in NATO’s War Over Kosovo. Berlin: VS Verlag, 2009.
The Iraq War commenced in 2003. This war has been the largest and the longest that the US military has ever engaged in since the Vietnam War. The biggest question has been: was the Iraq War worth it? This paper will actually present an analysis that proves that the Iraq War was actually worth it.
Iraq war and Theories of Conflict
Conflict has several causal influences as there are various perspectives that govern conflict. These include realism, influence of ideology, liberalism, elite interests and even personal and social psychology (Gallagher 112).
The realism perspective comes out largely in the Iraq war. It can be seen that with the September 11th attacks, the US suffered greatly. There was, therefore, great need for the US to demonstrate to the whole world that it was still powerful and it could use force if need be.
This could be seen perhaps as a way of maintaining hegemony. Another realistic perspective could be seen from the need for the US to attack so as to avoid nuclear proliferation and other deadly weapons that Saddam was suspected to have been developing. Also US had to secure its oil supplies. With opposition and suspicion from Saddam, the steady supply of this commodity was not guaranteed.
There was therefore a realistic need to make sure that Saddam did not threaten the US sources of this great commodity. From the realist policy as will be seen later, collective force serves as a hindrance to achievement of certain goals. The US government, after the post Cold War period, did not change its budget towards military (Segell 111). This was meant to surmount any combined force that may oppose the US in the future.
Also by opting for war the US has managed show to the world it is actually a super power, something that was almost in question after the 9/11 attacks. So this message went far and wide, thus boosting further US reputation (Downing 44).
It seems that this war was based on liberalist perspective since the war was pegged on democratizing Iraq. It has been noted that democracies hardly attack other democracies.
In fact, the crusaders of this school of thought do believe that it is also against this backdrop that the US feared that, Iraq, then a non-democracy, would use its oil influences to influence other non-democracies and even democracies to attack the US and its allies.
This is also why the US, in attacking Iraq, did not trust that the UN inspectors were going to achieve anything much on the global front. In fact, they feared that the regime would hide the truth and that after sometime Saddam would have managed to develop fully weapons of mass destruction. By this it was worth going to war early than rely on the slow and ineffective methods proposed.
Argument
The US has its foreign policy to pursue. The US is facing many challenges in ensuring that its security is guaranteed. A nation therefore takes itself powerful when its security is assured. The political environment internationally required that it goes for this war since there were some threats posed by the Saddam Hussein’s regime as there was a growing level of hostility.
Before a country goes to war it therefore considers the costs and benefits. Though the Iraq war was too costly to the US, some people feel that the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein.
This, therefore, transcends all the money that went into it. It is indeed premature for many to say that the war was wrong. Some ardent supporters of the war say that there were some groups such as the Kurds and Shia that really suffered worse atrocities during Saddam’s reign.
Several critics, alleges that US paid a big price through the loss of lives of over 4400 soldiers, among the trillion dollars expended in the war. But the war that the US engaged in Korea, the Korean War, left over 3600 dead. Few would have seen the benefit of this war. But now, decades later, many can see that it is in these countries in which freedom and prosperity reign.
This should not be seen to suggest that the Iraq case will conclude in a similar manner. However, all indications show that there is some hope that democracy is now being embraced slowly in Iraq (Stewart and Carlisle 120).
Sanctions seem not to be effective while dealing with rogue regimes. In fact the “Arab Spring” has shown that most regimes in the region have been repressive and that the citizenry is now standing up. In cases where such homegrown uprising could be cracked down ruthlessly, there is a clear indication that there is the need to use external military action to emancipate the populace.
Now, the Iraq Kurds have managed to gain some level of recognition. With own semi-autonomous state, they can now benefit from their region; something that they never used to be imaginable during Saddam’s regime? The Shia, on the other side, has equally managed to benefit from freedom.
According to Pollack (20) Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had some links to the al-Qaeda affiliate group named Jund-al-Islam, which later on changed its name to Jund-al- Islam. This group acted as a proxy for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which was considered a terrorist group. In fact there were credible intelligence reports from US and Israeli agencies that Iraq did exchange service such as forged passports for terrorist elements.
The terrorists would use the Iraq authorities to do this. There was also credible intelligence that the Iraqi authorities did cooperate and eventually agreed to consolidate their strategies towards fighting common enemies. Among their synergies towards fighting common enemies was the United States.
What only worked against this kind of cooperation was the fact that Saddam had killed so many Muslim clerics that the al-Qaeda leadership privately detested him. Saddam was actually an avowed secularist whose pursuit was to handle different opposition groups during his leadership (Pollack 26).
He did not wish to have any authority that threatened to be critical of his leadership to prosper. According to a former US intelligence chief, the number one concern against Iraq leadership was terrorism, nothing else.
After the September 11th attacks there was actually need for the US to try hard enough to annihilate any other threats that were covertly targeting it. This attack actually served as warning to US authorities. There was no leaving any stone unturned as far as security was concerned as this was a big tragedy to ever occur on American soil.
Further, it proved the reality of the terror threat as this was not just a threat to the American authorities alone as the cold war was, but it was a big threat to the civilians too. The 9/11 attacks greatly shattered this sense of complacency.
There was new awakening that America now needed to strike or destroy all threats that were facing it before the forces would attack its core as the 9/11 attacks did. And Iraq emerged clearly as one of the very threats that needed to be diffused.
According to Pollack (29), a poll conducted after the 9/11 attacks in the US showed that over 69 percent Americans actually favored a military option to end Saddam Hussein’s regime of covert terror. Varied and careful policy decisions had to be designed to tackle the Iraq issue. One issue had to do with the finances. The Iraq war was going to be too costly to the American tax payer.
But the 9/11 attack made support for a military action against Iraq gain a lot support. Those who thought that sticking a balance between the cost and benefit vouched for a limited covert intervention to bring about regime change in Iraq. They vouched for this since a limited military intervention would lead to lower costs to the taxpayer as opposed to a full all-out invasion.
Internationally, the international community supported the American full intervention in Iraq as they saw such a move as having been galvanized by the 9/11 attacks. As such, any diplomatic opposition to invasion to occasion any regime change in Iraq through military means was highly limited.
The international community actually felt that the American government had the sole responsibility of protecting its people from any form of attack or harm. Most were actually sympathetic as US lost over three thousand people in the 9/11 attack.
Pollack (101) argues that if America did not attack Iraq after the 9/11 attacks then this in itself would embolden the terrorist elements or the regimes that supported terrorist elements further. This would have meant that the regimes could use terror as a bargaining chip to receive many American concessions.
America effected the military action with all the force and zeal, and this actually served as the most deserved deterrent to such regimes, thereby making the American more secure.
This is because now no one would like to antagonize the US for fear of the consequences that may emanate out of such antagonism. What is more, by America asserting itself, many countries all over the globe may want to emulate American resolve to always put security list.
The policy of Containment
The policy of containment is a policy that has served the US for a very long period. However, use of this policy has been waning. This policy was quite effective in1991. It served the US effectively then. But the policy has been falling due to waning cooperation from the allies. The policy also served the US well at the time of the Cold War. Saddam, however, contributed to the failure of this policy during his reign (Pullan 300).
America had been opting for air strikes to contain Iraq, but, over time, most of the US allies explicitly stated that they were opposed to US military air strikes emanating from their territory or airbases. The Saudi government, however, wanted US airstrike mission to be instead launched from other neighboring states such as Kuwait or even Bahrain.
Turkey, was, and has been opposed to the US using its territory to launch any airstrikes. They actually were for one “massive operation to topple Saddam from leadership (Pollack 126). So, one can see that they were dead opposed to coercive military incursions that were being employed by US.
They actually did not have support for this kind of open-ended war against Saddam. This greatly took away the containment option that the US had employed for a very long time. One can therefore see that the Iraq war was actually worth due to this scenario.
Further, the US had been using the No-Fly-Zones (NFZs) as a way of limited military operations. But, most of the Arab states that were moderate were also opposed to the NFZs. They in fact wanted the NFZs eliminated completely. The Iraq military had no respect for such zones. The Iraq air defense forces, thus, shot at the coalition forces frequently.
These protracted attacks made the pilots of the coalition forces to respond in self defense. But still these defensive responses were taken as a propaganda tool. There were claims that the attacks led to massive civilian loss of life on the side of the coalition forces.
Saddam really did not respect any form of intervention. His regime instead would switch to several strategies to paint a really different picture. The neighboring states bought into this propaganda too (Ramesh et al. 366).
So, Kurds and Shia could not be well protected from the US use of deterrent air strikes. In fact Turkey felt that America should look for other ways of protecting the Kurds and Shia. The British and French were also largely tiring out of the use of NFZs strategy to contain Saddam’s attacks.
This was fear that arose of the anger that would arise out of the public. Some of the allies feared that the Iraq forces could capture their pilots or even bring down their expensive planes, bringing about heavy losses and political queries back at home.
Sanctions could not work effectively. One problem that arose was there was increased number of smuggling cases. Since Iraq could not trade legally due to sanctions, many neighboring countries now resorted to the black market deals with the Iraq regime. Iraqi oil, therefore, got smuggled. The smuggled oil at one time even amounted to over 350 million US dollars (Pollack 80).
This number had been going up as the sanctions got eroded by and by. In fact the returns from smuggled oil amounted to about 25 percent of all the Iraqi revenue. Neighboring countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and even Turkey were the greatest beneficiaries of oil smuggling syndicate (Pollack 78). This then effectively meant that sanctions imposed on Saddam’s regime were in effect becoming ineffective with time.
To make matters even grave, all manner of goods were now still getting into Iraq with the help on neighboring countries. These neighbors were more than willing to provide Iraq with whatever commodity it wanted.
Based on the UN inspectorate report, it was established that even weapons were still getting their way into Iraq. For example at one time, Russian made missile gyro-scopes were intercepted by Jordanian forces based on a tip-off by UN.
The oil-for-food program was being used to sneak into the country whatever Saddam wanted. Many countries in essence started to flout whatever the UN had sanctioned. It was for instance discovered by the US that China, had been privately constructing a fiber-optic communications system that was to benefit Baghdad’s military (Wright and Branum 234).
What is shocking is that here was a Security Council member, engaging in a massive project with such a rogue state, in total disregard for the sanctions that had already been put in place. So, one can see that Saddam actually had the means, support and might to still get what he wanted, including developing weapons of mass destruction.
Nuclear technology was an issue that made the US deeply worried. There were facts that Iraq had uranium and all it needed was to build the capacity for its enrichment and out of that nuclear weapons could eventually be developed.
Deterrence
One can see from the case developed earlier that so many other options were not going to stop Saddam. Trade embargoes, no-fly-zones etc were not at all going to succeed. So, the American government was forced to change tact and employ other options: deterrence being one of them. But, in this Iraq context, deterrence could not be quite different from containment (Pullan 99).
Due to the US military might, the US would allow Iraq to go ahead and arm itself so that it would feel secure. The fear of being toppled has been found to be what had been making Saddam destabilize neighbors. With a heavy arsenal, Saddam would feel secure, while at the same time being checked by the might of US arsenal. But no one was sure that such a move could work with Saddam.
The other option of containment could not work well since there were so many issues that worked against it. However containment could be rebuilt such that the sanctions could deter the massive smuggling that was still taking place. More UN inspectors could be deployed and be allowed to stay. However, this was not going to be guaranteed.
Another means could be like that one the US used in Afghanistan. This could mean covertly supporting elements in Saddam’s regime to topple him. This could mean providing these groups with finances and even weapons, and other logistical assistance to topple Saddam.
This would be good since it would minimize US involvement as much as possible. But after toppling, the responsibility of rebuilding Iraq would still face the US.
Full invasion was an option that was remaining. This would mean that the regime could be removed and replaced by a more friendly and democratic one quickly.
Conclusion
This paper aimed to confirm whether the war that was waged against Iraq was actually worth it. Several reasons and perspectives have been advanced. It has now appeared that the perspectives that greatly feature in the Iraq war were majorly realist and liberalist in nature.
Many critics have felt that the war in Iraq was not worthwhile because much hyped dangerous weapons were never found. It is absurd given that the war also had different benefits.
The Kurds and Shia provinces were now free. The Iraqi people are now free to choose whoever they wish to lead them through democratic elections. What is more, the country is endowed with wealth which is now being shared equitably. With the war, many can now share in the wealth of the nation.
As seen from the perspectives that dominate the war one sees that not only did America just overthrow a rouge regime but it also managed to reap several strategic advantages and this proves that the war actually was worth it.
Works Cited
Downing, David. The War in Iraq, UK, London: Heinemann Library, 2004. Print.
Gallagher, Jim. Causes of the Iraq War: Road to war, causes of conflict, Stockton, New Jersey: OTTN Publishing, 2005. Print.
Pollack, Michael. The threatening storm: the case for invading Iraq, UK, London: Random House, 2002. Print.
Pullan, Richard. US Intervention Policy and Army Innovation, UK, London: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Ramesh, Thakur, Thakur, Ramesh and Singh, Waheguru. The Iraq Crisis and World Order, India: Pearson Education India, 2007. Print.
‘No Man’s Land’ is a war time movie that satirizes the War of the Balkans. Produced by Danis Tanovic, ‘No Man’s Land’ depicts more than the horrors and the vagaries of war. The movie depicts the complexities that are likely to rise in a conflict situation especially with with regards to international relations. More significantly, ‘No Man’s Land’ clearly depicts the importance of conjuncture and freedom of action in international relations.
The plot in ‘No Man’s Land’ is a clear depiction of war time scenario. The movie begins with two soldiers trapped in a trench with no way of escape. This scenario is compounded by the fact that the two soldiers belong to opposing camps; Ciki is a Bosniac while Nino is a Serb.
Despite their predicament, the two are in constant state of disagreement. Nevertheless, it is ironical that they eventually find a common ground with regards to seeking for help. Many people argue that the presence of a Cera, another Bosniak soldier standing on a landmine, complicates the situation.
Cera cannot move since it would be fatal for all the three. However, the complexity of the situation is compounded by the presence of the United Nations peace keepers and the media. Marchand, a French soldier serving as UN peace keeping force with UNPROFOR violates the high command protocol and attempts to save the three soldiers. The fact that the mine cannot be diffused further escalates the complexity.
Fortunately, an English journalist exposes the saga to the outside world. UNPROFOR hatches a deceptive plan aimed at controlling the damage caused by the saga by spreading lies to the effect that Cera has been saved.
The truth is that Cera is left alone in the trenches. In order to obliterate the evidence, UNPROFOR secretly convinces both the Bosnian and Serbian camps that each opposing force is likely to reclaim the disputed territory and encourages each side to defend it. Cera dies in the ensuing confrontation (Tanović, 2001).
‘No Man’s Land’ is not a mere war time movie. It depicts the complexities of war time scenario especially with regards to international relations. Of particular importance are issues regarding conjuncture and the freedom to act. Conjecture is a situation where “different competing forces meet by coincidence” (Christison, 2002). Meeting of forces can be facilitated by the prevailing local and international conditions.
Where conditions are appropriate, conjecture facilitates better decision making between countries, which leads to improved international relations. On the other hand, where the conditions are inappropriate, difficulties straining international relations are likely to be experienced. In recent times the most appropriate examples of conjecture in international relations are the World Wars (Arim, 2001).
‘No Man’s Land’ depicts inappropriate conjecture between Bosnia, Serbia and the UN, and is offers insights on the past current and future relations between these three forces. Additionally, as explained earlier, freedom of action is an important element in international relations.
Decision makers usually take into consideration the prevailing conditions in determining the most appropriate course of action. This is evident in ‘No Man’s Land’, especially with regards to Marchand’s decision to act autonomously and attempt to save the three soldiers.
‘No Man’s Land’ offers insights into conditions that are likely to shape international relations. Set during the War of the Balkans, the movie highlights the importance of analyzing the prevailing condition in determining the best course of action.
Reference List
Arim, R. (2001). Foreign policy concepts: conjuncture, freedom of action, equality. Ankara: Foreign Policy Institute Press
Christison K. (2002). Palestine. Christchurch: Counterpunch.
Tanović, D. (Executive Producer). (2001). No man’s land [DVD]. Paris: Océan Films.
The world got astonished by the attack during the Boston marathons last week. A huge number of people had turned up looking forward to a great day in the world of sports, fans had dressed in various colors and gamblers had already put bets on who was to win. No one was prepared for a terrorist attack except for the police, who were there to keep peace but who were not expecting a thing to go wrong.
Sniffer dogs were everywhere but the terrorist or the group of terrorists managed to trick all the enforcers of peace. The first round was okay, and fans were busy humming, cheering Capella in jubilation.
The atmosphere was filled with an aura of happiness just before the unexpected happened. The first blast spread panic among people around, while the second signified hysteria; people started to run helter-skelter, and it was upon the emergency workers to save the day.
The police tried to push the crowd away from the sight, while the doctors in all hospitals dropped their appointments to cater for the many affected by these terrible blasts. The firefighters took their trucks with a mission to rescue those affected. Sirens could be heard as the ambulances were driving fast towards the sight ready to ferry the injured to the awaiting doctors.
The military also joined in trying to usher the crowd away from the sight and give way to the firefighters. However, people got confused and critical time was wasted during the operation. When one of the soldiers was interviewed, he stressed on public education in regards to ‘how to act when faced with an emergency.’ The soldiers resorted to tearing down the fence to give way for the estranged crowd.
Bodies and body parts were scattered all over the place, the injured could be heard moaning in pain. Mothers didn’t know where their children were and vice versa.
Some emergency workers who had quickly arrived for the rescue operation were also affected, since their families included those who had attended the celebrated event. “As much as these emergency workers are professionally trained, it does not stop them from being human” (Kalman 122). They are just men and women who have dedicated their lives to save others.
Resources were a major challenge; as much as the paramedics were prepared to give first aid to the injured, there weren’t enough ambulances on the site. It was also reported that in one of the hospitals a doctor was handling more patients than it was allowed. Thus, the government should think about increasing the number of medics.
The bomb squad didn’t have enough equipment to find the cause of the blast or to prevent another. Most people at the scene were expecting the third attack; it was only out of sheer luck that it didn’t occur. If only these men and women had all the equipment they needed, maybe the three who died would have lived to tell their story.
“It is only when disaster strikes that we realize how unprepared we are; thus every disaster should be treated as a warning of what may happen caught up again in a maze of unpreparedness” (Kalman 158).
We may not prevent a bomb from detonating, but are we prepared well enough to save the lives of those affected? If the emergency rescue workers had enough resources, maybe the number of casualties in either natural or fabricated disasters would be less. At the same time, if only the public was taught how to react in case of an emergency situation, maybe rescue workers would have an easier time.
Works Cited
Kalman, Bobbie. Hospital Workers in the Emergency Room. USA: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2005
Kalman, Bobbie. Emergency Workers Are on Their Way! USA: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2005
The September 11 attacks on the US capital of Washington DC and New York City by an Islamic terrorist group, combated with the 15th April ’13 Boston bombings raised eyebrows by external investors as to whether the USA is a safe investment destination. In the wake of the global economic crisis, many countries are striving to build strong democracies and put up strong economies.
This has not gone without a fight from those who would wish to maintain the status quo. The result is a scenario of political unrest in the form of political violence that not only daunts the country’s image but also pose serious implications to the business society.
Politically inclined chaos and acts of terrorism is a big turn-off for business investors. This paper seeks to establish the countries that are least affected by political violence and terrorism and determine the most suitable investment destinations worldwide.
Countries with minimal political violence and terror activities
The USA
The USA is the world’s largest and stable economy with large industries supported by a large workforce and consumer base. The country has a stable and mature political structure and chances for political violence are negligible. 2013 political violence and terrorism analysis assigns it a political risk rating of zero.
The country is however a target for terrorist groups especially the sworn Islamist militants. 13 terrorism plots are confirmed since the September 11 attacks.
French Guiana
Located in the Caribbean region, it has the lowest political violence risk in the region. It has a political risk rating of 1, due to some legal and regulatory management issues and political interference. Occurrence of insurrection and coup d’état is unlikely. Terrorism and sabotage risks are low although protests are looming as the country prepares for offshore oil exploration.
Uruguay
It is Latin America’s leading performer in the most critical areas. Political risk is low with a rating of 2 due to a weak regulatory system and business environment, this is however controllable. Sometime it experiences short-lived protest although there is no significant risk of terrorism in Uruguay. Terrorism risk rating is 1. (AON, 2013)
Australia
2013 political risk analysis gives Australia a risk rating of zero. This shows that it is stable politically, with minimal chances for political violence although some civil protests occurred earlier. Cases of terrorism and sabotage are insignificant just as in previous years.
Namibia
Has a political risk rating of 3, this is a moderate score indicating some acts of political violence and risks. The country enjoys a low threat to terrorism with a terror rating of 2.
Botswana
Has a rating of 1 for both political violence and terrorism risk. The country is therefore free of political violence and terrorism attacks
New Zealand
2013 risk analysis shows no noticeable changes from the previous years. The country enjoys political stability and minimal terrorism threats (AON, 2013).
Denmark
Denmark is stable politically and political violence is unlikely. This is according to AON’s 2013 political risk analysis. It experiences terrorism attacks from Islamist militia; it was twice attacked in 2010.
Recommendation
Based on the detailed analysis of the above countries, this paper strongly recommends future firm investment in;
Botswana
This country is a political violence and terrorism free zone; there is no real chance for destruction of firm properties. The country has a rich economy due to close vicinity of S. Africa; a steady economy.
Australia
Just like Botswana, it is not affected by terrorism and political violence. Australia is among the world’s pillar-economies with a large labor force and market base. The country has a policy that supports external business investment.
Conclusion
According to AON’s 2013 survey report, most if not all countries are prone to political violence and terrorism. This paper based on this survey finds Botswana and Australia the least affected therefore the most suitable for investment.
The authors, Audoin-Rouzeau and Becker present their book “14-18: Understanding the Great War”, in a Franco centric way. The authors not only focus on the battles and encounters but also the human experience and reaction towards war. The experiences match the characteristics of “American strategic culture” that promote peace and moral objectives before engaging in battles.
The piece mentions covert experiences of survival during the war. These include homosexuality, aggression and mourning (Audoin Rouzeau & Becker, 2002). The book focuses on three wide-ranging essays examining factors grave in the war’s legacy especially aggression, crusade and mourning.
After reading the writing, I realized the magnitude of human losses arising from the war. The book outlines the wretchedness of combatants and civilians during the wartime years. The authors relate the escalation of violence in the 1914 to 1918 to conduct of civilians and prisoners.
The American strategy endeavors to avoid such human injustices in current wars. This culture explains mechanisms of achieving peacetime and wartime objectives (Audoin Rouzeau & Becker, 2002).
The second essay, “Crusade,” is problematic and confrontational. Audoin Rouzeau and Becker (2002) highlight the emotions that enhanced the conflict and the perception of WWI as a fruitless endeavor. This indicates that the objectivity of the war was a personal interest of the leaders to take out their enemies.
The American strategists associate winning wars with battles. For instance, recent events in Afghanistan and Iraq indicate the importance of an “American strategic culture” in developing a genuine approach of war. Individuals can easily link how political and societal concerns shape the wars and their successes.
The book indicates that the Great War began as a crusade and soon became a popular culture. It also became a fight against barbarism and control of world issues; numerous intellectuals were supportive of this concept (Audoin Rouzeau & Becker, 2002). The bitterness among the combatants made it complex for organizations such as the Vatican or Red Cross to function as arbiters.
Audoin Rouzeau and Becker (2002) indicate that religion was critical in shaping the ideals of the war through the eschatological vision. However, religious perspective was sidelined after the war because the society became increasingly idealistic with the intention of correcting the perceptions arising from the combat.
This is moderately attributable to Europeans who searched for explanations highlighting aggressive acts. Audoin Rouzeau and Becker (2002) decrease the genuine divides that arose in the opponent societies as the war continued.
The third essay, mourning, focuses on understanding war through literature (Audoin Rouzeau & Becker, 2002). It suggests that historians neglect individual accounts of bereavement with the intention of portraying the participants as heroes.
Their writings persuade historians that highlighting these personal histories will enable individuals comprehend the private mourning in Europe and its effects on Great War (Audoin Rouzeau & Becker, 2002).
The authors postulate that individual mourning was a “taboo” because it was a betrayal of the sacred cause of the dead. The American culture emphasizes aversion of casualty as a critical element of war because they can become vital political weapons.
The authors address a different dimension of the war. Several readers might dispute some of the author’s interpretations. However, the book reflects critical elements of war. Audoin Rouzeau and Becker provide fascinating insights into World War 1 (WW1)
References
Audoin-Rouzeau, S., & Becker, A. (2002). 14-18, Understanding the Great War. New York, NY: Hill and Wang.
Triumph of the Will is one of the earliest propaganda firms that were produced in 1935 by Leni Riefenstahl. It is a chronicle of the Nazi Party Congress in 1934, which took place in Nuremberg in Germany. According to Foucault (2012), the film was seen as a deliberate attempt by the Nazi government to manipulate the German society by making some of their propaganda be acceptable.
Adolf Hitler had just taken over the leadership of the country in the previous year, and due to his ambitious nature, he was keen on implanting the manifesto of the Nazi Party. The speeches given by Adolf Hitler, his senior military generals, and senior members of the party show the desire to gain absolute power. Adolf Hitler was elected to the office through a democratic vote.
However, the movie presents him as a military leader who is keen on redefining his position as both a military and civilian ruler. The declaration by Hitler that Nazi party and state is a clear indication of the interest of a democratically elected leader to use absolute power with the help of the military apparatus. In this paper, the researcher aims at identifying the types of militarization as presented in this power.
Kinds of Militarization
In this film, there is a deliberate attempt by the political leadership of this country to militarize the society. According to Orr (2009), the Triumph of the Will is one of the best films that show the ambition of Adolf Hitler beyond the borders of Germany. This scholar says that the film presents various kinds of militarization at various stages.
Militarizing the Body
Militarization of the body is presented at early stages of the films by the pseudo-military drills. Adolf Hitler is presented as the savior of this society, and for him to save the society he needs the services of the able-bodied men who could engage in military battles. Through his inspiration, young people are seen to join the military and engage in military drills in readiness to serve their country.
As shown in this film, it is not possible to win a war without proper preparation. The volunteers are taken through early stages of military training where they try to learn the basics about military. They learn how to use guns while in the battlefield. Given that they are not trained soldiers, they use spades as symbols of guns that they will use when they engage in warfare.
The actual militarization of the body is seen on the third day of the film. At this stage, it is apparent that the main theme in the film is how to make the Germans ready for a possible outbreak of war. On this day, Adolf Hitler starts his morning activities by addressing youths in militaristic terms and informing them that they have to harden themselves in readiness for war.
A military pass and the armored vehicles with highly skilled military officers demonstrate the effort that the Nazi Party had to ensure that the targeted group had all the military trainings. Militarization of the body is best demonstrated when a large number of youths join the military training camps to learn how to use various forms of guns and other heavy artillery.
The training involves enduring pain and spending long hours in the field learning how to engage in a battle. The conviction of the trainers and trainees clearly hints at a possible target that should be attacked once the military training was successful.
Militarizing the Population
According to Maguire (2010), although Adolf Hitler was one of the world’s worst dictators, he knew that real power lies with the people. He was, therefore, very keen on engaging the population in all his militaristic activities. This is seen in this film when he engages actively with the public.
Over 700,000 people attend the first public forum that is organized for Hitler. Most of these people are youths who are not pleased by the current state of affairs in this country. They have attended the gathering hoping that the new leader will bring a lasting solution to the problem. Hitler takes advantage of this high expectation to offer a solution that is militaristic in nature.
He ignores the possibility of addressing the problems that Germany has with the international community through dialogue. Instead, he hands over the duty of liberating Germany to Germans themselves. Militarization of the population starts when Hitler makes a successful effort to unite the Germans against what he describes as a common enemy. His ability to evoke emotions and to make his audience develop a feeling that they have a common destiny plays an important role in the militarization of population.
This film demonstrates that Hitler and the Nazi party were keen on having a united population that is ready for war before engaging in any militaristic expedition. In his speeches, Hitler blames people he refers to as traitors for failing to achieve success in the World War 1.
He does not rule out the possibility of another World War, but he is keen on ensuring that this time round Germany comes out as the winner, unlike in the previous occasions. To do this, it is demonstrated in the film that he needs the population. This population could only go to war if they are militarized. This militarization is what Adolf Hitler was keen on doing as shown in this film.
Militarizing the Inner Space
This film best demonstrates the militarization of the inner space. When Adolf Hitler came to power, German was under a heavy yolk placed on it by the international community when it was accused of causing the First World War. The society was not happy with this verdict, but they had no option other than paying the fine.
Adolf Hitler came to power through a heavy expectation that he would change the state of affairs for the better. In this film, Adolf Hitler is demonstrated as a leader who was determined to meet the expectations of the society and deliver them from the yolk placed on it by the international society. As shown in this film, delivering the nation could not be done through a peaceful engagement.
The previous leaders had tried this approach but failed. It was time to use other alternatives, and to Hitler, military engagement was the only way out of this problem. However, engaging in a war was not a simple affair of ordering soldiers to the battlefield. Before going to the war, there was a need to get the support of the society. The German people had to develop an urge to go to the war for the sake of liberating the country.
This could only be achieved through propaganda. Militarization of the mind starts on the third day of the film at a youth rally that is attended by Hitler and his top party officials. The party officials are allowed to engage the youths in a discussion on how the country can be liberated.
These officials are very critical of the current affairs of the country, and paint a picture of Adolf Hitler being the only possible savior that could address the problem for the society. They prepare a basis upon which Hitler can base is propaganda to the youths. True enough, Hitler comes out to address the youth gathered to meet the German ‘savior’. The ‘savior’ seizes this opportunity to militarize the minds of the youth at this rally.
He recounts the suffering that Germans have to undergo because of the fearful leadership that governed the country before him. He tells the youth that the country is being treated as a Third World Country by nations that could not match its military capabilities. He then tells the youth that the solution lies on them. They had to say to the current state of affairs.
He tells them of the superiority of the German race that is being trampled upon by weaker nations simply because the country was not ready to go to war. The message of Adolf Hitler to an audience of about 700,000 people seems to generate serious impacts among his audience, especially the youths (Latour, 2012). Hitler was keen on provoking their emotions.
He tells the audience how superior the Germans are to any other race that exists in the world. Hitler is very passionate about his message to the Germans. He tells the gathering that a time had come to liberate the nation. He says that the power rests with the people, and the youths had to make a decision about what they want in their own society.
Hitler knew that militarization of the mind was the best approach that he could use to encourage the Germans to prepare for another war that will help it liberate itself from the burden placed on it by the League of Nations. The cheers from his audience and the kind of reactions from the youth clearly demonstrate the he succeeded in militarizing the minds of his audience.
He captured their inner space, and evoked a strong urge to go to war. He made them feel that they could easily win a war if they remained focused and determined to this course. He lived up to the expectations of a true savior who came to liberate his people (Lande, 2011). The society believed in him, and was determined to walk with him on the path towards liberation.
Conclusion
Triumph of the Will is one of the German’s earliest propaganda films. The film portrays Adolf Hitler, through is Nazi Party, as the savior that German has been waiting for to liberate it from the injustice it suffered after the end of World War 1.
Hitler is preparing the country for a possible military engagement with the international community. He militarizes the body, the population, and most importantly the inner space of the Germans in readiness for war. He succeeds in his militarization process based on the responses from the audience as shown in this film.
References
Foucault, Michel. 2012. Docile Bodies In Discipline and Punish, excerpts. New York: Vintage.
Lande, Brian. 2011. Breathing like a soldier In Sociological Review. New York: Cengage.
Latour, Bruno. 2012. Give me a laboratory and I will raise the world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Maguire, Mark. 2010. Biopower, Racialization and new Security Technology. New Jersey: Wiley.
Orr, Jackie. 2009. The Militarization of Inner Space In Critical Sociology. London: McMillan