Meta Description: Ever since the United States declared war against Iraq in 2003, it has been a matter of debate whether it was a mistake committed by the US.
Every country wants to live with peace and forms associations and signs petitions of peace. Iraq was held guilty of providing shelter to terrorist groups and violating human rights, raising a threat of international terrorism. The US invaded Iraq to bring democracy and stop all illegal activities in response to this.
Ever since the United States declared war against Iraq in 2003, it has been a matter of debate whether it was a mistake committed by the US. While the US has justified its decision many times in global forums, experts, both in and outside the US, have criticized it strongly. Even Saddam Hussein, Iraq's fifth president, was internationally criticized for using chemical weapons against Iran.
So, in 2003 the US invaded Iraq, intending to overthrow the government in Iraq and bring democracy to the country. But the war took place at a huge cost as it resulted in the death of many civilians and destroyed the whole of Iraq. Due to the unforeseen condition, the US had to declare the end of the war by 2011, which has proven to be one of the biggest mistakes ever committed by the US.
The Reasons for the War in Iraq
The US invasion was meant not just to overthrow Saddam Hussein and eliminate the threat of illegal chemical weapon development and distribution but also to deliver democracy to a country in the heart of a region that was almost entirely devoid of it. The United States made it clear that they meant to bring democracy to the Middle East.
Why Does the World Consider the Iraq War Was the Biggest Mistake by the US?
The United States' approach to the Iraq War has been highly criticized by many popular and official sources both inside and outside the United States. As the war progressed, many organizations raised issues about various human and financial consequences that not only affected Iraq but the whole world faced due to this invasion. Some experts believed that such consequences would be unavoidable until US foreign policy shifted away from expanding US dominance.
Other than this, Washington even borrowed a trillion dollars to fund its Iraq campaign, and they had to repay it with interest. This fund was borrowed to take care of the injured and other military members and their dependents. They also had to deal with the economic consequences of a decade in which three governments were frequently distracted from an economy by the demands of foreign conflicts. That's why the war in Iraq was the biggest mistake.
FAQs
- How many civilians were killed during the six-week-long invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein from Iraq?
Since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, no one knows for sure how many people have been killed or injured. However, some reports say that between 184,382 and 207,156 people have died due to direct war-related violence caused by the United States.
- Why was the Iraq War given the title of illegal war?
According to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva, the invasion of Iraq was neither in self-defence against military assault nor authorized by a UN Security Council resolution allowing the use of force by member nations and thus constituted a crime of war of aggression.
- What were the US objectives in invading Iraq?
The goal, according to the US, the goal was to overthrow "a government that created and used weapons of mass destruction, sheltered and supported terrorists, committed horrific human rights violations and rejected the world's fair demands."
- Which countries were opposed to the war in Iraq?
France, Germany, and Russia were loud in their opposition to a US-led war from the start. As the US took a more military approach, the governments of these three countries were more prominent in their opposition to the invasion.
- Has the Iraq War ended, or is it still alive in 2022?
On December 15, 2011, the US military formally declared the Iraq War to be over in a ceremony in Baghdad, as US forces prepared to leave the country. "By December 31, 2021, there will be no US forces with a combat role in Iraq," the leaders of both countries said in a joint statement.