As nearly every American knows, in 2003 American military forces invaded the nation of Iraq. The President, along with his staff, reported to the American people their reasons for this operation. Conspiracy theorists abound, and many critics of the war believe that the true reasons for America’s actions were very different from those listed by the government. But, regardless of what critics may think, America’s invasion of Iraq was legal, justified, and necessary. Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq with a brutal and murderous regime for twenty-seven years and during that time committed unthinkable crimes against humanity and repeatedly violated numerous UN treaties and resolutions. These resolutions allowed for military action by any UN member state, and America, as the world’s model for democracy and freedom was obligated to enforce them and help the oppressed people of that nation.
Since 1979 when Saddam came to power in Iraq, he has brought nothing but misery and pain to his people. Throughout his rule, the former president launched numerous campaigns comparable to the Jewish Holocaust intended to exterminate the various religious sects in opposition to his own. In 1988, Saddam began the Al-Anfal campaign in Kurdistan. A document signed by Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam’s cousin, outlined plans to capture and interrogate every male between the ages of fifteen and seventy. After interrogation, the prisoners were to be killed and buried in mass graves, effectively eliminating all men of fighting age in that area. Not only that, but the International Federation of Human Rights League and the Coalition for Justice in Iraq published a report concerning the recruitment of children into a fighting force called the Ashbal Saddam, or Saddam’s Cubs. Children as young as five were forcefully taken from their parents and their homes and militarily trained to become ruthless fighters for Saddam’s cause. If a child objected to being taken, he would be thrown in jail. If the child’s parents objected, they would be promptly executed. How could America, a nation founded on the belief that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should be free to all men, stand by and allow a regime such as Saddam’s to remain in power? Few Americans would agree that the liberation of the Jews from Hitler’s rule was unjustified. Why then do so many object to the aid of a different people in the same situation? If the United States had done nothing to stop these atrocities, no one would have, and Saddam, along with his sons, would have been free to rule indefinitely however they pleased. America had a moral obligation to free the people of Iraq from the persecution and tyranny of their former government, and even in the face of mass criticism and objection, that obligation has been fulfilled.
Not only was Saddam Hussein’s government a danger to its own people, but it was also a direct threat to the world as a whole. It is widely disputed as to whether Saddam had ties to terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, but there is much evidence and even eye-witness testimony to the affirmative. According to a BBC News report U.S. officials have expressed concerns about Saddam’s relations with terrorists since the early 1990’s. Through the Palestinian Arab Liberation Front, Saddam’s Baath Party gave upwards of $10,000 to the families of terrorists killed fighting Israeli’s and another $25,000 to the families of suicide bombers. This is direct monetary support for terrorism in the Middle East, and perhaps that should be an issue dealt with by other Middle Eastern nations. But, there is also compelling evidence that Saddam supported acts of terrorism directly against the United States. Shortly after the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center the only member of the terrorist organization not apprehended in the U.S. fled to Baghdad. After the major military operations ceased in Iraq, official documents were found in Tikrit showing the Iraqi government had given Abdul Rahman Yasin a house in Baghdad and was paying him a monthly salary. Not only that, but Abas al-Janabi, who served under Uday Hussein, Saddam’s son, for over fifteen years told Laurie Mylroie in a recent interview that Iraqi government officials frequently visited Afghanistan and Sudan in order to strengthen ties with the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. He also discussed the existence of a facility near the city of Baghdad in which foreign fighters were trained by the Iraqi Republican Guard. In the face of all this evidence Saddam’s involvement and cooperation with terrorist organizations seems indisputable. The United States had every right to eliminate this threat to itself and the rest of the world.
The legality of America’s military operations in Iraq has also been called into question. Critics of the war claim that the United States acted illegally and without U.N. permission. But, after examination of the various U.N. resolutions concerning Iraq over the past several decades, it becomes clear that these resolutions provide broad discretion to any U.N. member state in dealing with the noncompliance of the Iraqi government. Based upon the same intelligence that allowed former president Clinton to bomb Iraq, U.N. resolution 1441 demanded that Iraq cease all actions in the development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles and that it allow U.N. weapons inspectors full rights to the inspection of Iraqi weapons facilities. Inspectors initially found nothing illegal in Iraq, but after further investigations, Saddam forced the inspectors to leave the country. This action came after more than a decade of Iraqi violations of U.N. treaties and resolutions, including 1441, which vowed “serious consequences” for Iraq in the case of its violation. The United States simply acted to enforce the terms of the resolution in a manner not at all prohibited by the resolution itself.
America’s reasons for the invasion of Iraq were not at all unfounded. Not only did Saddam Hussein himself pose a threat to the U.S, but the assurance of his sons’ succession of power promised a continued danger to the whole of the free world. With Iraq’s new government in place and its cooperation with America nearly certain, the Middle East is now a safer place to live. In order for freedom throughout the world to eventually exist, a change had to come in Iraq, and America was the only nation to accept the challenge.
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