Iraq

I. Summary

b. Conflict History
It is assumed that the United States’ ‘War on Terror ´against Iraq started as a response to the tragic events of 9/11, as a response of the Bush administration against the danger of terrorism. However, few know or few seem to forget the fact that the issue of Iraq was for long taken into account by the US government and put on the US agenda.
A clear point inshowing that Iraq was still a concern for the US after the Gulf War is the fact that the Clinton administration had carried out the maintenance of a multilateral sanctions regime which seemed to be unraveling at an alarming point (Anderson, Stansfeld, 2004:1). The reason for the applying of sanctions was the fact that, according to the ONU inspectors, Iraq did not fulfill the obligation ofdestroying its weapons of mass destruction how it has been imposed after the Gulf War. This regime of sanctions had as a direct consequence the death of millions Iraqi civilians, the wiping of Iraq`s middle class and the sustained Iraq`s civilian infrastructure in state of chronic disrepair (Anderson, Stansfeld, 2004:98). Another predictable consequence was represented by the Iraqi noncooperation, whichlead to the removal of the ONU inspection team and the US initiation of the bombing campaign in December 1988, generally known as Operation Desert Fox. The latter can be generally considered as another way of keeping Iraq on the US agenda. As Anderson and Stansfeld argue, this operation was `symptomatic of a White House that had simply run out of ideas about how to deal with Iraq´ (2004:98).The general pretext for the sanctions that was mentioned above was also soon replaced with a policy of regime change, according to which sanctions would only be lifted if Saddam Hussein was no longer in office. This policy clearly illustrates the US desire to keep Iraq on the radar screen, as the level of cooperation between regime officials and weapons inspectors did not matter anymore. One mayeasily argue then that what the US had done in Iraq through this sanctions regime was to devastate the Iraqi society, rather than to do anything specific to weaken the tenacious grip of power that Saddam Hussein possessed. In fact, it is more than clear that the only thing that the US wanted was to be in charge over Iraq, more precisely over Iraq´s oil reserves. However, the issue of Iraq hadremained on stand-by until September, 11th, 2001.
On the other hand, these sanctions also generated huge resentment in the Arab world and also created huge discontent in the eyed of the American people in regard to the Clinton Administration. It is then no wonder that the Clinton Administration was to hand over the reins of power at the following presidential election against an administration thatpresumably had a clearer vision of how to deal with Saddam´s regime in Baghdad. Although during the election campaign, the issue of Iraq was scarcely mentioned, the Bush administration claimed for a more permanent role of the US in the Gulf. The fact that it lacked public support kept the Iraq issue in stand-by until the tragic events of 9/11, when the situation completely changed and the US had thesupport of 86 per cent of its citizens (Walker, 2009:16). The US did not hesitate under these conditions to start the ‘War on Terror ‘against Iraq, claiming that Saddam Hussein is producing WMD and helping the terrorist chain that attacked the US.

c. Context

Iraq is a country belonging to the Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf and situated between Iraq and Kuwait. It is said that theIraq possesses 11.2 percent of the world´s reserves of oil; oil which is accessible and considered to be excellent and of high quality. Along with Kuwait, former Iraq colony which was liberated by the US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991, this region contains more than 20 per cent of the world´s reserves of oil. One may wonder why this fact is important. The...