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N.-imposed sanctions. Now, after 4 years of occupation by the U.S., Iraq experiences extreme poverty, unemployment and has millions of homeless. The country's infrastructure is in ruins and U.S. plans for reconstruction of its schools, infrastructure and civic buildings have been mired in fraud, mismanagement and incompetence. Commentators expect the country to suffer from the effects the war for years to come.
On November 15, 2007, the House of Representatives passed a bill that provides $50 billion to fund the war in Iraq and attached a timetable for the withdrawal of troops by the end of 2008. The bill prevented the White House from using funds to construct permanent bases in Iraq or assert U.S. control over Iraq's oil. President Bush vetoed the bill, while Republicans supported this move. Congressional Democrats countered that the bill responded to the concerns of U.S. citizens about the length and the costs of the war. "The president has threatened to veto all spending bills that exceed his budget request, a move aimed at boosting his standing with fiscal conservatives. Democrats say his position is hypocritical, given the cost of the war, which has far exceeded Bush's initial estimates" (Williamson 1). Inflation was still "sapping the living standards of Iraqis as they cope with bombs and sectarian killings which kill 100 [civilians] every day" (Bull 1).
An article in Reuters by Bull assessed the consequences of the U.S.-led war on Iraq's domestic economy up to August of 2006: In spite of being the world's third-largest oil reserves, possessing an abundance of valuable resources including water and offering a well- educated workforce, Iraq's economy declined. Security conditions,
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The financial cost of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan this year may total about $3.5 trillion, explains the Joint Economic Committee of the House and Senate. This is contributing to a financial downturn in the U.S. economy. In his New York Times article, Bob Herbert argues that President Bush's $600 billion in formal requests for Iraq does not include the untold long-term "hidden costs" of treating the wounded and the disabled, interest on what the U.S. has borrowed for the war, repair and replacement of military equipment and the increased cost of military recruitment. The costs of the war up to 2007 exceeded the administration's original estimate by ten times the amount estimated and unless there is an immediate withdrawal, the cost of the Iraq war will probably continue for decades to come (Herbert).
The U.S. still holds $50 billion of Iraq's money, as the administration tries to pressure the Iraqi government into accepting U.S.-Iraqi economic agreements, having been put there in the 1990s, when international sanctions were imposed against Saddam Hussein. The Iraqis struggle with constant war, disruptions to their lives, destruction of their country and widespread unemployment and poverty. Meanwhile, Iraq's financial reserves remain in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (Cockburn, 1).
Bibliography
Bull, Alister. "Civil War or Not, Iraq Economy Faces Vast Challenge: If the Violence in Iraq Ceased Tomorrow, Its Economy Would Still Be in Deep Trouble." Reuters. August 16, 2006
Button, Karen. "IMF in Iraq: The Second Invasion." Uruknet. May 20, 2006.
Cockburn, Patrick. "U.S. Issues Threat to Iraq's 50bn Dollars Foreign Reserves in Military Deal." Independent. June 6, 2008
Herbert, Bob. "Now and Forever" New York Times. December 4, 2007.
U.N. Global Policy Forum. "Oil in Iraq." New York, NY. 2008. See http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/irqindx.htm.
Williamson, Elizabeth. "House Approves Bill Linking War Funds, Troop Withdrawals." Washington Post. 15 Nov 2007.
Bibliography
Bull, Alister. "Civil War or Not, Iraq Economy Faces Vast Challenge: If the Violence in Iraq Ceased Tomorrow, Its Economy Would Still Be in Deep Trouble." Reuters. August 16, 2006
Button, Karen. "IMF in Iraq: The Second Invasion." Uruknet. May 20, 2006.
Cockburn, Patrick. "U.S. Issues Threat to Iraq's 50bn Dollars Foreign Reserves in Military Deal." Independent. June 6, 2008
Herbert, Bob. "Now and Forever" New York Times. December 4, 2007.
U.N. Global Policy Forum. "Oil in Iraq." New York, NY. 2008. See http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/oil/irqindx.htm.
The primary targets of the war are still at large, rendering all use of American and British weapon technology useless and in fact, more damaging to Iraqi civil society. Indeed, weapon technologies are only as effective as the people who manage and use them. The American military, despite its sophisticated weapons, failed to capture Al-Qaeda because their weapons were not used strategically -- that is, weapons only become effective when
6). At home, though, the media can often be co-opted by being made to feel that public opinion would be against it if it reported something other than the prevailing public sentiment. After't he 9-11 attacks, the public wanted the perpetrators and their leaders punished, so the war in Afghanistan had the support of the public. By extension, the idea of the war on terror also had support, though
7 times as dense as lead, and when the shell hits the target, it burns and releases uranium oxide into the air (Eco pp). "The poisonous and radioactive uranium is most dangerous when inhaled into the body, where it will release radiation during the life of the person who inhaled it" (Eco pp). According to Robert Fisk, "there is evidence that the depleted uranium residue left in Iraq is responsible
This is not to suggest that either the United States or the Soviet Union were necessarily desiring this conflict, because "based on the scattered evidence now available from Soviet archives," Stalin was "wary and reluctant" in his support of the North, and only finally agreed to offer military equipment and advice when it became clear that China would intervene should the Soviet Union fail to offer support (Cumings 144).
Iraq War- Why America Should Have Never Gone to War With human rights violation reaching its peak in Iraq and with pictures of Iraqi prisoners proving that U.S. soldiers are committing worst possible war crimes, every American is facing a dilemma: should we support the government or should we not. Everyone is asking the same question, what is America's point for continuing war in Iraq? Does America need to be in
" In addition, the war in Iraq has been another opportunity to see the effects of the weapons of mass destruction, which have caused the death of approximately 300 Americans and of a countless number of Iraqi people, in the American Government's point-of-view. Even though it has been sustained for many times that "the War of Terror" is useless and meaningless, many scholars, such as David Tufte, sustain that "The short-run