Iraq War, Pros and Cons

By lotus22
in Real World News

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lotus22

Posted
Posted

I have a presentation in my government class and I got assigned to the Pros and Cons of the War in Iraq.

After searching for a while I can only find Pros and Cons of going to War, not Pros and Cons of the aftermath of the war.

I have some that I know of for sure.

Saddam is not in power anymore

Freed Iraqi people

Anyone care to help me either find some or list some of the ones you know. Thanks.

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ZTrang

Posted
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There are several upsides, of varying signifiance, that have resulted from the war (though may would dispute that these upsides actually exist):

- There is no longer a threat of Saddam giving weapons of mass destruction to terrorists (at any point in the future, as even though he may not have had them when we invaded, we do have evidence that he had programs whose aim was to develop them)

- Iraq has become a focal point for terrorist action in the Middle East; this means that terrorist groups are focusing on attacking our troops in Iraq, where we're prepared to deal with them (and can much more easily use lethal force), rather than in the U.S., where we're less prepared to deal with them.

- Stabilizing Iraq with a non-dictatorial government reduces the chance that large terrorist organizations would gain government protection in Iraq (as compared to dictatorial governments such as Iran and Syria, which are large sponsors of terrorism).

- We're implementing a democratic government in the Middle East (though it remains to be seen how stable it will be), which will hopefully encourage other Middle Eastern countries to adopt the same changes (assuming the government in Iraq is successful); this would, in the long run, be a positive force for the people living in the Middle East

On the flipside, there are various downsides:

- The war is extremely expensive, and we have to spend 10+ years pouring money into Iraq to build up an infrastructure that really never existed under Saddam, as well as to implement a style of government that is completely foreign to the people there. Other than a possible reduction in terrorism, the benefits will not be seen by American citizens in the near future, which leads many to see the war as a waste of our tax dollars.

- Short term instability: while in the long run implementation of a democratic government may be a good thing, in the short term Iraq becomes a hotbed for terrorism, which is bad for the Iraqi people (though maybe good for us; see my point in the upside section)

- International dissatisfaction: I don't view this as a very significant downside, but invading Iraq created a lot of negative publicity with other countries throughout the world. Internationalists view this as a bad thing - I personally think our foreign policy should have nothing to do with what other countries think, but I've listed it nontheless because many people find it important.

I'm sure there are other points on both sides of the argument, but these are the main ones I've come across. I refuse to acknowledge the argument that the U.S. just went into Iraq for their oil, as what we've done in the country since the invasion is completely counter to that hypothesis (ex. we wouldn't bother to spend the time setting up a democratic government and rebuilding the economy if we could just put in a puppet dictator and mine their oil).

Community Regular

2009

Posted
Posted

CONS

- Soldiers die on daily basis

- LOTS of civilian death. but hey, why would Americans care if its not them dying?

- removal of a dominate power means turning the land into fertal civial war battlefield

- It's an way overhyped war by the media. there are alot of other hot zones in the world thats in need of some serious help including various places in africa and asia.

- it cost so much yet our soldiers doesn't even have proper equiptment

Grand Master

JK1150

Posted
Posted

Pro:

- Iraq is now a stable and free nation

- Saddam's image is being spit on as we speak by Iraqis

- Another free country.

Cons:

Not too many, the only thing bad about it is the casualties, but it is expected with every war.

CONS

- Soldiers die on daily basis

585757250[/snapback]

not really, not one US soldier death in a week

Grand Master

Fred Derf Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted

Pros:

-The most important "Pro" of the Iraq war won't really be clear until we know if Iraq will be a long-term stable democracy that is friendly to US policy. This end may justify the means.

-One certain positive outcome is that Saddam has been removed from power.

Cons:

-Increased world alienation towards the US particularly from European allies like France & Germany

-Exposed poor middle east intelligence by the United States

-A license for other nations to "go it alone" rather than discuss international objections and reach consensus

Yes, people and soldiers died but, at the risk of sounding harsh, it was a war and that is to be expected. I think the US, overall, did a fairly good job to limit casualties on both sides. "Shock and Awe" was certainly not as effective as they imagined it would be.

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