Iraq War Essay Example for Free

Iraq War Essay The American government took the controversial decision of waging a war against Iraq. The circumstances and the motives of the American government indicate that the war on Iraq was unwarranted and cannot be justified although the American government has put forward a few reasons for waging this war. The logic and evidence does not support such contentions by the American government. The American government has failed to justify its unilateral decision of declaring war against Iraq. In the year 2002, the American President revealed his plan of attacking the Iraqi regime as it was thought that Iraq was in the process of emerging as the greatest threat to the American security. This decision was apparently taken on the basis of the intelligence information that the US government obtained concerning Iraq’s nuclear program. However, it is interesting to note that this intelligence information was kept secret until 2002. The major reason for this war was the terrorist attack of the World Trade Center in the year 2001. Obviously, this attack had left Americans at a state of shock as the successful terrorist attack demonstrated to the whole world that American security is at stake and that American military and intelligence power is not that efficient. (Powers 1) The knee jerk reaction resulted in the decision to chalk out the proper plans to prevent the future attacks of the American territory. However, it is interesting to note that the American government could not obtain even the simple majority of the members of the UN Security Council. This clearly indicates that the United Nations did not wholeheartedly support the Iraqi venture initiated by the American government. The close allies such as France and Germany could not be convinced of the need for this war project as these countries felt that there was no need for any fresh attack on the Iraqi territory as after 1991 this region was left in almost depleted state. The President was able to only convince the United States Congress as the members of the Congress did not question the necessity of a war on Iraq. The Congress members did not even participate in the debate regarding the Iraqi war. This shows that the American government could not convince the world leaders that Iraq was up to some fresh mischief in the form of the production of armaments having the capacity to destroy the world population. These details indicate that the American government has been alienated by other important powers which have not accepted the evidence presented by America that Iraq was emerging as another center of terrorist activities. (Powers 2) The main argument of the proponents of war was that Saddam Hussein possessed various dangerous weapons such as nuclear arsenals and chemical weapons which could have been used to destroy the enemy countries. The proponents of war asserted that the past history of Saddam showed that he was an aggressor. Their another contention is that Saddam Hussein had connections with the Islamic terrorist organizations and the leaders such as Osama bin Laden who had played an important role in the WTC attack. (Mearsheimer and Walt 1) These are the three reasons given by war supporters to justify the US aggression on Iraq. However, the proponents of war are not able to prove that Hussein really possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). The UN inspections did not reveal that Iraq actually possessed or had the potential of building huge base of WMD which could have been used for destructive purposes. The War mongers were aware of the fact that their action would lead to huge expenses to the American treasury and that this war would result in the alienation of America in the world politics. Even then they insisted that war was inevitable as one could not afford to ignore the possession of nuclear arsenals in the hands of the Iraqi leadership. In reality, the US had the power to contain the alleged Iraqi aggression. The argument that war was inevitable rests on the faulty logic. The war supporters are not able to come up with substantial proof to suggest that Saddam had seriously pursued the plan of destroying his enemy countries. (Mearsheimer and Walt 4) However, in this context one should remember that after the Gulf war the allied forces had obtained entry into Iraq and they had used their energy to reduce the military power of Iraq. The Gulf war debacle was sufficient to deplete the Iraqi resources. Perhaps the American government needed to make a strong statement against Islamic terrorists after the September 11 attack. This resulted in the declaration of war on Iraq. This can be considered as the face saving attempt made by the American government. The newspapers have reported information from CIA documents which contradicted the statements made by the President Bush who asserted that Iraq was trying to produce nuclear arsenals as the Iraqi officials had approached South Africa to obtain materials needed for producing nuclear weapons. However, CIA expressed doubt regarding this report that Iraq was trying to obtain nuclear weapon materials from South Africa. Another contention of the President was that the Iraqi officials refused entry of the weapon inspectors into Iraqi regions. However, there are evidences which refute this allegation. In reality, as the newspapers reported, the Iraqi government had offered their cooperation with the weapon inspectors. There is also evidence to suggest that even before the beginning of war the American government obtained the information that Iraq did not approach South Africa to obtain nuclear weapon materials. This shows that the Bush administration had deliberately misinterpreted the intelligence reports in order to obtain the support of the Congress members for this war. In spite of these contradictions Bush has defended his action of invading Iraq without any major reason. (Priest and Milbank A01) There are evidences to state that the US decision to attack Iraq has backfired and it has not contributed to the improvement of the US image in the international political arena. The Iraq venture has resulted in the protest by the governments and people belonging to different nations in the world which did not find any necessity for this war. (Martin 3) The main reason for this protest against the war is that this war was unjust. The extreme action taken by the US forces against the innocent Iraqi civilians has come under public criticism. This shows the world public opinion has not supported the idea of the US led campaign against Iraq. This war has enraged the Muslim nations and this may contribute to increase in the activities of the Muslim terrorist organizations leading to the loss of lives in different parts of the world. There is no evidence to state that the US government obtained the support of the majority of the Americans for this war. The Iraq war has contributed to the creation negative image of Bush not only in the world politics but also in the US. In this sense, this war has not benefited the US people. Instead of increasing the security of Americans, this war has increased the possibility of terrorist attack on the innocent American population. (Martin 4) Works Cited Bracknell, Major Rob. â€Å"Euro-bashing as Good Sport†. Naval War College Review. 58. 2, (2005): 139-142. Available at https://www.brookings.edu/

Doublespeak: Nuclear Power Plants :: essays research papers

Doublespeak: Nuclear Power Plants Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is the home of a large, efficient, and threatening nuclear power plant, Three Mile Island. Nuclear power plants have the awesome ability to create large amounts of power with very little fuel, yet they carry the frightening reality of a meltdown with very little warning. Suppose you live in Harrisburg and you here that the nearby nuclear plant had a partial meltdown, how would you react? When most people here the word meltdown, they automatically think radiation, cancer, and death. Now suppose your living in Harrisburg and you here the nearby power plant experienced a "normal aberration", you would probably react differently. Even with the highly proven safety of nuclear power, there is still fear from citizens and the chance of an accident. The nuclear power industry uses misleading language, and words understood by nuclear employees only, or euphemisms and jargon, to mislead the public and make them believe that there is nothing to be afraid of and that there is no possibility of a major accident. They take the public's biggest fears, meltdowns and contaminations, and make them into "events" and "infiltrations." This use of doublespeak is misleading to the public and may make them believe that a major accident hasn't happened, or the accident was a normal event or minor incident. In 1979 a valve in the Three Mile Island stuck open, allowing coolant, an important part of the plant, to escape from the reactor. An installed emergency system did its job and supplied the reactor with necessary coolant, but the system was shot off for a few hours due to employee error. Corrective action was eventually taken, and only a partial meltdown occurred. The plant's containment building was able to hold most of the radioactive products from entering the local environment. Only a small amount of activity escaped, that activity was carried by coolant water that had overflowed into an auxiliary building and then to the environment. Though the event didn't pose any extreme harm to citizens, this one billion dollar incident wasn't an everyday event or normal occurrence, as the industry's doublespeak makes you believe. In 1986 a similar but more serious event occurred in the USSR. A nuclear power plant at Chernobyl exploded and burned. The explosion was caused by an unauthorized testing of the reactor by its operators. Radiation spread rapidly forcing 135,000 evacuations within a 1000 mile radius, and more then 30

How Does Jones Show What the Effects of What Are on the Children of Bougainville in the Novel as a Whole

How does Jones show what the effects of what are on the children of Bougainville in the novel as a whole The children of Bougainville are severely affected by the war; most of these ways are negative. There are two main different types of affection, the first is physical e. g. deaths and possessions being burnt, the next psychological e. g. all hope being destroyed and the ignorance of some of the children. The first effect is all the deaths. The Red skins prevented all the medicines getting to lots of the babies so they died of malaria. came down with malaria† â€Å"There was nothing to be done† This shows that the children are being affected by the deaths of the babies because it kills the younger children, but it also has an effect on the older children because they have to go through the trauma of seeing these babies dead and also witnessing the parents break down due to these deaths. The Redskins also traumatise these children just by arriving â€Å"we were left wi th our fear† This shows the lasting effect the Red skins have on the children.This also portrays their innocence because it shows that these things really have a damaging effect on them when it may not do on older people. This innocence is also portrayed through â€Å"conflict a few of us kids really understood† This shows that the children are getting caught up in something they are completely innocent to. This war confuses the children which also can cause the loss of lives due to the naivety.This is shown with the character of Daniel while he was told to go up into the jungle â€Å"He went without complaint, swinging his arms at his side† First this shows that he did not quite understand what was going on, that these people were bad people to deal with. The fact that he went â€Å"without complaint† indicates that for â€Å"beaten his classmates to the answer† he thought he may be getting rewarded not quite punished in the way he did. The innocen ce of the character is also shown through the fact that he was unaware. The â€Å"swinging his arms at his side† insinuates the vulnerability if Daniel.It shows that he has not been told fully about this war and his simply mind is protected from such impurities. This innocence and vulnerability which are generally normal traits for children result in him losing his life. This also leaves the other children without a friend or family member, so this war also has an indirect effect on them causing them to lose people who are close to them Daniel is a key character in reflecting this. The effects of War on children in Bougainville are catastrophic, these children are hidden from it so when they are confronted by this conflict they do not know what to do and are generally damaged from it. s

The Link Between Adolescent Depression And Suicide

Is There a Link Between Adolescent Depression and Suicide? According to data provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) suicide was the tenth leading cause of death for all ages in 2013. There were 41,149 successful suicides in the United States. Available data regarding completed suicides in 16 National Violent Death Reporting System states in 2010, 33.4% of suicide decedents tested positive for alcohol, 23.8% for antidepressant medication, and 20.0 % for opiates, including heroin and prescription pain killers, Suicide is the third leading cause of death among persons aged 10-14, resulting in 4,500 adolescent deaths in 2010. In addition, among students in grades nine to twelve during 2013, 17.0% of students seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous twelve months. Adolescent suicide represents an important health crisis, and â€Å"researchers are tasked with identifying the characteristics and causes of adolescent suicidal behavior, with the aim of developing and refining suicide prevention programs† (Grover et al . 2009). Data implies that illicit and prescription drugs and alcohol are involved with a majority of completed suicide attempts; in what way does depressive symptoms in adolescents effect suicidal behavior? Journal Article Review A number of opinions concerning the cause of adolescent suicidal behavior exist. According to Grover et al. (2009), numerous risk factors for suicidal behavior [in adolescents] have been identified, with particularShow MoreRelatedA Correlation Between Stress And Adolescent Suicide1187 Words   |  5 PagesThere is a high rate of adolescent suicide with the cause being undetermined. The purpose of this paper is to determine if there is a correlation between stress and adolescent suicide. 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