Foreign policy
Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 lit the embers of tension between Iraq and the United States. The invasion ended in the defeat of the Iraqi leaders, Saddam Hussein. After the fighting in Kuwait ended, the United states implemented a strict economic sanction of Iraq in order to hinder their development of military strength including, most importantly, weapons of mass destruction.
American officials under the authority of the President of the United States at that time, George Bush, and his administration began reconnaissance activity in Iraq, and compiling information about Saddam Hussein and his regime. In 2002 the United Nations security council passed resolution 1441 in which Iraqi officials agreed to have their country searched, by UN inspectors, for presence of illegal materials and weapons of mass destruction. After the UN team returned having found no weapons of mass destruction, the united states secretary of state Colin Powell accused Iraqi officials of hiding biochemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction in front of the UN security council.
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After being put to a vote the UN authorized coalition force military action in 2003, the invasion of Iraq began. 248,000 American troops traveled to Iraq on March 20th under the codename “Operation Iraqi Liberation” and on April 9th the capital of Iraq, Baghdad, fell to coalition forces. The Saddam Hussein Regime was ended, though Saddam himself fled the city before capture. The search for Weapons of Mass Destruction began. But, after several years of thorough searching, none were found.
However, US and coalition forces stayed in Iraq for almost 8 years fighting insurgents and combating terrorism, as well as restoring order to the extremely unstable country of Iraq. The war officially ended with the removal of most US forces from Iraq in December of 2011. It is, for the most part, resented by the American people.
Foreign Policy Categorized:
Though on the outside it looks as though the US was practicing a policy of collective security, they also had imperialistic goals. Iraq had, for many years, been obstruction to America and some European nations efforts to attain the rich oil fields of Kuwait and other Arabic countries. Some believe that president Bush’s connection to the oil business made his actions and decisions unwise and morally reprehensible. I would categorize the foreign policy of the Iraq war as a mix between collective security and Imperialism, because they did end up getting rid of an extremely oppressive regime and did so with the UN’s approval.
Explanation of Vietnam:
In the late 1800s French took control of Vietnam and established French Indochina. In the early 1900s nationalist movements began to break out in Vietnam from people who wanted less French influence in their government however the French did not comply with their wishes. Then in 1945 during WWII the French became occupied by Nazi Germany and they lost their foothold in Vietnam which led to Japan taking over Vietnam and then eventually surrendering to the Vietnamese natives creating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. One of the major leaders of Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh who was a communist. Minh drove Northern Vietnam into communist and seeked aid from the U.S. against the French. However, since the U.S. disagreed with communism they aided the French instead as well as Southern Vietnam who had resisted communist rule.
Comparison to Vietnam:
There are some similarities between the war in Iraq of 2003 as well as the war in Vietnam of 1945. One of the most significant similarities would be the idea that the US was being a “World Policeman” and “Team Player”. In Vietnam the US was aiding France in order to prevent the spread of communism. This can be considered Team Player because the US was helping another country in war in order to prevent communism from spreading which the US viewed as bad and unfair. It can also be viewed as World Policeman because the US was not involved in the war and they were not doing it for personal gain but rather to help other countries. The Iraq war can also be considered World Policeman because they were not involved in the conflicts of Iraq but chose to help out Kuwait from Iraq invasion.
However, US and coalition forces stayed in Iraq for almost 8 years fighting insurgents and combating terrorism, as well as restoring order to the extremely unstable country of Iraq. The war officially ended with the removal of most US forces from Iraq in December of 2011. It is, for the most part, resented by the American people.
Foreign Policy Categorized:
Though on the outside it looks as though the US was practicing a policy of collective security, they also had imperialistic goals. Iraq had, for many years, been obstruction to America and some European nations efforts to attain the rich oil fields of Kuwait and other Arabic countries. Some believe that president Bush’s connection to the oil business made his actions and decisions unwise and morally reprehensible. I would categorize the foreign policy of the Iraq war as a mix between collective security and Imperialism, because they did end up getting rid of an extremely oppressive regime and did so with the UN’s approval.
Explanation of Vietnam:
In the late 1800s French took control of Vietnam and established French Indochina. In the early 1900s nationalist movements began to break out in Vietnam from people who wanted less French influence in their government however the French did not comply with their wishes. Then in 1945 during WWII the French became occupied by Nazi Germany and they lost their foothold in Vietnam which led to Japan taking over Vietnam and then eventually surrendering to the Vietnamese natives creating the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. One of the major leaders of Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh who was a communist. Minh drove Northern Vietnam into communist and seeked aid from the U.S. against the French. However, since the U.S. disagreed with communism they aided the French instead as well as Southern Vietnam who had resisted communist rule.
Comparison to Vietnam:
There are some similarities between the war in Iraq of 2003 as well as the war in Vietnam of 1945. One of the most significant similarities would be the idea that the US was being a “World Policeman” and “Team Player”. In Vietnam the US was aiding France in order to prevent the spread of communism. This can be considered Team Player because the US was helping another country in war in order to prevent communism from spreading which the US viewed as bad and unfair. It can also be viewed as World Policeman because the US was not involved in the war and they were not doing it for personal gain but rather to help other countries. The Iraq war can also be considered World Policeman because they were not involved in the conflicts of Iraq but chose to help out Kuwait from Iraq invasion.