What is happening in Iraq?

Note: posted for Kent Niedens

The war between Iran and Iraq that started in 1980 has hurt more than just their countries. When Iran invaded Iraq the war ended up being a stalemate for many years. It was not until 1988 that the war ended between the two countries. The war had ended between nations, but a war had started inside of Iraq. While the leaders of different groups were trying to take control of the government and nation, the country started to fall into chaos (“Iraq”). The United States decided it did not want to see Iraq get a government they did not like. This is important to me because I want to join the military. It is important to know what I might be fighting for and what we have been fighting against.

While growing up I knew we were fighting in Iraq because we thought there were nuclear weapons that they were not telling us about. As I got older I did not know why we were in Iraq and I did not know if we should stay there. But after wanting to join the army I learned that we are needed over in Iraq and that we should not leave as quickly as planned. The United States has spent about 757.8 billion dollars on the Iraq war since 2001 (Crawford and Lutz 2). Although the war has been costly, the military is helping them keep the rebels down and they are also helping them to stabilize their economy. There were several hundred thousand men and women from serving in Iraq to help the nation defend itself, to reassure the people and help stabilize the economy. As well as helping to make sure that the current government is able to stay in control. With the extra protection provided by our military and others, the people are able to participate more in government elections (“Iraq”). The Hutchinson Encyclopedia states that in 2005 voter turn out was almost up to sixty percent, even with all the violence and protestors. Sunni tried to boycott the polls but with the assurance of protection their plans were foiled (“Iraq”).

Many citizens of the United States thought we were fighting to get rid of the terrorists and to help Iraq get a democratic government. That may be true but we also fought to help protect the people of Iraq. Iraq’s military was weak after the devastating war with Iran. The UK and US thought it best to step in and help restore the government and to get Iraq drilling for oil again (“Iraq”). In 2003 the constant attacks on the oil pipelines caused their GDP to drop thirty percent, but then in 2004 it was back up (“Iraq”).

We have starting pulling out soldiers and they are all supposed to be out at the end of 2011 (“Obama”). What will happen if the Iraqi government asks us to stay longer? We have already spent a lot of money in this war and even more in lives. We should help them because if we do not their government might go back to what it was before we started to help.

Crawford, Neta and Catherine Lutz. "Economic and Budgetary Costs of the Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan to the United States: A Summary". Costs of War. Brown University. Web. 18 September 2011.

"Iraq." The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather guide. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 18 September 2011.

“Obama: U.S. to withdraw most Iraq troops by August 2010.” CNN Politics. CNN, 27 February 2009. Web. 18 September 2011.