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It seems wrong to categorize the war in Iraq as part of The War on Terror(ism), since Iraq wasn't involved in 9/11. The best explanation I ever found as to why

It seems wrong to categorize the war in Iraq as part of The War on Terror(ism), since Iraq wasn't involved in 9/11. The best explanation I ever found as to why the US went to war in Iraq was in the article below. It basically says that the Neoconservative faction of the right wanted to bring democracy to the middle east long before 9/11, but 9/11 was their opportunity to actually do it. Here's an excerpt: "Neoconservatism, which had been around for decades, mixed humanitarian impulses with an almost messianic faith in the transformative virtue of American military force, as well as a deep fear of an outside world seen as threatening and morally compromised. This ideology stated that authoritarian states were inherently destabilizing and dangerous; that it was both a moral good and a strategic necessity for America to replace those dictatorships with democracy — and to dominate the world as the unquestioned moral and military leader. Neoconservatism's proponents, for strategic as well as political reasons, would develop an obsession with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. That obsession would, by the end of the decade, congeal into a policy, explicitly stated: regime change. Their case was always grandly ideological, rooted in highly abstract and untested theories about the nature of the world and America's rightful place in it. Their beliefs were so deeply held that when 9/11 shook the foundations of American foreign policy, they were able to see only validation of their worldview, including their belief in the urgent need to bring democracy to Iraq. It was this ideological conviction, more than any piece of intelligence or lie told about it, that primarily led America into Iraq. Weapons of mass destruction were the stated justification, but they were never the real reason, nor was bad intelligence." https://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/11022104/iraq-war-neoconservatives https://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/11022104/iraq-war-neoconservat...

m_mueller 9y ago
Well, if it wasn't their actual motive, but it's how it was sold to the American tax payer, isn't it fair to then also present the bill under that category?
3131s 9y ago
> It seems wrong to categorize the war in Iraq as part of The War on Terror(ism), since Iraq wasn't involved in 9/11. If that's the criterion then none of the current US military engagements are part of the "war on terror". That Vox explanation is also BS (as is everything else from Vox). The US has absolutely no issue with propping up authoritarian states, even Islamic fundamentalist ones like Saudi Arabia. The neocons are sales reps for the weapons industry, nothing more, and their members span both US political parties.
pjc50 9y ago
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/07/usa.iraq https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/07/usa.iraq : transcript of speech by George W Bush. "Many Americans have raised legitimate questions about the nature of the threat, about the urgency of action. Why be concerned now? About the link between Iraq developing weapons of terror and the wider war on terror. ... Over the years Iraq has provided safe haven to terrorists such as Abu Nidal, whose terror organization carried out more than 90 terrorist attacks in 20 countries that killed or injured nearly 900 people, including 12 Americans. Iraq has also provided safe haven to Abu Abbas, who is responsible for seizing the Achille Lauro and killing an American passenger. And we know that Iraq is continuing to finance terror and gives assistance to groups that use terrorism to undermine Middle East peace. We know that Iraq and the al-Qaida terrorist network share a common enemy: the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al-Qaida have had high-level contacts that go back a decade." (The question of how much of this was subsequently found to be true or false is a different one, but a key characteristic of the War On Terror is the use of lies or misleading generalisations to maintain the war)
_nedR 9y ago
>that it was both a moral good and a strategic necessity for America to replace those dictatorships with democracy Oh bollocks.. America (including and especially neocon govts) has routinely and consistently undermined democratic movements around the world whenever they knew the outcome would not be favourable to their interests - Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953, Guatemala 1954, Chile in 1973, Palestine in 2007, Egypt in 2013 ( I will get flak for claiming the last two but they are true).

m_mueller 9y ago

Well, if it wasn't their actual motive, but it's how it was sold to the American tax payer, isn't it fair to then also present the bill under that category?

3131s 9y ago

> It seems wrong to categorize the war in Iraq as part of The War on Terror(ism), since Iraq wasn't involved in 9/11. If that's the criterion then none of the current US military engagements are part of the "war on terror". That Vox explanation is also BS (as is everything else from Vox). The US has absolutely no issue with propping up authoritarian states, even Islamic fundamentalist ones like Saudi Arabia. The neocons are sales reps for the weapons industry, nothing more, and their members span both US political parties.

pjc50 9y ago

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/07/usa.iraq https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/07/usa.iraq : transcript of speech by George W Bush. "Many Americans have raised legitimate questions about the nature of the threat, about the urgency of action. Why be concerned now? About the link between Iraq developing weapons of terror and the wider war on terror. ... Over the years Iraq has provided safe haven to terrorists such as Abu Nidal, whose terror organization carried out more than 90 terrorist attacks in 20 countries that killed or injured nearly 900 people, including 12 Americans. Iraq has also provided safe haven to Abu Abbas, who is responsible for seizing the Achille Lauro and killing an American passenger. And we know that Iraq is continuing to finance terror and gives assistance to groups that use terrorism to undermine Middle East peace. We know that Iraq and the al-Qaida terrorist network share a common enemy: the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al-Qaida have had high-level contacts that go back a decade." (The question of how much of this was subsequently found to be true or false is a different one, but a key characteristic of the War On Terror is the use of lies or misleading generalisations to maintain the war)

_nedR 9y ago

>that it was both a moral good and a strategic necessity for America to replace those dictatorships with democracy Oh bollocks.. America (including and especially neocon govts) has routinely and consistently undermined democratic movements around the world whenever they knew the outcome would not be favourable to their interests - Syria in 1949, Iran in 1953, Guatemala 1954, Chile in 1973, Palestine in 2007, Egypt in 2013 ( I will get flak for claiming the last two but they are true).