The debate over the Iraq War has waged on since the very first time President Bush announced that America would be going to with Iraq. The Bush Administration main reason for pursuing a war with Iraq was the idea that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. They constantly gave reports, testimonies, and first-hand accounts that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and was ready to use them. The Bush Administration convinced America that the only way to stop Saddam from using those stockpiles of weapons was to send the American Troops over to Iraq to disarm them by force. However, once the war in Iraq begun there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction anywhere. Iraq contained no weapons of mass destruction which means that the Iraq war was started under false precepts.
Saddam was never a threat to the safety of the American public because Iraq never had any weapons of mass destruction. Evidence began to arise that the Bush Administration had falsified the information that they received regarding the weapons that were supposedly stored in Iraq. Many critics who opposed the war, like former UN arms inspector Scott Ritter, began to speak up that Iraq was never the threat that the Bush Administration portrayed them to be. Scott Ritter argues that Saddam holds no threat to America. He explains that Saddam is no threat to the American public because, “95 percent of Saddam’s capability in terms of weapons of mass destruction was dismantled by 1998 under the inspections regime. Saddam was fundamentally disarmed” (Ritter). The Bush Administration knew that this was true but they still argued that Iraq posed a threat to America. The Bush Administration had no clear evidence that Iraq had new weapons of mass destruction. Scott Ritter also stated that, “The Bush Administration had no facts, only speculative rhetoric” (Ritter). The Bush Administration could not prove any of the claims that they were making. Iraq was no longer a threat when America declared war which makes the war unnecessary.
The Bush Administration argued that Iraq had only disarmed most of their nuclear weapons which meant that they still could possibly have weapons of mass destruction. If Iraq posed any threat of having weapons of mass destruction they must be stopped because they could possibly use those weapons to harm the American citizens. Some critics believe that since Iraq stood a chance of having weapons of mass destruction that the American army had to go into action and take down Saddam and any terrorist threat that could be found in Iraq. Victor Davis Hanson is one of the critics that argue that the Bush Administration was justified in going to war with Iraq. Victor reported that, “we know now that worries over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were both justified and understandable. Postwar interviews with top Iraqi generals reveal that Saddam’s own military assumed that his stockpiles of WMDs were still current, confirming the intelligence estimates from Europe and most of the Arab world” (Hanson). According to Victor the war had to be started because the safety of America was at risk.
The one thing that Victor Hanson never takes into consideration is the fact that the American government has already determined that Iraq poses no threat against America. The 9/11 commission report, a report that was compiled by the American government, explains the relationship between Iraq and 9/11. The report shows that there is no connection between Iraq and al Qaeda either. The commission report was released after the war in Iraq had already begun, but it still shows that the war is unnecessary because Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction. The commission report shows that one of the Bush Administration’s main claims is not justified and should not be used as a key part of going to war. The American government proved that there was no real reason to go to war because the Bush Administration told America to fear something that was nonexistent.
The war in Iraq was started over ideas and beliefs that were not entirely true. The connections between Iraq and al Qaeda did not exist. The main reason the war in Iraq was started was because the Bush Administration connected Iraq to terrorist, weapons of mass destruction, and al Qaeda. There is evidence now that shows that this war was started for the wrong reasons and is not worth the effort that is being used to keep it going.
