The countries that did not lend their support for an attack on Iraq were generally just not impressed with the “proof” that the United States had presented to them. France stood to face a financial disaster if they participated in the war with Iraq because Iraq was France’s biggest client when it came to buying weapons. It was also speculated that the United States wanted to take over Iraq not for humanitarian purposes, but for the oil. Some countries just didn’t want to be apart of helping the United States do that.
North Korea couldn’t really get involved in disarming another country because they have been very open with the fact that they are actively building nuclear weapons. How could they get involved with something that is against countries having weapons of mass destruction, when that is exactly what they are doing?
The Coalition was made up of American and British soldiers. They fought side by side in efforts to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein and his followers. They wanted to give the country back to its people and let them live in peace again. The first bomb was dropped March 17th. On March 19th there was an intense attack on what was thought to be a building where Saddam and possibly his sons and other military officials were hiding. It was never confirmed or denied that Saddam was killed in that attack, although no one has seen him since. On April 5th because on the intense bombing it was estimated that 2,000-3,000 Iraqi soldiers lost their lives.
There are thousands of thousands of Iraqi soldiers that are thought to be killed during Iraqi Freedom. 157 coalition forces dies, 126 Americans and 31 British troops. An estimated 1,631-1,887 civilians have been killed which is a fraction of the number of civilians that were killed in Dessert Storm back in 1991.
George Bush has said time and time again that the reason the American and British troops are fighting and willing to risk their lives, is to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein and give the country back to the people. I think that with his careful efforts of planning buildings to attack and not to attack, he has been successful in the humanitarian aspect. One failed humanitarian aspect is the dropping of food. The American and British troops wanted to bring in food and water to the people of Iraq that were without. Unfortunately a lot of the fields that the food was being dropped into were covered with mines and the Iraqi people were either killed trying to get the food, or knew better than to try.
Most of the fighting in Iraq was centered on the mission of trying to reach the capital, Baghdad. Baghdad is where US officials thought that Saddam was hiding and where he was hiding missiles and tanks and possibly chemical weapons. As the coalition got closer and closer to Baghdad, they were met with more and more resistance. Finally the city was taken over by the coalition and the people of Iraq filled the streets cheering. I don’t think anyone will ever forget the moment when the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down into the dirt and the Iraqi people began slapping the statue’s face with their shoes; a true sign of disrespect in their culture.
This war has been very difficult for me to watch on TV. I have someone who is very close to me that was fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom so I have had mixed feelings about it from the start. While I understand that our planet needs to be free of people like Saddam Hussein, it has been hard for me to fully support the war. It makes me sick to think of the 157 people who didn’t come home and their families. Dying for your country has the be the most honorable thing a person can do with their life, but unfortunately that doesn’t stop the pain and sadness. While I was researching this paper I got a phone call from my boyfriend for the first time since the war had started. As he told me stories about burning oil wells and fields and hearing explosions throughout the night, it made me thank God he wasn’t one of the 157. It also made me wonder what will become of this country we just finished pulverizing?
We won the war hands down. We either rid the country of Saddam, or the world. We will now begin the process of building the country back up. But I have to wonder how easy that will be. Will someone come in and take Saddam’s place? Will there ever be a civil and just government? And who is going to monitor this? My prediction is that we will keep troops there for a year or two more. I think we will take over the oil (of course that isn’t why we were there though) and we will try to Americanize the country of Iraq. I think it will cost our country millions of billions of dollars to do what is necessary to create a peaceful Iraq and to ensure Saddam is gone and never come back.
Cooper, Patrick. (2003). Coalition Deaths Fewer Than in 1991. Retrieved April 25, 2003 from
Duensing, Jim. (2002). Why Does George W. Bush Hate Saddam Hussein? Retrieved April 25, 2003 from
Smith, Colonel Daniel. (2002). Is the US as War With the World? Retrieved April from