Why did the US fight Iraq a 2nd time?
2 Answers
The false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction
Explanation:
Iraq was invaded by the US based on the false claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of Mass Destruction. The control of natural resources(notably oil) or ethnic cleansing are sometimes pointed at by some opponents of that war as the real motivation that lay behing the carrying out of that war.
After the first Iraq war there was a generalized feeling in America of unfinished business in Iraq. President Bush (the younger) and the influential conservatives that surrounded him pushed hard for a War.
Explanation:
There was momentum to go to strike to Baghdad during the first gulf war but the tempo of the advance and the reluctance of the Middle Eastern Allies to let the Iraqi government fall, limited the achievements of the First Iraq War. The Sunni dominated coalition would have been worried about a Shia uprising in Iraq after its fall.
(Who in America would have thought of that?)
The attack on the World Trade Center and the relative ease that early part of the war in Afghanistan was executed led a the government of George Bush (the younger) to look at creating a war in Iraq. George Bush (the Elder) had lasted only one term as president even though the first war in Iraq was a success. The difficult territory of Son to Father and Family emotions was a factor.
The oil business in the United States had supported Bush (the Younger) and they saw an opportunity to break the OPEC stranglehold on oil production by taking over a major world supply. Conservatives in the states were keen to use the rejuvenated American Army to cow the world into Pax Americana. Conservatives in the United States saw warfare as inevitable and proper conduct of Human Beings and Nations. The American Army had rebuilt after Vietnam and its long aftermath and was a force to be again feared and respected.
The US cobbled together the most tenuous of coalitions and lamest excuses in the search for Weapons of Mass destruction. Saddam Hussein acted like the tricky and dangerous dictator that he was. The Post 911 United States was ready to hear the reasons.
The United States tried to make an efficient invasion of Iraq in line with good business principals. The lack of boots on the ground and other bad decisions like disbanding the Iraqi army led to the absolute mess that it is today.
