Debate over the Continuation of the War in Iraq

The fall of the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, should have been the end of America's involvement in Iraq. Instead, it signaled the beginning of a long, drawn out war, with the high cost of both lives and money lost in this fight with no end in sight. In addition, this war was supposedly all about the fight against terrorism even though Iraq was not directly involved with the attack on the United States on September 11th, 2001. That did not stop the Bush Administration from putting our focus for war towards Iraq. I am strongly opposed to our continued fighting and involvement in Iraq based on the lack of direction and the inability to win the conflict which continues in this country.

On September 11th, 2001, the United States was attacked by terrorists controlled by a radical figure, Osama bin Laden, who was hiding and operating in Afghanistan. The initial reaction by the U.S., including my own belief, was to cause harm and seek revenge to the individuals and groups who were responsible for this horrible act. At this time, the country showed support for the President to find all people who were responsible for the attacks of 9/11 and to take appropriate action. At first, the Bush Administration was trying to locate Osama bin Laden and his group of terrorists and the United States went to war in Afghanistan against these terrorist forces. However, soon the direction of their focus changed. There was a new response from the Bush administration to persuade the American public that Iraq was somehow involved with the terrorist attacks against the United States.

The President and Vice President began to show the public that Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government were directly involved with supplying arms and could provide "weapons of mass destruction" to terrorists around the world. They even showed reports that these weapons actually existed, only to find out later that these reports were incorrect. It is my opinion that we were mislead when we took action against Iraq and started a war with this country. I feel that Bush and his people wanted to finish the war and get rid of Saddam Hussein, who was a direct enemy of the first Bush Administration. Because of our involvement with this war, we have actually created a place where terrorists can grow and recruit anti-American groups to come up with other ways to attack our country and spread terrorism throughout the world, instead of ending terrorism or retaliating for the attacks to our country