The Iraqi war which began in March 2003 was a consequence of many factors including American foreign policy, the increased risk posed to civilians by terrorism and other known but less openly stated reasons such as a US desire for dominance in the world. Although the US government and its coalition of countries supporting the war stand by their decision, many other countries believe that the war could have been averted in favor of negotiation and compromise. .
A major point in the US argument for war was to disarm Saddam Hussein of his suspected biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. Saddam was believed to have "weapons of mass destruction" and George W. Bush believes Saddam Hussein will use these weapons against America. In the 1980's, Saddam Hussein ordered the gassing of large numbers of Kurds in the north of Iraq, many of whom died. Furthermore, since that time birth defects have been reported in Kurdish communities.
In conjunction with the aim to disarm Saddam Hussein, the US wants to destroy the threat of terrorism against America. This is partly prompted by the September 11 catastrophe, in which two commercial planes were used as bombs to attack the world trade centre. The cause of the tragedy, Osama Bin Laden has not been found and there is speculation that the US is seeking revenge against the fundamentalist Arab world through Saddam Hussein because they have been unable to dismantle Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network. .
A reason that is often not stated is the US need for oil. The oil reserves in the US are running out and Iraq has the 2nd largest sources of oil. Also OPEC is moving towards making the Euro a standard currency in exchange for oil. There is the suggestion that the US wishes to retain the present standard through the US dollar to maintain their strategic and economic position. In order to achieve this result the US require control of Iraqi Oil.
On the other hand, a major reason against the war is that it does not have UN support.
