Justifying military aid and intervention Flashcards
What were the justifications given for the 2003 invasion of Iraq?
-War on Terrorism - the belief that Saddam Hussein was related to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda
-Beliefs that Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction (despite 700 inspections by the UN which failed to find WMDs)
- Saddam Hussein’s human rights violations including the killing of 148 Shias (this occurred in the 1980s)
The invasion of Iraq by the US and UK was not backed by the UN, with Germany, Russia and France opposing the vote. Additionally, 2 million protestors marched against the decision in London.
The invasion of Iraq was likely motivated by the opportunity to exploit oil reserves gain influence in the Middle East and install democracy-based governments to increase stability in the region.
Why was the invasion of Iraq a short-term success but a long-term failure?
in 2005, Iraq held its first free elections in over 50 years and a vaccination programme helped to reduce infant mortality rates by 75%.
However, it is estimated that the war cost the US a total of $3 trillion. Furthermore, a lack of a long-term plan has left Iraq without systems to restore security, foster democracy and promote human rights or grow its economy. This instability has allowed divisions between Shia and Sunni people to escalate - making forming a stab;e and effective national government even more difficult. Islamist militant groups take advantage of this instability - killing minorities such as the Yaduzu and looking to obtain power. Corruption has increased - in 2015 Iraq ranked 161 out of 168 on the Corruption Perception Index. Human rights have worsened with kidnappings of Sunni people, restrictions on free expression and imprisonment without charges.
Military aid to Saudi Arabia
Britain is the second largest supplier of arms to Saudi Arabia after the US - mostly through the provision of typhoon and tornado jets which the Saudi Arabians use to conduct air strikes in Yemen. Whilst these air strikes are aimed at Houthi forces who are in control of much of Western Yemen ( including its capital Sanaa), the war in Yemen has resulted in 10,000 civilian deaths since 2015 - 60% of which are from air strikes. Saudi Arabian forces are guilty of committing war crimes through attacks on schools and hospitals.
The war in Yemen has also resulted in more than 20 million people 92/3 of the population) are food insecure, 13 million are at imminent risk of famine and 8.4 million are at risk of starvation. 2 million children are acutely malnourished, 3 million people have been displaced and 16 million lack basic healthcare.
One of the main concerns of funding Saudi Arabia’s military actions in Yemen is its poor human rights record. If the Saudi government doesn’t respect the human rights of its own people, it will almost certainly disregard the rights of the Yemeni people. The UK and US however don’t want to lose lucrative trade deals with Saudi Arabia (worth more than£23 bn since the war in Yemen began). Furthermore Saudi Arabia is an important ally to the West in a region with oil and terrorism.
It could be argued that the US and UK value their own economic interests over the human rights of people in Yemen.
The US’s use of torture in Guantanamo Bay.
Guantanamo Bay is a prison camp in Cuba that was established in 2002 (following the September 11th attacks) that holds people perceived to be ‘enemy combatants’ in the US’s war on terror.
This prison camp protects against potential terrorist attacks by detaining potentially dangerous people and information is extracted from prisoners informing governments about planned attacks allowing them to prepare and prevent them from happening.]
However, the use of torture to extract such information is inhumane and disregards the Un Convention against Torture which the US signed in 1987. Furthermore, as the war on terror has no defined end, prisoners of Guantanamo Bay may be held indefinitely for crimes they have not committed under suspicion that they may commit attacks. Of the 780 men and boys who have been detained at Guantanamo Bay, only 7 have been convicted and only 1 has ever been transferred to the US for a trial in civilian court.
