Lecture 12 Flashcards
“Coalition of the Willing”
The label is most often used for associations that are summoned and established in cases of military intervention—with or without UN authorization, and frequently on proposed humanitarian grounds—but is also applied in the context of single-issue campaigns involving norm promotion. The term has achieved currency relatively recently. It was reportedly used for the first time in 1990–1991, when a U.S.-led, UN-authorized coalition of the willing responded to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
Ro justify the war, leaders like US President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard argued that Iraq had developed weapons of mass destruction and was harbouring terrorist groups like al-Qaeda. Neither could be tolerated in a post-9/11 world.
However, when evidence for Iraq’s weapons program or links to terrorism failed to emerge, the coalition partners were forced to re-frame the war. The goals were threefold:
* to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and bring peace to the Iraqi people
* to replace the autocratic Baathist regime with a democratic government
* to transform Iraq into a prosperous state governed by a free-market economy
On the first goal of bringing peace to Iraq, it is true the coalition forces toppled Hussein and his entire Baathist regime in just six short weeks. He was later captured, put on trial and finally hanged in December 2006.
However, the coalition forces failed to adequately secure the nation after his regime was toppled. This created a security vacuum that was rapidly filled by a host of different militant groups. From 2006 onward, Iraq descended into a dark and unprecedented period of horrific sectarian violence.
This worsened considerably after the US troop withdrawal at the end of 2011.
By 2013, the Islamic State had begun to conquer vast swathes of territory across both Syria and Iraq, eventually capturing the city of Mosul in mid-2014.
The group went on to impose strict Sharia law in the territory it controlled and enacted mass genocidal pogroms that included the slaughter, enslavement and forced exodus of thousands of innocent civilians.
Today, Iraq remains one of the most violent places on earth. Since the expulsion of the Islamic State from Mosul in July 2017, over 10,000 civilians have been killed across Iraq.
The irony here barely needs to be stated: there was no credible terrorist presence in Iraq before the coalition forces staged their invasion, but by mid-2014 roughly a third of the country was controlled by terrorists who remain a threat today.
How do we explain the US decision to invade Iraq?
* If we think about IR theory, how do we explain foreign policy?
* Balance of power/strategic calculation
* Ideology
* Adherence to norms
* Individual preferences…
Article 5 of the NATO Charter
UN Resolution 1441
Iraq and WMD
UN resolution 1441: requires Iraq to disarm, ‘serious consequences’ for noncompliance, 8 Nov 2002
* Concerted effort throughout 2002 to build public support for the invasion
* Feb 2003 Colin Powell’s speech
* March 20 US invades
Iraq Liberation Act
The War in Iraq (2003)
* Settlement of the Gulf War included no-fly zones in Northern Iraq
* “Iraq Liberation Act”
* Oct 1998 (Pres Clinton, Republican congress)
* 2000 Election of George W. Bush
* 2001 clear that Iraq is on the agenda (Axis of Evil)
The Taliban
The Taliban, or “students” in the Pashto language, emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
It is believed that the predominantly Pashtun movement first appeared in religious seminaries - mostly paid for by money from Saudi Arabia - which preached a hardline form of Sunni Islam.
The promise made by the Taliban - in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan - was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power.
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, twenty years after their ouster by U.S. troops.
Following the US-led invasion that toppled the original regime in 2001, the Taliban regrouped across the border in Pakistan and began taking back territory less than ten years after their ouster. By August 2021, the Taliban had swept back into power. Their swift offensive came as the United States withdrew its remaining troops from Afghanistan as outlined in a 2020 peace agreement with the group.
The Taliban have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law despite pledges to respect the rights of women and religious and ethnic minority communities. Meanwhile, as they have transitioned from an insurgent group to a functional government, the Taliban have struggled to provide Afghans with adequate food supplies and economic opportunities.
