PUBLIC OPINIO

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Should the U.S. have attacked Iraq?

• A pro/con viewpoint presentation

PROS•Iraq had the capability to manufacture not only chemical but biological weapons

•For the people of Iraq, the war put an end to three decades of terror and suffering.

•Credible evidence that al Qaeda leaders have sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire weapons of mass destruction and capabilities

•Oil industry would benefit from having the administration control Iraq; Desire to be in control of the oil interests in Iraq

PROS CONT.•No other country shares Iraq's history of deploying chemical weapons in a war of aggression against a neighbor, or against innocent civilians as part of a genocidal campaign

•If the UN is not willing to enforce its own resolution, then there is no choice but for the United States and others who agree to proceed to disarm Saddam Hussein

•The failure of Iraqi democracy would embolden terrorists around the world, increase dangers to the American people, and extinguish the hopes of millions in the region

CONS•Security Council refused to provide authorization to proceed to war against Iraq on the grounds that it wanted to give the UN inspectors more time to finish their work

•It is highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed militarized chemical and biological weapons there

•Brutal as Saddam Hussein's reign had been, the scope of the Iraqi government's killing in March 2003 was not of the exceptional and dire magnitude that would justify humanitarian intervention

•Two senior Bin Ladin associates have adamantly denied that any ties existed between al Qaeda and Iraq. There is no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States

CONS CONT.•Iraq is now producing less oil, it's more unstable, it has led to disruptions in the market. Iraq is producing less than two-thirds of what it was producing before the war

•There was absolutely nothing in Saddam's history to suggest that he was suicidal-that he had the capability or will to attack the United States directly and pay the price

•The US is not the political, economic, and social model for every culture and every political system. Economic and physical security; dealing with the educational and job problems created by demographic change, and creating basic human rights will be far more important than trying to rush towards 'democracy'

SUPPORTSUPPORT

OUROUR

TROOPSTROOPS

Designed for CSCI 1011

Information gathered from:

ProCon .orgProCon .org