This link is a video its a breif one about the US going into Iran, why they went into Iran and the later consequences of it. Im planning on using it in the begining of my paper to talk about the early history of the US in the Middle East. Interstingly enough we just wentover this in my HST 308 course
Archive for March, 2008
Some sources
March 26, 2008A lot of these are more sources that talk about the deception that the Bush Administration used in getting us into Iraq there isnt too much on oil but these (I think) are still really good
Downing Street Memo, Sunday Times Newspaper article
Essentially this said Bush wanted to invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein
This quote/paragraph basically sums up the entire article:
C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime’s record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action
THERE WERE FIXED AND FAULTY FACTS
Downing Street Why Care Page: Showing contradictions (lies) of Bush regime
“The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace in Iraq is real and serious…. [Without an 'overwhelming' effort to prepare for the U.S. occupation of Iraq] the United States may find itself in a radically different world over the next few years, a world in which the threat of Saddam Hussein seems like a pale shadow of new problems of America’s own making.”
-Army War College report
MR. RUSSERT: Do we have any evidence linking Saddam Hussein or Iraqis to this operation [9/11]?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: No.”
We should install democracy in Iraq: We’ve also been told an invasion of Iraq is necessary to promote democracy. But according to Michael Klare, professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and author of “Resource Wars,” that is another falsehood. In the 1980s, when Iraq was the enemy of our enemy, Iran, the United States eagerly embraced Hussein’s dictatorship. Donald Rumsfeld even personally met Hussein in 1983 to give him secret satellite data on Iranian military positions.
America’s support of post-Soviet dictatorships in Azerbaijan, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan, not to mention Saudi Arabia, doesn’t support the assertion that our foreign policy is driven by a passion to encourage the spread of democracy.
So, if Hussein is not the greatest threat to America, and if the United States is considering the use of nuclear weapons, and if we’re not dedicated to installing democracy in Iraq, what, then, explains the Bush administration’s rush to war? The answer is our government’s stated intention to preserve America’s supremacy as the paramount world power, which is precariously based on our dependence on oil. By 2020, the United States will import 65 percent of its energy resources. “This dependency,” Klare argues, “is the Achilles’ heel for American power: Unless Persian Gulf oil can be kept under American control, our ability to remain the dominant world power would be put into question.”
holy shit this site has like everything
Potential Introduction for essay
March 26, 2008So I actually wrote this a while ago but never thought to put it on my blog
It was somewhere between September 2002 and February 2003, when it was obvious that the US was going to enter Iraq, that signs, bumper stickers, posters, sharpie graffiti, and other ways of conveying the statement “no blood for oil” began to show up. Now I was no supporter of the war, however I did not feel that the war was about oil or even money at all. Of course I knew that the president had massive ties to oil but I always thought the war was about something else. I thought the war was partly that of (revenge), that president Bush had always wanted to do what his father couldn’t; take out Saddam Hussein. Also I figured that the war was based off the administrations lack of knowledge on the Islamic world. While we were all being told that Iraq was supporting al-Qaeda, me with my small amount of knowledge on the Middle East that stems mostly from following Israel, knew this could not be true because Hussein and bin Laden ascribed to rivaling forms of Islam and would likely never have put their differences aside to attack America. I figured, yes oil may have played a small part in President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, but there was just something inside of me that knew the war was not about oil. However the further I researched the question “Why is America in Iraq” the more and more it became evident that oil was possibly the most significant reason America invaded Iraq. It looks as though my naïve assumptions from five to six years ago were (way?) wrong
2 of 2 Possible Images
March 19, 2008
This would be the second possible picutre that I may use in my essay. Personally I think this is a very witty visual that is sort of overt and yet makes you think at the same time.
1 of 2 possible images for essay
March 19, 2008So I like this one because it deals with the “mis speaks” that president Bush said which ended up getting us into the war in Iraq which is sort of where I am focusing this essay. I think the bottom part where the words are printed are of the utmost importance to my essay. I also like the fine print that starts with FYI.
Primary and Secondary sources
March 6, 2008http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2005/cr090805.htm
Paul, Ron. “Why We Fight” Ron Paul’s Speeches and Statements. 8 September 2005.
12 February 2008. <http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2005/cr090805.htm>
this was a speech by Ron Paul where he talks about the real reasons he believes we are in Iraqas well as problems with the US Middle East Policy. This raised a lot of quesitons for me and was probably the reason that I wanted to further explore this topic. Definately check this out, it could also be a good source for you
