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Eddie Yi

Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin

FYC13100

November 18, 2010

Bush’s Failed Justifications of Events After 9/11

My teacher was crying and everyone seemed to be huddled around the television screen. I

was late to my 4th grade class at Hickory Elementary School, and I thought I was fortunate that

my teacher failed to see me stealthily slither into my seat. It was there on the television screen,

that I could see and feel the anguish and horrors of those experiencing the unforgettable horrors

of September 11, 2001. The country was in chaos and Americans sought vengeance and

righteous retribution. So in a unanimous public decision, Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 under

suspicion that Iraq was correlated with the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attack and the

possibility of weapons of mass destruction present in Iraq. However, the war soon became

prolonged and the main focus and original mission spun out of context. A war in defense and

security for the American people soon became the selfish aspirations of an incapable

administrator.

The bush administration headed off in the right direction, but will later reveal itself of

having the wrong motives. Bush, according to the Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web

Site, had intensified the war effort in Iraq at an international scale. The World Socialist Web

Site’s Editorial Board states that, “U.S. and British warplanes have intensified their bombing of

Iraqi air defense facilities… thousands of Marines and other combat-ready troops are moving

toward the region.” An interesting factor that the Editorial Board brings into consideration is the

pressure brought upon neighboring strategic countries like Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and
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Turkey. As Bush began to demolish what was left of Saddam Hussein’s empire and complete the

original goal, Bush began to formulate new agendas for Iraq. The selfish aspirations of Bush

have led to many conspiracy theories and speculations that 9/11 was an excuse for American

presence in the Middle East. Ivan Eland, a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace

and Liberty at the Independent Institute, states that in the Times, its states that, “Bush's own CIA,

in a report completed and partially made public before the invasion, judged that even if Saddam

had had WMDs, he would likely not have used them or given them to terrorists unless his regime

was threatened.” And another study from the CIA indicated that Saddam Hussein had in fact

never supported the terrorist organizations that had previously targeted America. Not only did

Bush’s administration fail to recover any weapons of mass destruction, which were heavily

publicized to be in the hands of Saddam, but previous evidence from the his own CIA indicated

that Saddam Hussein had no relationship with the events that had occurred on September 11,

2001. In 2005, Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press, reported for the Boston Globe that Bush’s

response to antiwar protests on the continued presence of Americans in the Middle East was that

the U.S. was protecting the country’s vast oil fields from the control of terrorist extremists. Even

as the death toll of American soldiers increased, Bush remained obstinate and stated, “If Zarqawi

and bin Laden gain control of Iraq, they would create a new training ground for future terrorist

attacks," Bush said. ''They'd seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. They could recruit more

terrorists by claiming a historic victory over the United States and our coalition." However, this

account does not take into account of Bush’s presence and very sociable ties with Saudi Arabia,

the benefactor of the oil. Bush utilized the oil from these strategic points that was being protected

to fund and fuel the war. Both reasons, to seize weapons of mass destruction and to “protect” oil
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fields, to invade Iraq were the ambitions of a greedy man who failed to comprehend the situation

and as a result shed the blood of those who loyally followed him.

The structure of my visual piece follows a very simple organization. The title page quotes

Colin Powell, who confirms that the U.S. has been interested in the Middle East prior to the 9/11

conflict, which effectively explains Bush’s attempts to prolong the meaningless war. The second

slide proceeds to examine what seems to be the main catalyst for the invasion of Iraq. The

destruction of the World Trade Center in broad daylight had a profound impact to the

international community. I chose this picture purposely to reveal in its entirety with bright

lighting and vivid colors emanating from the smoke and sky. It was a bold statement by Al

Qaeda to take out the World Trade Center (emphasis on words world and trade) in broad

daylight. The 3rd and 4th slides proceed to define the exact opposite of each other. The raising of

the flag of Iwo Jima heightened American patriotism and heroism whereas the prisoner tortures

at Abu Ghraib depicted the lowest points of American reputation. The 6th slide proceeds to

explain that the benefit and main motive for the Iraq war was the profitable oil fields located in

the Middle East. The oil fields allowed America to control the most in demand product in the

international market allowing heavy marketing economic power. Even after the Bush era, Obama

fails to keep his promise to withdraw all troops by his assigned date. With the continuation of

American presence in Iraq, it seems that the violence will never end. The music played

throughout is “Mad World” by Gary Jules and the lyrics play beautifully into the concept that

war as Stanley Kubrick had once said, is hell.

The failures of the Bush administration after the 9/11 incident can ultimately summed up

by the desire for power and control in the international community. Once a righteous retribution

for 9/11, the Iraq War spun out of control and soon became the product of capitalistic goals
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focused on profit. The original intentions to launch attacks on Iraq were to effectively cut all

terrorists organizations ties with Iraq and other sponsors and to seize all potentially dangerous

weapons (nuclear weapons). Even after the successful demolishment of most of Iraq’s military

capabilities, and even after the capture of Saddam Hussein, Americans continued their presence

in the Middle East for self-interested goals, but have been unable to accomplish even one of their

two original goals (capture Osama bin Laden and shutdown Al Qaeda and seize weapons of mass

destruction).
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Works Cited Page

Editorial Board. "Bush Administration Confirms Plans for War Against Iraq." World Socialist

Web Site (2002): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov 2010.

Eland, Ivan. "Assessing the Iraq War." Military.com (2008): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov 2010.

Loven, Jennifer. "Bush Gives New Reason for Iraq War Says US Must Prevent Oil Fields From

Falling Into Hands of Terrorists." Globe Newspaper Company (2006): n. pag. Web. 18

Nov 2010.

Zalman, Amy. "Iraq War - - Bush Iraq War Justification Timeline." about.com the New York

Times Company n. pag. Web. 18 Nov 2010.