Introduction to the Video Dan introduces a video about the Iraq war, which aims to enlighten viewers on the motives of the U.S. at that time and reframes it away from its common understanding.
Andrew Roberts' Narration in "Why America Invaded Iraq" Andrew Roberts narrates PragerU's video titled "Why America Invaded Iraq" where he defends that there was a legitimate reason for invading by international standards but alters his messaging as compared to what he wrote in his book. He also fails to provide any explanations on what US objectives actually are in the region.
The Relationship between Saddam Hussein and United States The narrator discusses how multi-faceted governments have when dealing with powerful countries like United States, especially regarding their relationship with brutal dictators such as Saddam Hussein who used chemical weapons on civilians. The three central goals defined by military high command were ensuring continuous access to oil resources, preventing hostile power or combination of powers from establishing hegemony and ensuring survival of Israel as an independent state in stable relationships with Arab neighbors.
The US had no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, including Iraq's border disagreement with Kuwait. Saddam Hussein left the existence of WMDs ambivalent to deter Iran and the US from invading until he denied having them in early 2000s.
UN weapons inspectors were frequently in and out of Iraq during nintees; when they found stuff like old canisters that contained poisoned gas, then they were kicked out again and invited back in. Hans Blix reported that more time was needed to investigate if Iraq was fully compliant with UN resolution 1441 while Mohamed El-Baradei stated there was no evidence supporting claims about Iraqi nuclear weapon programs.
Bush administration invaded Iraq because it wanted to under trauma after terrorist attacks on September11th as a mixture of alarmism and self-deceit for an act of imperial self-affirmation. Andrew Roberts claimed that Bush administration did not lie public into war since everyone knew Saddam had weapons but ignored threats signaled by Condolica Rice at the time "we don't want smoking gun be mushroom cloud." Newspapers such as New York Times or Washington Post shaped public opinion favoring invasion through bad intelligence flaunted by CIA employees who cast strong doubt on supposed encounter between Mohammad Atta & Iraqi official which didn't happen before invasion happened anyway due largely thanks media dimension shaping opinions towards support thereof despite lackluster reasoning behind decision-making process leading up thereto
The Bush Administration and the CIA The CIA suspected that Cheney, Wolfowitz, and other hawks in the Bush administration were using 9/11 as an opportunity to settle unfinished business with Saddam. They created Office of Special Plans (OSP) which existed to discard any kind of professional analysis and sift through raw intelligence.
Judith Miller's Role in Iraq War Propaganda Judith Miller had a close relationship with Ahmed Chalabi who provided most front page exclusives on WMDs for New York Times. She contacted someone on National Security Council to confirm tip about aluminum tubes instead of digging into what analysts were saying about their usage.
Misleading Intelligence Used by Bush Administration George W. Bush wanted to invade Iraq since summer of 2000 surrounded himself only with people who agreed with him on need for military action; he was not strong-armed into invading by neo-conservative cabal or oil reserves but ultimately invaded because it would benefit American corporations like Halliburton, Bechtel & Carlyle Group etc., Stephen Kinzer describes this dynamic in his book “Overthrow”.
The Bush Administration's Use of False Intelligence to Justify the Iraq War The CIA and other US intelligence agencies were given false information by a man named Curveball, who claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Despite warnings from German intelligence officials that Curveball was unreliable, the US government used his testimony as evidence for invading Iraq. The invasion resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and destabilized the region.
PragerU Videos on the Iraq War Two PragerU videos attempt to justify America's involvement in the war by claiming victory was within reach until Democrats interfered. However, these videos ignore important facts about how violence decreased before "the surge" due to ethnic cleansing rather than increased military presence. These videos also perpetuate myths about American exceptionalism and good intentions while ignoring commercial self-interest.
The Consequences of Ignoring Evidence for Political Gain The Bush administration disregarded evidence contradicting their claims about WMDs in order to push America into a war with Iraq based on shaky evidence they chose not to verify or corroborate properly. This decision led directly or indirectly to over half a million Iraqi deaths through direct conflict-related causes such as bombings but also indirect consequences like lack of access to healthcare services after hospitals were destroyed during fighting which caused many preventable diseases leading ultimately death.