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Originally Posted by Swede
Good points, all.
I have read everything I can find about the runup to the war and have concluded that the motives for launcing the war were mixed. You have start with the Administration's flawed assumption that the war would be quick, cheap, easy and wildly popular with the American people. This informs everything that happened.
The neocons conceived of the Iraq war as a way to quickly convert Iraq into a secular, democratic, free market ally of Israel. They were taken in by long-ago defectors like Chalabi who convinced them that Iraq had a vibrant middle class and a funcitioning infrastructure.
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Very good points, but I thought I would just expand on these thoughts in particular.
Iraq has always been a central focus for the United States within the last 20 years since it had been governed by a ruthless dictator and has made his intentions against the United States evidently clear. However his actions against the United States have been minimal at best and there has been no indication that he has ever had any capability of truly attacking the United States since 1992. But after 9/11, the chance that one the supposed iraqi weapons could fall into the hands of a terrorist organization were slim but it was a chance the Bush administration was not willing to take. On top of that, they feared Hussein was was bound to start his nuclear program once again.
Since Iraq has always been on the verge of a failed state since the Gulf War, the Bush administration sought to bring stability to the region meanwhile creating an ally within the middle east. The initial plans as Swede pointed out were for a quick and relatively painless war where we would oust Saddam Hussein and put in the Iraqi National Congress under Ahmed Challabi as an interim government. Essentially what the Bush administration wanted to establish was a quick puppet government under "Iraqi" authority that would be friendly to the United States.
Why we wanted an ally is pretty obvious. Iraq is one of the most strategic locations in the middle east which borders Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria. Essentially its the center of the middle east and would provide an excellent geopolitical point for conducting future military affairs. So establishing US military bases are extremely important to the United States and is one of the fundamental reasons neo-cons do not want to leave.
Also, Iraq being an ally of the United States could counter the growing power of Syria and Iran, while providing a stabilizing force to Saudi Arabia. Israel would no longer be the sole ally of the United States, which would put pressure on Jordan and Syria not only to seek diplomatic avenues with the United States but also promote democratic reform within the region.
Lastly there are the economic factors that inspired the invasion. Oil was a key factor to an extent since it was believed that oil would pay for the invasion, but it wasn't the only economic resource. Water is crucial in the middle east and with two of the largest rivers in the region, Iraq has one of the most abundant sources of water and fertility in the middle east.
However, most of those plans were screwed up when certain members of the Bush administration didn't trust Chalabi with having power and instead handed the interim president's position to Paul Bremer who was one of the main causes of what made Iraq what it is today. However, that's another story.