Memoir Of Vietnam And The Pentagon Papers By Daniel Ellsberg

The war in Iraq is over now. Looking back on a huge controversy makes one side seem clearly more “correct” than the other. Yet in the beginning there were two sides to the controversy about the war in Iraq. There was the terror brought upon by the 9/11 attacks, people that the government wished to punish or kill like Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin Laden, and a country which was in “need” of US help both politically and financially. At the time of the Terrorist attacks, people were afraid of what else the terrorists were planning or could do and so George Bush sent troops in to look for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

Daley ran Chicago when federal government was pouring billions into highways, public transit, housing for poor. He used it to advantage, mounting massive urban renewal... ... middle of paper ... ...In the riotous aftermath of King's assassination, the FBI reported extensively about Daley's "shoot to kill" order aimed at arsonists, a stand the FBI praised. For twenty-one years, Daley presided over city government and the Democratic organization in his dual role as mayor and party chairman. He cultivated alliances with organized labor and industry that contributed to Chicago's renaissance at a time when other northern industrial cities were declining.

After two years leading a company in the field, Ellsberg had seen more than enough to know that the propaganda boasting U.S. success in Vietnam was simply false. Even McNamara himself agreed with Ellsberg that the war could not be won, just before making a statement to the press asserting his confidence in ou... ... middle of paper ... ...el-to-reel tape recorder. Nixon’s speech is highly censored, as only the most objectionable recordings are used in the film. It is a very effective technique, as it is shocking to hear Nixon casually suggest to Henry Kissinger that we simply drop a nuclear bomb on Hanoi. While Daniel Ellsberg’s story is certainly one worthy of a blockbuster documentary, it is not the only case to have made strides for our First Amendment rights.

So either we support their words and actions or we are vilified as unpatriotic.” Bush had a dictator attitude when it came to his reasoning for war. He felt he did not have to justify or answer to anyone’s questions for his reasons. Bush let Americans believe some of the conspiracy theories in order to shift the blame away from his administration. Instead of finding the most qualified skilled individual to lead the investigation on the 9/11 attacks, Bush appointed an individual who has been under fire with the government before. Henry Kissinger, a man whose been investigated for his secretive activities and tried for war crimes, was now called to investigate the biggest crime against America.

The Iraq War, our government’s invasion dubbed “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” had finally arrived after declaring war on March 19, 2003. The U.S.-British coalition to invade Iraq and remove Hussein’s dictatorship has been both a beneficial and damaging political effort. A war that began because of Hussein’s unwillingness to participate in weapons inspections became a messy situation that would last over a decade. President George W. Bush announced his trademark “War on terror” and, as a result, invaded Iraq on the grounds that Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction which threatened world security. Prime Minister Tony Blair concured with Bush and believed that the world would be safer when Iraq disarmed itself.

The Bush Administration's relations with Iraq prior to its invasion of Kuwait were cloudy to begin with anyways. When Iraq invaded Kuwait it gave George Bush Sr. The perfect reason to go to war and get some oil while he was at it. Although completely unreported by the U.S. media and government, the reason why I think the United States went to war, was because of the oil currency war. One of the main reasons for this war we are in right now is to prevent further Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) momentum towards the euro as an oil selling currency standard.

Prior to the war, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom declared Iraq was suspected to possession weapons of mass destruction and this posed an imminent danger to our security and our allies. The American public was led to believe that Saddam Hussein had significant stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction and was equipped to use them. Following the terror of September 11th by al-Qaeda, the American public was apprehensive of another vicious attack, and President Bush used this fear to justify his “revenge” on Saddam Hussein. These weapons were one of the key reasons the public believed why we were going to war in Iraq; however, in six years no such weapons have been located (Duelfer). Furthermore, the following quote from CNN.com confirms that, “Saddam Hussein did not possess stockpiles of illicit weapons at the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and had not begun any program to produce them”.

The United States Military should immediately withdraw from Iraq. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were informed repeatedly that the search for weapons were futile. Therefore, they created a secret group called the Office of Special Plans to supply the Bush administration with raw intelligence on Iraq. In addition, the unconfirmed information was spoon-fed to the public by news reporters, to create panic throughout the nations. Colin Powell, Secretary of State (2001-2005), citied many anonymous Iraqi defectors.

The war itself was well planned out, but the hunt for Saddam Hussein and the restoration process was quite sloppy. The fact that we’re still in Iraq today and everyday soldiers are dying, just goes to show that we’re not going anywhere for a while. The author also stated that we would soon be out of Iraq if we kept going along the lines we’re going, I completely disagree with this statement, because Iraq is in a state of disorder. I think the actions we are taking right now will escalate into a bigger war which will not just include Iraq. After all Nostradamus who “predicted” the 2 World Wars also predicted a third World War that would take place in the Middle East.

The decisions before, during and after the offensive opened the blind eyes of the American people to the truth of the North Vietnamese Army capabilities. The mistakes of the North Vietnamese ended with their defeat, but the ripples of their attack would spur the American people to respond. Public protest became too much for the American government to ignore and began the military drawdown in South Vietnam under President Nixon in 1969. The Vietnam War was a constant battleground of guerrilla tactics until January 31, 1968 when the war turned in an entirely different direction. The American government and media had always proclaimed that the North Vietnamese Army would pose no strong unified threat.