US foreign policy during the Iraq Iran war Essay

US foreign policy during the Iraq Iran war - Essay Example The foreign policy of America is very influential to the world since it is the only super power left. The US foreign policy towards Iraq was illegitimate since it contravened the procedures and justifications provided by the United Nation’s charter. The UN charter stipulates clearly the procedures that should be followed by a country to perpetrate coercion or violence to another state. The UN charter is the only legitimate basis that a country can use to attack another sovereign state since it has been reached through consensus by the member states forming the United Nations. The United States of America acted in total disregard of this charter and used its influence in the world to attack the regime of Saddam Hussein, condemning it of threatening the world peace. Iraq was supported by America during its war with Iran; it was assisted both financially and technologically. The US supported Saddam despite the fact that it knew that it was Iraq that had invaded Iran as a result o f border disputes which had been in existence for several years. The US used its foreign policies in an attempt to solve the crisis but was biased since it decided to support one side.The war was also as a result of suspicions of Shia insurgency which was influenced largely by the revolution in Iran. The United States of America supported the Iraq government and as a result about half a million people died comprising soldiers from both countries and civilians too. A lot of economic loss was also lost, the US which was supposed to use its foreign policies to enable it to effectively play the role of big brother to help the two countries resolve their differences, instead took sides in the war which only made matters worse. In fact, before the war began, American president, Carter, gave Saddam Hussein and his government the much needed green light for him to invade Iran. Zbigniew Brzezinski, the United States national security advisor met the Iraq president in Jordan so as to discuss how the two nations can join their efforts to oppose Iran on the issue of the border disputes which was the main contentious issue between the Iranians and the Iraqis (Gerber, Para 7-8). Brzezinski recommended in a memorandum, the destabilization of Iran by the US government by use of the surrounding countries. Although, the government of the united states of America denied any involvement in the Iraq-Iran war in the early 1980s, a few months before Iraq invaded Iran the US security advisor indicated that US was willing to work with Iraq. Just two months before Saddam Hussein invaded Iran, Brzezinski assured him that US was fully behind the Iraq government and that US was not opposed to the separation of the Khuzestan which was part of Iran. In this case the united states used their influence to attack Iran through Iraq and thus its foreign policies could not be said to be for the welfare of the world but for the good of the Americans and their allies and thus if a country is opposed to the opinion of the united states of America like Iran was in the 1980 war then it might be attacked either directly or through its neighbors by the US government (Gerber, Para 5). By the end of the US sponsored war both Iraq and Iran were devastated both economically and politically. The two countries had lost a lot of property and thousands of lives. Had the US kept off the war could not have reached such high magnitudes and thus such losses could have minimal. The US foreign policy in Iraq during the Iraq Iran war was favorable to the Iraqis but very unfavorable to the Iranians (Hiltermann, pp 180). US foreign policy during the 2003 Iraq war Things later changed when the regime of Saddam Hussein was blamed by the American government to threaten the world peace by manufacturing weapons of mass destruction. Again the