1. What are the origins of the policy?
The war lasted 26 days, from the launching of the first missiles March 19, 2003, until mid-April 2003, when Iraqi political and religious leaders met with U.S. officials on forming an interim government. In January of 2003, The White House is downplaying published reports of an estimated $50 billion to $60 billion price tag for a war with Iraq, stating that it was impossible to estimate the cost. The war on terrorism is the backdrop to the Bush Administration's policy regarding Iraq. The Administration presented the proposition to the Congress and to the American people as a preventative war; a war against a nation that supported individuals involved in terrorist activities against the United States and its allies. The Administration argued persuasively that the United States had to address the costs and risks of action against Iraq against the potential cost of inaction. In the estimation of the Bush Administration, inaction presented unacceptable risks. The Congress agreed. It would seem that the American people were also convinced of the validity of this argument (Fineman, Lipper, Wolffe 18).
Prior to the invasion, the Administration also made a strong case that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and that this rogue state would not hesitate to provide these weapons to terrorist if Iraq were given the assurance that these weapons would be used against the United States and its allies. In its policy statements in support of the war, the Administration made the case that this incursion would end forever, or at least for the foreseeable future, that Iraq would use WMD against America or its allies directly or through intermediaries.
President Bush's ambitious goal of rebuilding democracy in Iraq implies that a large occupation force would be needed. The international community did not rally around the United States as it did in 1991. Even though the war has been over f...