Sunday, March 8, 2020

Exhibit Introduction - The War in IRAQ



THE WAR IN IRAQ

The main cause of the U.S. invasion of Iraq was due to the Americans attempt at overthrowing the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The western world spearheaded by the U.S. were against Iraq of course for more than the main reason but the other forms of reasoning were announced to the world. More than 150 members of Parliament signed a Commons motion prohibiting any attacks that weren't backed by the United Nations. The European countries and United States legalized for invasion of Iraq due to Saddam being "a very bad man and should not be trusted an inch." With these words, the United Stated invaded and interfered Iraq claiming self-defense for their reasoning behind the invasion. The United States clearly was in offense and did not have a clear right to self-defense. However, administrations confirmed that the U.S. was in fact entitled to defend itself against any potential attack that may take place in the future. President Bush referred to Saddam Hussein’s regime as “a grave and gathering danger” during his speech back in 2002. He explained that Saddam’s regime had mass destruction weapons and that he provided weapons for terrorists. The U.S. administration also said that the United States had a right to self-defense on grounds because the Iraqi regime was related to Al Qaeda. U.S. administration confirmed that Al-Qaeda was responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States back in 2001. The second allegation on the attack was that the U.S. believed that Iraq had chemical and nuclear weapons programs and were in the midst of developing long range missiles as well. However, it was found that weapons of mass destruction were not used by Iraq first hand and the United Nations did not discover any weapons of mass destruction before the war began or in the middle of the war. U.S. intelligence suggested that those weapons were distributed and armed with established command and control by Iraqi forces. Observers saw that U.S. forces toppled the Iraqi military and overturned the authorization to use such weapons. Other people believed that Iraq had little incentive to use those types of weapons because they had a limited military against U.S. forces, Iraq had special delivery options given to them by the U.S. and allied forces; and the use of such weapons would flip the world’s opinion against Iraq. The allegations were not considered justified and the attacking by the United States was still perceived as an unprovoked invasion of Iraq. It actually caused more retaliated terrorism against U.S. targets. Invading Iraq would only increase the number of radical Islamists around the world, acting almost as a recruitment of some sort for Al-Qaeda. The Bush administration wanted to put all its resources and efforts together  in order to fight the enemy Al-Qaeda. No other cause for the U.S. were seen credible for invading Iraq at that time. Another cause to invade Iraq at the time, was because of the economic benefit through oil resources. Iraq had the potential to produce huge volumes of oil than it was producing before the U.S.'s invasion. A set of "historic circumstances and conditions" were believed to have decreased production of Iraqi oil including the devastation caused by the Iran-Iraq war, the first Gulf War, and the UN sanctions that followed that war. Saddam also decreased oil exports in order to gain leverage over the American and Israeli foreign policies. The US combined with other countries and formed coalitions in order to prove that their claim for an invasion on Iraq was legal.The invasion was not legal due to UN not giving them authorization to use force. The acts against Iraq placed a huge dilemma on the U.S. and weakened its position and powers with the UN due to it's illegal invasion. However, the US invasion of Iraq removed an evil dictator from power and led to positive political and economic changes in Iraq soon after.

Image information: Picture called “U.S. soldiers in Sāmarrāʾ, Iraq.' by Johan Charles Van Boers/U.S. Department of Defense.” Source: britannica.com/event/Iraq-War

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Week 8 - The Roaring Twenties


The 1920s were a time of change in our country. It was a period of time called The Roaring Twenties, where America urbanized itself, primarily the people. During the Roaring Twenties, new forms of social culture were established, the economy prospered during this period, social reform occurred, and people found a better way to enjoy their lives and improve their everyday lives. Americans were making and spending more money during this time also. Labor reforms allowed Americans more free time because there were only eight hours in a typical work-day now. People also bought different appliances and cars, which gave them even more free time and made their lives even easier, with Henry Ford's new model T. The number of cars increased quickly as a result and education also increased with many states passing laws requiring children to attend school in order to remove children out of workplaces. Throughout the era, people were becoming more and more infatuated with music and the time period was also deemed“The Jazz Age”. The core of jazz music originated in Harlem; a musical form played by black people. During the decade, women were reinvigorated. A new form of woman was created. Women smoked, danced, and wore make-up. They were called “flappers" mostly because of their upbeat attitudes and their choices of clothing resembling those of boys. Flappers lived in the cities mostly although rural people read about them in magazines. The 1920s were a prosperous time, however not for everyone. There were new restrictions on immigration, minority groups were still being discriminated against, and the Ku Klux Klan was growing powerful in the South. In addition to having too much free time and influences of new lifestyles and modernization, alcohol consumption became excessive. First, government officials tried to moderate the consumption, but then agreed to a complete prohibition of alcohol. Many Americans supported the idea of Prohibition at first. They believed that Prohibition would reduce the number of divorces, deaths, accidents and poverty. Americans had various opinions on the Prohibition of alcohol but drinking was part of everyday life and people enjoyed being able to have alcohol when they wanted and they did not want that right to be taken away from them.

Image information: Picture called “Roaring 20's Neon,' by Dana Price.” Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/317151998729627166/

“Roaring Twenties.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/Roaring-Twenties.