The 2003 war against Iraq was engineered by two powerful groups within the Bush Administration, the ultranationalists and the neoconservatives.
The ultranationalists motive was to gain control of the oil reserves in the Middle East to sustain US global primacy.
The neoconservatives shared this objective, but they also wanted a restructuring of geopolitical relations in the region to promote the security of Israel.
Supporting the Administration were powerful voices especially evangelical Christians.
Opposition to the war was expressed by the professionals responsible for US security including the army and marines, the Foreign Service, and Middle East CIA experts.
It is now obvious; the opponents of the Iraq War have been proved correct.
This costly and reckless war against Iraq has resulted in the security and wellbeing of the US and millions of others around the globe being jeopardized for years to come.
Unfortunately, there is much that we do not know and probably never will know about the origins and conduct of the war.
The 9/11 attack on the US produced an unprecedented trauma amongst Americans.
In response Americans asked themselves: why did foreign terrorists attack us and why do they hate us?
There is no doubt the bias of US policies toward the interests of Israel in the Israeli– Palestinian conflict and US support for corrupt, repressive regimes fostered resentment and opposition to the US.
The largely ignored Colin Powell Doctrine, based on the devastating experience in the Vietnam War, contained three fundamental principles.
One, the US should go to war only if there were clear and present threats to US national security.
Two, in such an event, the United States should destroy the threat with overwhelming force to defeat the enemy quickly and to rapidly secure and pacify the conquered country.
Three, there must be an agreed ‘exit’ strategy that would give the US military an honorable means of escape if the war went awry and eventual defeat should appear inevitable.
Ahmad Chalabi and other Iraqi expatriates convinced Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz that there would be no need for an exit strategy because the Iraqi people would welcome US forces as liberators.
As a result, the President decided to forsake diplomacy and, turn over to the civilian militarists in the Pentagon the conduct of the war and the postwar fate of Iraq.
This was one of the most disastrous mistakes ever made by a US leader in the realm of foreign policy.
The ‘imperialist elite’ dominant in the Bush Administration, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and John Bolton were supported financially and in other ways by influential ‘think tanks’ such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Heritage Foundation.
A report at the time made recommendations that the regime of Saddam Hussein should be eliminated and the Hashemite dynasty that had been overthrown by the Iraqi military should be re-established.
Dissenters within the Administration who advocated that caution and prudence are of the utmost importance were either totally ignored or moved to positions where they could not make trouble.
As a result, President Bush plunged the USA into a war that has produced tragic consequences for the United States and the rest of the world.
Gordon is the former president and chief executive of BMMI. He can be reached at gordonboyle@hotmail.com