US Role in Iraq and Its Negative Impact on Its National Economy

Since the beginning of the war, national debt of the US has increased by $ 2.5 trillion (cedarcomm.com). The Iraq war is currently a major issue in the United States. The war, as well as causing a drastic rise in the nation’s economical regress, has undermined faith from both federal and national government. Currently, one of the main argument that many citizens of the United States, as well as people from all around the world, ask themselves is, is it more important to spread the form of government known as democracy, to ensure that people in various parts of the world are not suppressed and have a right to state their opinion, or is it more important to ensure that one’s own country is financially stable enough to support itself.

The war was officially declared on March 20th, 2003(wikipedia.org). At the break of the war, it was announced that Iraq was openly working with the terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda, and developing weapons of mass destruction, threatening not only US national security, but the whole world (wikipedia.org). However, the official reason for the war has little to do with stopping terrorism. In fact, the war was fought to bring a democratic government to Iraq, a formerly totalitarian nation where residents were not permitted to speak openly about their opinions (wikipedia.org). Now that this primary goal has been acheived, the US military forces are trying to clear Iraq of insurgents who oppose the government (wikipedia.org).

A poll in 2003, before the break of the war, showed that 64% of American citizens wanted military action in Iraq, where as the remaining 46% wanted a diplomatic solution (wikipedia.org). However, a 2007 poll showed that 73% of the American population were against the war, meaning that at least 9% of Americans have changed their opinions on the war within only four years (wikipedia.org). It is doubted that most Iraqis themselves agree to this “liberation” war. As a 2005 poll showed, 87% of those interviewed were against US military action in their country, 70% of which wanted immediate withdrawal of the troops (wikipedia.org).

There have been a total of 17,519 american soldiers that died in Iraq, and 30,329 wounded (Margaret Griffis). However, this number is dwarfed by comparison by the number of Iraqi deaths, which are an estimated 1,213,700 (justforeignpolicy.org). However, this is only an estimate. It is possible that the figures for Iraqi casualties are higher or lower. In total though, at least more than one million people have died in the war, whose primary goal was to bring freedom and peace to the Iraq.

Approximately 523.7 billion dollars have been spent on the war since its initiation (Christopher Hellman and Travis Sharp). Before the war started, in 2001 the money spent on national security was little more than 330 billion (Christopher Hellman and Travis Sharp). In 2002 it approached 400 billion (Travis Sharp). In 2007, 628 billions of dollars have been spent on providing national security, almost twice as much as the money spent before the war (Travis Sharp). Therefore, this war aginst global terrorism, as well as opression of speech, might have increased national threat instead of aborting it. Since the beginning of the war to 2007, national debt has risen from 6.8 trillion $ to 9.3 trillions(Steve McGourty). By the end of 2008, it is estimated that national debt will be well over 10 trillion dollars (Steve McGourty). The US government earns 2.7 trillion dollars in taxes per year. If by the end of 2008, the estimate of 10 trillion dollars as national debt is correct, then it will take approximately three and a half years to repay the debt. However, this would only be possible if the US spends all its tax money on repaying the debt, leaving no money to financiate what many cosider to be more important issues, such as health care, government executive branch, and education, which take up 32% of U.S. tax distribuition (oregonpeaceworks.web.aplus.net).

America has spent more than it has earned, to support a war for freedom of speech that is being opposed by more than 73% of American citizens, and it is therefore in a state of financial unbalance. If this issue is not addressed as the most important in contemporary America, it is estimated that by the end of 2008, national debt will be over 10 trillion, a rate equal to the amount that is earned in taxes in five years by the national government. The Iraq War is therefore a major issue in the United States.