On The Ideological Side Of The Iraq War

There are many debates and arguments surrounding the motives behind the US-led Iraq war. Whether the war was fought to secure steady oil supply from the Middle East, to make profit for the high ranking officials in the Bush administration, to name just a few, have been a frequent topic among scholars and interested people. In this thesis, the writer argues that rather than the practical reasons listed above, the Iraq war is fought more on an ideological ground. It is a continuation of the involvement policy adopted by the US since the end of WWI. More importantly, it carries on the psychology of fighting an ideological war since the end of Cold War. With the passing of time, the adversaries of the US have changed from the communist threat to the tyrannical regime of former Iraq leader, Saddam Hussein, but the essentials of fighting an ideological war remains, such as the strategies, the fundamental goals and objectives.Traditional wars focus on the use of physical violence to eliminate enemies and achieve territorial gains. In contrast, an ideological war is more concerned about the psychological aspects, despite the fact that military fighting is also an important part. Victory not only depends on the tangible defeat of the enemies, more importantly, it depends on the ideological conversion of the enemies. Have they accepted the promoted values? Have they abandoned their old beliefs? Has a benign form of government been established in place of the old one that has been overthrown? Is this government functioning? Does it pose threat anymore? For those waging an ideological war, these are the essential questions to ask.In the thesis, the writer has analyzed the US strategies in the Iraq war by applying the psychological trinity theory, compared the objectives of the US with the realities now, and reached the conclusion that the Iraq war is an ideological war and that the difficulties the Iraqi new government and people face reveal the failure of the US post-war policies; nonetheless, that does not change the fact that the Iraq war has been fought on ideological ground.