Why us declare war on Iraq?

Answer 1

I know it all started when Saddam Hussein (the leader of Iraq) tried to take over the small country Kuwait. We sided with Kuwait since we always try to side with the country that is fighting for freedom. Once we got Saddam out of power and Kuwait was freed we were then after the Al Queda because of Osama bin Laden (9/11 terrorist). Although, they did not belong to a country (and we cant declare war on a person) we made up the WMD (weapons of Mass Destruction) in Iraq this way we can stay there and look for WMD's when we were actually trying to locate Osama.

Answer 2

Declared War Issue

The war in Iraq was never a declared conflict. It was authorized by the president and the Congress, according to the AUMF requirement of the War Powers Act, but never was an official declaration.

Reasons for AUMF on Iraq

The primary reason given by the administration of George W. Bush was that Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, was engaged in the production or acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). These are nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons (examples are the anthrax letter attacks in the US and the Sarin gas attacks in Tokyo--neither of which had any connection to Iraq). It was suggested that Hussein might provide these weapons to terrorists to attack the US. He had already used chemical weapons sold to him by the US against Iran, and also against Iraqi Kurds. Before the war UN inspectors announced they had found no evidence of WMDs, despite unfettered access. After the war was under way, additional investigation concluded Saddam did not have WMDs.

The war continued, however, because the occupation forces of the US were attacked by Iraqi guerrillas, many ironically supported by Iran, Iraq's enemy in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). The US supported a new democratic government within Iraq, which was opposed by various Islamic groups that traditionally held power in the country. Other factions sought to aggrandize their share of the power to be had in the new political system.

It was suggested early on the conflict was predominantly an attempt by the US to control the flow of oil from Iraq, one of the largest petroleum producers in the Middle East.