The Gulf War from the American perspective Essay

The Gulf War from the American perspective - Essay Example In any case, once thing is clear; the publicly stated reasons of Iraq war were not digestible to many people. This paper analyses Gulf War from American perspectives. George Bush thought that Gulf War may help him to win the presidential election once again. He thought that this war might help him and his party (Republicans) to increase the popularity and hence he may get an easy walkover in the coming presidential election. However, Bill Clinton proved that such beliefs were wrong. â€Å"Clinton successfully made the economy the issue in the next election and managed to win it†1. â€Å"For years Saddam received US support while committing atrocities. His was not the only government committing atrocities. His atrocities were never publicly discussed until he invaded Kuwait†2. The invasion of Kuwait brought Saddam Hussein into the public lime light. It was difficult for America to justify Saddam further. It should be noted that democracy is prevailing in America and Amer ica believes themselves as the saviour of human rights. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for America to stay blind while Iraq was questioning the sovereignty of an independent country. Moreover, many Americans thought that Saddam is trying to become another Hitler. Increased influence of Saddam in the Middle East was not good for the American interests. â€Å"Saddam was repeatedly compared to Hitler. Then he was publicly defied and demeaned. The president said he has "had it" with "Sad'm" Hussein. Under U. S. leadership, the world was mobilized against him†3. America suspected the possibility of another world war unless they prevent Saddam from conquering neighbouring countries. It should be noted that the military power of other gulf countries were negligible in front of Iraq’s military power at that time. In short, many people believe that America attacked Iraq to save the world from the possibility of another world war. Another argument claims that Americ a attacked Iraq to control the oil resources. However, this argument seems to be far from reality since America’s oil imports from Iraq account only 5% of the total energy needs in America. There are plenty of other countries in this world which rely heavily on Iraqi oil resources for their energy needs. â€Å"So oil is not the whole answer. Other possible aspects of the answer include "a new world order," collective security, interdependence, prevention of regional hegemony, and reversal of American decline†4. Even though Iraqi oil does not cause much direct problems to America, it has the potential to cause indirect economic problems in America. If Saddam Hussein had raised oil prices to $27 a barrel, the increase in our import bill would have been about $20 billion a year, or less than one half of one percent of GNP. The greater harm comes when sudden rises depress the economy, but this effect is harder to estimate. Some economists believe that a temporary oil price of $40 a barrel, for example, helped to trigger the recession, which represented a loss of several percent of GNP5. â€Å"U.S. policy toward the Middle East is characterized by an intention to ultimately control the oil there, and keep other powers--not just the Soviet Union, but also Britain and France--away, if not dependent on the United States6. It is a fact that oil resources in America are rapidly exhausting even though the demand for oil increases. The oil needs or the energy

Scholarly paper Scholarship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Scholarly paper - Scholarship Essay Example Whether or not a law prohibiting smoking in cars containing minors could be passed in the US would ultimately depend on the law’s constitutionality under the Commerce Clause of the US constitution. The Commerce Clause allows congress â€Å"to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states† and has long been an issue of political and social debate. The Supreme Court’s current standard for determining whether Congress has exceeded its commerce power can be subjective, making it difficult to predict constitutionality of proposed public health laws. However, the court has shown surprising willingness in recent cases to broaden the power of congress to regulate commerce in order to protect public health. Especially to innocent children confined to auto mobiles and who cannot protect themselves, as such a federal law prohibiting smoking in cars containing minors could be found constitutional. Furthermore, if congress were to refuse to take such a law into consideration, it could be possible for states, themselves, to regulate smoking in cars under the dormant commerce clause. This problem cannot be easily prevented by taking simple actions like opening of the car windows. This is because this action can change the direction of the air flow and as a result the smoke gets blown right back into the face of the child. What requires to be done is a law to be passed that prohibits smoking in motor vehicles. This can place stiff penalties to the offenders with the possibility that the parents can lose custody of their children if found engaging in the act. The level of exposure to secondary smoke by children is about 11% in the United States. This study was carried out among children aged below 6 years. It was also revealed that it was the parents who were the main source of exposure to their children, exposure by parents accounted for 90%. There was a new revelation in the research