A decade of triumph and tribulation was marked earlier this month on the anniversary of America’s invasion of Iraq, March 20, 2003.
The American raid under the Bush Administration was aimed to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction and to end inhumane acts by Saddam Hussein, according to the New York Times.
After years in search of undiscovered weaponry, violent struggles for power, and the execution of Saddam Hussein in Dec. 2006, the United States troops left Iraq in Dec. 2011, according to BBC News.
Although the extensive war efforts cost nearly 5,000 American lives, as reported by National Public Radio News, some Americans feel the fight for human justice was necessary.
Nune Perez, WTAMU vice president of the Veterans Network and a Navy Veteran, believes global injustice falls on the responsibility of the entire world.
“While in the early years of [Naval] service, I always wondered why we were in the Middle East,” Perez said. “Many asked why our country was a part of such a lengthy and expensive war. [While keeping] in contact with many brothers and sisters serving [in Iraq] and growing in military rank, I realized our oath expands to the defense of all who were oppressed.”
Like Perez, other WTAMU students feel confident in America’s global responsibility.
Vitaliy Skorodziyevskiy, a junior International Business major and an international student from Kazakhstan, questions America’s initial intentions yet believes in the power of American aid.
“There was a huge controversy on whether or not the U.S. was helping the world with some injustices for the right reasons. So I see that [instance] as a political war for some resources, oil in this case,” Skorodziyevskiy said. “However, the U.S. is one of those countries that is willing to help and has enough capacity to solve foreign problems. I do believe that those countries that have the best opportunities to help should do so.”
Involved or withdrawn, Perez said the United States will be scorned either way, so the key is to be active.
“The United States will face ridicule whether we act or not act [in the instance of] freedoms being stripped from citizens of another nation,” Perez said. “But as Edmund Burke once said that ‘for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’”
