People oppose the Iraq war on the following grounds
Before the war, UN inspectors did not find any evidence to suggest the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Even after the attack on Iraq, there were no weapons of mass destruction found, hence there was no reason to go to war. There was no basis to start a war before it became necessary with a pre-emptive strike which is contrary to international law and that too without the approval of the United Nations and without the support of most other countries. Consequently, the US has suffered financially and lost so much in terms of credibility and financial burden. Additional expenses will have to be incurred in rebuilding Iraq. The US has not acted fairly in seeking to take control of Iraqi oil reserves by conquering them and benefiting from the control of such oil reserves. This is no logical reason that by taking control of Iraq’s oil reserves, the US can make the world safe from weapons of mass destruction. This is no way of liberating Iraq. The fact that there was no link found between Iraq and the September 11 attack on the US is clear evidence of US injustice in attacking Iraq. This will give a boost to terrorism due to the injustice done. It is well known that Al Qaeda is a bigger risk to the US than Iraq and attacking Iraq has not helped the US in any way to curb the risk of further attacks by Al Qaida. The money used in the Iraq war could have been more effectively used to prevent the risk from Al Qaida. Although the war liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein, the threat to its people remains almost the same with the opposition from Shiite leaders who are against the US occupation of Iraq.
Justification for the Iraq war is given on the following grounds
The US had to go to war without UN support in view of the refusal of Iraq to disarm, and waiting for UN inspectors to finish their inspection would have taken too long and would have given Iraq more time to build weapons of mass destruction. Attacking Iraq was the only way to find weapons of mass destruction. According to the US President world opinion did not matter when the question was of US security even if the popularity of the president was at stake. By opting to attack Iraq without obtaining UN approval, the US was able to take control of Iraqi oil reserves, which are the second largest in the world. To compensate for its war losses the US can sell Iraqi oil. The US opined that if they had waited for UN approval more terrorists would have infiltrated into their country to bring further losses and harm to its people. The US is not repentant as it believes that attacking Iraq has helped in preventing AL Qaida from taking control of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and that it was wisdom and courage on its part in taking such action. The US is confident that the war will now result in a democratic government being set up in Iraq which will be a model for the Middle East, which will further build a new world order dominated by American military and American values. The war will liberate the people of Iraq and the US will rebuild the Iraqi economy. The US is of the firm opinion that war was the only option because Iraq was repeatedly violating UN instructions for disarmament and the UN credibility would have been reduced if they did not attack Iraq.