Review Richard Haass, War of Necessity, War of Choice, A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars, Simon & Schuster, 2009

Haass, Richard, War of Necessity, War of Choice, A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars, Simon & Schuster, 2009

 

Richard Haass worked in both the George H.W. Bush and the George W. Bush administrations. Originally he was in the National Security Council under National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft and then went to work for Secretary of State Colin Powell in the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department. These positions led him to be involved in making policy over Iraq. Haass argues that the Gulf War was a necessary war to preserve America’s national interests while the 2003 invasion of Iraq was not needed.

 

Right at the start Haass lays out his argument. He believes that the Gulf War was a war of necessity where the U.S. had no other choice but to expel Iraq from Kuwait by force because Saddam threatened America’s national interests. If Iraq was allowed to absorb Kuwait it would become the dominant power in the Persian Gulf with influence over the international oil market. The U.S. was also opposed to the naked aggression of Saddam invading his neighbor. In comparison the author thought the 2003 Iraq invasion was a war of choice. President Bush did not have to invade as there were other alternatives such as continuing to contain Saddam. While everyone believed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction they were not a direct threat to the United States nor was anything vitally at risk by Saddam staying in power. Haass writes that after 9/11 Bush wanted to make a statement to the world about American power and believed that overthrowing Saddam could spread democracy throughout the Middle East. Haass finishes by saying that the Gulf War met historical and international standards to be a just war while the 2003 war did not.

 

Another major difference Haas found between the two conflicts was that the two presidents dealt with decision making in dramatically different ways. H.W. Bush had a rigorous policy making process with debates and meetings over how to respond to Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait. W. Bush in comparison never had any discussion about whether or not to invade Iraq. There was never even a meeting where the president told his staff he was going to war. That also explains why the U.S. was so poorly prepared for the occupation of Iraq. There was never an integrated planning system put in place so all the different government agencies could prepare for post-Saddam Iraq and how that would be integrated with the invasion. The impact of that is well known such as not sending enough troops to secure the country.

 

Haass’ ideas are well argued and documented. It’s easy to digest today because almost everyone believes the 2003 Iraq invasion was one of the worst foreign policy decisions the U.S. ever made costing the lives of thousands of Americans and Iraqis. The fact that Iraq had no WMD and was not connected to Al Qaeda undermined the White House’s argument for war shortly after the invasion. Haass does a good job showing that even before that Iraq was not a real threat and that containing Saddam was actually working despite widespread belief within the 2^nd Bush administration that it had failed and therefore war was the only alternative. It’s easy to say in hindsight the U.S. was wrong but Haass writes that even before 2003 there were holes in America’s case for war.

 

Haass makes a very sound argument based upon political science, international relations and history that the Gulf War was conducted for good reason while the 2003 Iraq War was not. He found large differences in not only how the two wars were decided upon and justified but how they were conducted. Haass’ insider view adds credence to his point of view. There are other books about why the 2003 invasion was wrong but they usually get caught up in the details such as Bush mentioning Iraq trying to buy uranium from Africa in his State of the Union. War of Necessity looks at the big picture and found the 1^st President Bush having a range of discussions with his staff and allies and deciding that Iraq invading Kuwait could not stand while the 2^nd Bush wanted to make a statement about American power and ideals after 9/11 and picked Iraq to make an example of with no real debate within his administration. It makes the book well worth reading. 

 

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