Is the war in Iraq a "noble cause"?

Is the War in Iraq a "noble cause"?

"War is never 'a noble cause.' Ask any soldier and that will be their gut reaction. There is nothing noble about war. War is hell. War may sometimes be necessary. It is never noble." --Gary Boatwright, My DD, August 12, 2005.

Moe Blues wrote August 13, 2005, that "Bereaved mother Cindy Sheehan wants to know what her son died for in Iraq. President Bush has assured the nation that her son and the thousands of others killed and maimed in Iraq died in a 'noble cause.' And what is that noble cause?

"Iraqis are debating the form of their new constitution. Will it declare that the Koran is the sole source of law? Or will it declare that the Koran is the primary source of law? These are the questions with which they wrestle.

"Thus it is clear that the 'noble cause' for which our troops have fought and died is the establishment of another fundamentalist Islamic state in the Middle East." --Bad Attitudes, August 13, 2005.

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Reality

"Shiites and Kurds were sending a draft constitution to parliament on Monday that would fundamentally change Iraq, transforming the country into a loose federation, with a weak central administration governed by Islamic law, negotiators said.

"The draft, slated for action by a Monday deadline, would be a sweeping rejection of the demands of Iraq's disaffected Sunni minority, which has called the proposed federal system the start of the breakup of Iraq. Shiites and Kurds indicated they were in no mood to compromise," according to the Washington Post, August 22, 2005.

Theory

Ronald Reagan: Vietnam War

Speaking of the unknown soldiers from the Vietnam War, President Ronald Reagan said May 28, 2004:

"We do know, though, why he died. He saw the horrors of war but bravely faced them, certain his own cause and his country's cause was a noble one; that he was fighting for human dignity, for free men everywhere."

Helen Thomas wrote August 19, 2005, "I remember first hearing the phrase 'noble cause' in the 1980s when President Reagan referred to the Vietnam War in those terms, apparently trying to erase the bad memories of that unpopular conflict that divided the country.

"President George Herbert Walker Bush picked it up and often spoke of Vietnam as a 'noble cause.'

"Now the label has been resurrected for the war in Iraq. With that conflict going badly and the American public showing signs of impatience, the administration is alternately seeking to rally support with the 'stay the course' chant or vague promises that U.S. troops will start leaving Iraq 'soon,' whenever that is."

Bush: War in Iraq = "noble cause"

"In a shift of emphasis, President Bush on Friday [March 28, 2003] termed the war against Iraq 'a noble purpose' that would not only make the world safer but 'free the people of Iraq from the clutches of Saddam Hussein and his murderous allies'," Edwin Chen wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

"Speaking to war veterans in the White House East Room, Bush said that when the war is won, 'All who have joined this cause will be able to say to the Iraqi people: 'We were proud to fight for your freedom."

Merging 9/11, Al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, WMD and war of terror into "noble cause"

"Yesterday, the fights against Al Qaeda and Hussein were merged into a single post-Sept. 11 war on terror, celebrated in a music video tribute to the armed forces, in the testimony of survivors of Sept. 11, and in speeches by leading Republicans, including Arizona Senator John McCain," the Boston Globe's Peter S. Canellos wrote August 31, 2004, about the Republican National Convention.

"After vividly recreating the atmosphere of Sept. 11, 2001 ('that bright September morning'), McCain called on all Americans, including his friends in the Democratic Party, to join the fight against weapons of mass destruction. And McCain insisted that invading Iraq was a 'noble' cause in that war."

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Iraq as an imminent threat
• 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Operation Iraqi Freedom: Year Three: Quagmire
• Peace Vigil August 17, 2005
• Peace Vigil in Crawford, Texas
• farce of democracy

External links

Pre War in Iraq

• Ronald Reagan, "Honoring the Vietnam War's Unknown Soldiers," Arlington National Cemetery, May 28, 1984.

2002

• David L. Phillips, "Ridding Iraqis of Tyranny Is a Noble Cause," International Herald Tribune (Council on Foreign Relations), October 3, 2002.

2003

• Edwin Chen, "Bush shifts emphasis, calls war 'a noble cause'," Los Angeles Times (The Spokesman Review), March 29, 2003.
• Billmon, "Noble Is as Noble Does," Whiskey Bar, August 27, 2003.

2004

• Helen Thomas, "Ignoble, Unnecessary War Hurts America and the Global Community," Miami Herald (Common Dreams), March 23, 2004: "As Bush and his hawkish advisers tell it, the war is now a noble cause. That nobility escapes me."
• Peter S. Canellos, "9/11, Iraq meld into one strategy," Boston Globe, August 31, 2004.
• Adam Smeltz, "Young Republicans Support Iraq War, but Not Willing to Join the Fight," Knight Ridder Newspapers, (Truthout.org), September 1, 2004: "Young Republicans gathered here for their party's national convention are united in applauding the war in Iraq, supporting the U.S. troops there and calling the U.S. mission a noble cause. ... But there's no such unanimity when they're asked a more personal question: Would you be willing to put on the uniform and go to fight in Iraq?" See related article chickenhawk.
• Susan Baer, "Two sons, brothers lost in Iraq, two views of war that took them. Portraits from a Polarized America," Baltimore Sun (Newsday.com), October 6, 2004.
• Cliff Kincaid, "Is the War a Moral Cause?" Accuracy in Media, November 30, 2004.

2005

• David Jackson, "Bush defends war in Iraq, touts domestic agenda" (cache file) Dallas Morning News, August 3, 2005: "Seeking to revive his political prospects, President Bush called the Iraq war a 'noble cause' Wednesday while promoting an aggressive domestic agenda that includes changes to Social Security, immigration and the tax code."
• Stan Goff, "Homegrown Resistance — Of Hoisting and Petards," Bring Them Home Now!, August 9, 2005.
• "Is Iraq a Noble Cause?" MyDD, August 12, 2005.
• Robert Steinback, "Daring to Ask Blasphemous Questions," Miami Herald (Common Dreams), August 17, 2005.
• Linda Milazzo, "A Challenge to Reporters: It's Time to Hawk the Chickens," Common Dreams, August 17, 2005.
• Mary deJuliis, "Texas protest changes columnist's perspective," Muskogee Phoenix, August 18, 2005.
• Thom Hartmann, "George W. Bush's Noble Cause - 'Political Capital'," Common Dreams, August 29, 2005.