Communications and Media

For many centuries, humans have been involved in wars for various reasons. Wars according to Ricks (2006) are caused by different conflicts of interests, or in a much deeper analysis, wars are caused by human greed and egoistic pursuits. Factors such as poverty, inequality, discrimination and cultural misunderstandings also cause wars.

Much have been said and done to mitigate causes of wars. Yet, people have not learned from the sufferings of the past caused by the horrors and uncertainty brought about by conflicts that sacrificed the lives of the innocent and the great. Oftentimes, wars are being waged to justify a cause, to justify a belief and worst, to justify selfish desires and personal benefit. Grassroots movements around the world are struggle to free the world from the sufferings of war and indignation, however, all of their efforts are wasted as powerful authorities make their way out in justifying their actions.

For Gordon and Shapiro (2004), the war between the United States of America and Iraq was deeply  rooted on both the desire to protect human rights, and the hidden desire to control resources. Rampton and Stauber (2003) clearly elaborated the problems that caused America to wage war against Iraq. According to Rampton and Stauber (2003), the Bush administration went to war against Iraq to bring about change in the regime of Saddam Hussein, a regime that according to Bushs administration, has violated human rights and international mandates and agreements. The Bush administration has stated several reasons for the war against Iraq, as explained by Rampton and Stauber (2003)

America waged war with Iraq because for one, Saddam Hussein is seen as an evil person who has violated many human rights, even killed his own people to protect his power and position. Second, American authority believed that Iraqi people should be liberated from this kind of leader who is not following the United Nations resolutions particularly on disarmament and non-proliferation of destructive weapons. Third, it was believed that Saddam Hussein pose a risk for the United Nations to be seen as an organization that is not credible and lacks integrity. And fourth, the United States is solid on its belief that Saddam Hussein has strong ties with the Al Qaeda terrorist group who caused so much havoc during the September 11 attacks (p. 8).

Millions of people expressed their outrage over this unprecedented destruction not just to properties but also to the worlds most precious resource  the human life. Many innocent lives were lost because of the war in Iraq. Photographs of dead bodies of children, women and innocent civilians continue to proliferate in our TV and computer screen even now. This only means that war is unjustifiable and should be stopped the soonest possible time. If people use revenge as a motive for war, it would surely result to unending cycle of conflicts and misunderstanding.

As much as there are many reasons for going into war against Iraq, there are also many reasons for opposing it. According to Mokhiber and Weissman (2003), it is a common sense to end or stop the war in Iraq given the casualties from both sides brought about by this unending quest for power and resources. For Mokhiber and Weissman (2003), Iraq is no threat to the United States given that Iraq is one of the weakest militaries in the Middles East region with no evidence to having nuclear nor biological or chemical attack against the United States. (p. 17).

A lot of studies and investigations have already been conducted and majority of them explained that one of the major motives of the United States for waging war against Iraq is its desire to control the oil reserves of the region. If this is the case, U.S Iraq war is ridiculous. There are better solutions to energy problems than through waging wars. War in Iraq is a dynamic interplay of economic and political factors that the U.S tried to secure for its own benefit. It would be hard to believe that the United States is caring about the welfare of the Iraqi people if Iraq is not one of the worlds largest oil reserves.

If oil and energy source is one of the main reasons for the war in Iraq, it would right to say that people should move from a fossil fuel-based source of energy into renewable and sustainable energy sources.

Ikeda (2003), in his book entitled The Human Revolution explicitly proclaimed that there is nothing more barbarous than war, nothing more cruel and inhumane (p. 1). This was also the battle cry of those people who have witnessed and experience the horrors of wars. Not only is war barbarous, it also cost a lot. If military spending can be reduced to even a tenth from its present expenditures, it could have been very useful for other people who do not even have a water supply in their communities or food on their table. Proponents of the U.S.-Iraq war are just motivated by their desire to demonstrate just how much military power the U.S. have and not on the motivation to further human rights and democracy.

War is like a grave case of bullying. When we were still young, it is usual for parents to reprimand us regarding bullying. When a child is bullied, there is this interplay of dominant and weak personality. There is always this big boss who is strong physically, and who is in command, forcing others to obey his or her rules. That big boss always feels that he or she is always right and whatever he or she says must be followed by the minions. They often lack the understanding and sympathy for other people, especially to those they bully. This is what the United States have done and is doing to Iraq and its people.

It would be understandable that Americans might feel outrage and indignation towards Iraq after the September 11 attacks. But intensifying this feeling of outrage among the American citizen towards Iraq is a clear indication of the power of propaganda to appeal to peoples emotion, thereby justifying the waging of war.

Apparently, the war in Iraq has caused so much challenge in the present administration. Many politicians might say that the war in Iraq is no longer their business as it was a problem of the previous administration. But the world is waiting for the United States to make its way out of this mess and pave the way to an era of peace and conflict resolution.

This is not an easy task to do. Ending the war in Iraq takes so much courage and commitment to upholding human rights with the sincere intention of respecting and upholding peoples desire to live in peace. One of the easiest and also the most difficult solution to ending war is through a heartfelt dialogue.

As Ikeda (2003) explained, a heart to heart dialogue has its goal, that is, to create mutual understanding between countries of different beliefs to form a consensus to further peaceful coexistence. Conducting a dialogue is a challenge to fully understand and grasp the sufferings of others the way they understand it themselves. At the same time, it enables others to understand you in return. In other words, dialogue is not a static activity, but a dynamic one.  Through dialogue, people from different backgrounds can get rid of their prejudices and eventually find out that every human beings have the same aspirations.

Fighting for human rights cannot be attained by resorting into violence and war. Peaceful coexistence can only be attained through peaceful methods. Ending wars is more of taking the pains to understand the side that is in danger of being misunderstood and misjudged.

The government, being in power holds the most strategic position to end the war. They have the responsibility to protect their own people and at the same time make them understand about other countries situation. Waging war in Iraq will do no good to Americans or to the rest of the world. It will just serve as a catalyst for more terrorist activities to increase. Dialogue, in conclusion, is the key to unlocking this path to peace and coexistence.