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On March 20, 2003, the United States successfully launched an invasion of Iraq. The three primary reasons used as justification for the conflict (disarming Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, to break
the regimes support of terrorism, and to end Saddam Hussein's abuse of human rights) remain hotly debated. The measurements used to assess progress made in Iraq are not exact, making it difficult for the
American people to accurately gauge success or failure there.
On one hand, the country has held several elections, created a national constitution, and formed a new government. On the other, the United States has paid a steep price for these accomplishments. There have been almost 2,200 American soldiers killed and another 15,000 American soldiers injured. Also, it has been estimated that the cost of the conflict may reach nearly $2 trillion dollars.
While these tangible costs cannot be overlooked in any analysis of the war, it is important to look deeper and see what the American investment in Iraq means in other contexts.
There are other potential costs and potential benefits for American success, just as there are for failure. They include what our presence there means for our ability to take military action elsewhere in the world, how our actions in Iraq influence the way other nations view the United States, what an Iraqi democracy could mean for the region at large, and whether the conflict affects other American priorities abroad like the war on terror and helping to speed democracy.
In this class, you will have a simulation that will break the class into several groups working to discuss the options that are available to America in Iraq today: staying the course, increasing our presence, partial
withdrawal, or completely pulling the U.S. military out of the country.
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