Dove and Hawk View of Iraq War

Hawk and Dove Views of the Iraq War

On March 18, 2003 the United States invaded Iraq. (The Washington Post) The War with Iraq is a very divisive issue around the world. Turn on any news show and you will see a daily debate on the pros and cons of going to war. Because of the situations that have occurred between the United States and Iraq, very different views and perceptions have developed. Much debate on the justification of the United States for being in Iraq, let alone overthrowing its “government”, has been presented from both sides – the Hawks and the Doves.

My perception sees it like this. There are basically two different views of this war, one view being that of a Hawk and the other view being that of a Dove. The ideology of the Hawk symbolizing strength, sternness, and the notion of seeing what it wants and taking it and the Dove which normally symbolizes peach, love, and harmony, to me seems to be a perfect fit for icons of these two views.

Hawks idealistically are mostly republican/conservative in the political scheme of things. The United States and the world had a duty to disarm a rogue nation like Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a tyrant that had demonstrated a complete disregard for human life and needed to be brought to justice. The people of Iraq are an oppressed people, and the world has a duty to help these people. The oil reserves of the region are necessary to the world’s economy. The WORLD not just the United States. An element like Saddam and his regime threatens the oil reserves of the entire region. The practice of appeasement only fosters even bigger tyrants. Saddam had continuously reneged on promises made to disarm any weapons and follow UN resolutions made. The removal of Saddam Hussein and his regime would uphold previous UN resolutions and give the body some credibility. By removing Saddam from power, the world of the future is safer from terrorist attacks.

Rush Limbaugh is a very famous journalist and radio personality. He is noted for his

Republican/conservative, somewhat brass ways of bringing to light topics with such

Debatable justifications. Limbaugh denounces those who are urging restraint against force on Baghdad. "Everybody and their uncle is begging us not to go into Iraq – the Europeans, the West Germans, the Saudis," Limbaugh said.

"While everybody wants regime change, they don't have the guts to...

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... to be one common denominator between these very different points of view and that is neither side of this issue has EVER stated that they wanted or strived for the goal of going to war. This is called the “human factor”. No matter which side of the fence you are on here neither side still believes in the morals of a nation and its people, know the differences between right and wrong and have a love for human life. The Hawk’s believe enough is enough and that the U.S. must stand up and end this madness of putting our country in harms way. The Dove’s believe this to but believe there is a better way of obtaining this goal and that is by peaceful talks and compromises coinciding with mutual agreement of the entire world. Whether a person is a Hawkish or Dovish, in the end it probably comes down to their values, their knowledge of the issues, their social upbringings, their politics, and maybe their religion or lack thereof.

Works Cited

Balz, Dan and Jim VandeHie. Dean Stands By His Objections to Iraq War. The Washington Post. 16 Dec 2003.

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Kovacs, Joe. Rush Limbaugh: Blast Iraq on 9-11. World Net Daily. Aug 2002.

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