Urban sociology

Urban Sociology – Religious Implications behind Iraq War – Introduction Since the September 2001 terrorist attack in the United States and the Afghanistan suicide terrorism back in October 2005, the global news reports related to Iraq war were very much focused on killings and suicide bombings. The violence attached with the war has lead to brutal and untimely death of millions of innocent Iraqi civilians including Iraqi soldiers as well as the lives of the U. S. troop members who are merely doing the job assigned to them by its respective government.
Based on the article written by Consolatore (2006) entitled ‘ The Pashtun Factor: Is Afghanistan Next in Line for an Ethnic Civil War?’; the religious implications of the Iraq war will be thoroughly examined and discussed.
Religious Implications of the Iraq War
Since the September 2001 terrorist attack, the United States had been very active in extending its support by sending some of its troops and its allies to Iraq. Aiming to provide justice to American individuals who had lost their lives during the terrorist attack, President Bush declared the launching of a campaign against terrorism.
In reality, Bush’s statement and strong declaration to go against the terrorism was not only focused on political and social dimension of the case scenario. It also suggests a long-term war between Christianity against the Arab and Islamic world. (Fawzy, 2003)
When President Bush made his statement to go into war with the Iraqi people, he has violated the real concept of Christianity in the sense that we should spread love and peace around us – not war. The only people who can be considered a victim of the situation are the U. S. solidiers who were sent to Iraq with the risk of losing their lives and fight against individuals who were merely protecting themselves from being attacked by the U. S. troop members.
Eventhough the war in Iraq was not literally known to be a war between two religious sectors, it remains a fact that there is a strong political and religious aspect behind the war in Iraq. One political reason why U. S. is very much determined to attack Iraq is the fact that the country is rich in natural resources especially with oil which is very important to the U. S. future economic growth. (Escobar, 2007) On the other hand, war in Iraq is also considered a religious civil war. Since Islam is widely used as a transnational faith which unites its community (Toft, 2008), attacking the Islamic religion could weaken the unity of its community which could easily make the U. S. and its allies take over Iraq.
Conclusion
The oil reserve of Iraq is second biggest in the world. (Socrates, 2003) For this reason, there is a strong possibility that President Bush’s desire to go into war with Iraq is not solely based on its desire to go against the so-called September 2001 terrorism attack but more on the oil reserves that Iraq has compared with other countries.
Aside from Iraqi’s government, another sector that unites the Iraqi people is their religious beliefs. Given that Saddam Hussein was subject to a death sentence back in November 2006 (Karadsheh & Raman, 2006), weakening Iraqi government combined with attacking its religion will make it for the U. S. troop and its allies to easily attack and take over the wealth of Iraqi nation.
Reference:
Consolatore, D. (2006). The Pashtum Factor: Is Afghanistan Next in Line for an Ethnic Civil War? The Humanist , 10 – 13.
Escobar, P. (2007, febraury 28). Asia Times. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from USs Iraq oil grab is a done deal: http://www. atimes. com/atimes/Middle_East/IB28Ak01. html
Fawzy, N. (2003, April 2). Religioscope. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from Egyptian media: religious dimensions of the war against Iraq: http://www. religioscope. info/article_117. shtml
Karadsheh, J., & Raman, A. (2006, November 5). CNN. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from Iraqis react with joy, anger to Hussein death sentence: http://edition. cnn. com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/05/dujail. saddam/index. html
Socrates. (2003, May 27). Retrieved July 11, 2008, from Bushs Deep Reasons for war on Iraq: Oil, Petrodollars, and the OPEC Euro Question: http://socrates. berkeley. edu/~pdscott/iraq. html
Toft, M. D. (2008, June 2). Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Retrieved July 11, 2008, from ” Why Islam Lies at the Heart of Iraqs Civil War”: http://belfercenter. ksg. harvard. edu/publication/18327/why_islam_lies_at_the_heart_of_iraqs_civil_war. html