Cost of Military Aid
- The recent history of military interventions suggest that there are significant costs involved, leading to the loss of human rights and sovereignty
- These long-term costs (civilian deaths, number of refugees, monetary, damage to the infrastructure) generally outweigh the short-term gains (avoiding genocide)
- Direct intervention of sending troops and equipment to fight leads to:
- Loss of lives on both sides (soldiers and civilians) e.g. 2001 Afghanistan war - 149,000 civilians died
- Physical and mental injuries
- Costs a lot of money e.g. the 2003 Iraq war cost $2 trillion
- Indirect intervention of providing economic or military assistance:
- Preferable option for many governments
- Involves lower risk and cost
The costs of the Iraq war
- In 2003, the US, with coalition allies including the UK, made the decision to invade Iraq and remove the dictator, Saddam Hussein
- The justification for the invasion was that:
- Saddam, a brutal dictator, was developing weapons of mass destructions (chemical and biological)
- There was much evidence that Saddam was violating many Iraqi human rights, including the use of these weapons against his people
Impacts of the invasion on Iraq
Loss of sovereignty and human rights | Short-term gains versus long-term costs |
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Exam Tip
Do not think of military intervention as just the movement of troops into a conflict zone. It is much more than this and has significant consequences for the population.