Reasons Why Many Latin American Immigrants Came to the U S

U.S. Foreign Policy

The Law of Unintended Consequences -- Iraq War Aftermath

Notwithstanding the outcome that the George W. Bush Administration had hoped for and planned for, the Iraq War " ... had a broad destabilizing effect across much of the Middle East" (Wong, 2008). The toppling of Saddam Hussein was one objective of the Bush Administration that was achieved. But the justifications given to the public -- in strong, unrelenting terms through many venues including the United Nations -- for the invasion into Iraq was that Hussein had " ... chemical, biological and nuclear weapons" (Wong, 2008). However, no such weapons were ever found. Additional unintended consequences of the Bush invasion (and the unintended consequences of the "surge") include: a) the launching of the sectarian war between the Sunni Arabs and the Shiites; b) a body count by the Lancet Medical Journal tallied 655,000 people had died resulting from the 2003 invasion (while the Bush Administration claimed just 30,000 Iraqis had died); c) the CIA claims the U.S. went to war "on false intelligence" (Thompson, 2012).

Somehow the Bush Administration believed that once Hussein was gone from power, the Iraqi people would rally around the United States and accept democracy, just like that. However no such even took place; instead, sectarian violence was widespread. The violence included suicide bombers killing 114 in Hilla, south of Baghdad, and there is a "surge in car bombing, bomb explosions and shootings" and even though a new constitution is approved, and the parliament is in place (BBC).

The mess that the U.S. decision-makers got into, as mentioned, is in no small part due to the Sunni Muslims feeling like they have been marginalized by the Shia-led government. The American leadership was ineffective in helping Iraq create a shared government, with both Shiites and Sunnis sharing power

In 2014, the U.S. and its allies begin to confront the reality of the Islamist fighters known as ISIS, a group that -- largely due to the ineffective fighting forces of the Iraqi government -- easily take over Fallujah and Mosul in Iraq (BBC). The enormous threat that ISIS poses to Iraq is most certainly one of the most glaring unintended consequences of the entire U.S. misadventure in Iraq.

When a U.S. soldier was seen through a photographer's lens during the bloody battle in Falluja -- like James Blake Miller was -- he was pictured as a hero back in the United States. Miller's "wan face, streaked with mud and blood, in a moment of reflection," showed a kind of determination to win the war (Harris, 2006). American was of course war-weary, having already gone through three years of war in Iraq. And what was needed to reinforce American doggedness and toughness, was the image portrayed by the photo of Miller. His image " ... became a symbol of steely resolve, of the weary-yet-determined struggle ... " (Harris).

Harvest of Empire -- U.S. Intervention into Latin America