Venue: Carrillo Gantner Theatre (B02), Sidney Myer Asia Centre
Presenters: Professor Melvyn P. Leffler
Presented by Professor Melvyn P. Leffler
The war in Iraq launched in 2003 was a decisive moment in post-Cold War international history. This lecture will challenge and interrogate prevailing interpretations of why the United States went to war in March 2003. Critics argue that hubris, power, and greed (oil) inspired the neoconservatives in the Bush administration to push for war. These critics are not wrong, but their explanation is incomplete. A more textured account of the decision to go to war is essential to illuminate the complexities of decision-making and to understand why policy turned out so tragically.
Based on interviews with leading members of the Bush administration, captured Iraqi records, documents and records from the Chilcot parliamentary inquiry in the United Kingdom, declassified U.S. documents, and memoirs and public interviews, this lecture offers a new synthesis, arguing that in addition to hubris and power, fear, threat perception, guilt over 9/11, a sense of responsibility, and worries about domestic political recriminations exerted decisive influence on policymakers.
Melvyn P. Leffler is the Edward Stettinius Chair of American History at the University of Virginia and Miegunyah Distinguished Visiting Fellow 2016 at the University of Melbourne.
from
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/7477-george-w-bush-and-saddam-hussein-why-the-united-states
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