Weapons of Mass Destruction Term Paper

Richard Butler's; "The Greatest Threat: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Crisis of Global Security." The writer of this paper analyzes the book's content and measures it against the current U.S. foreign policies. There was one source used to complete this paper.

When the Soviet Union began to dismantle and the Berlin Wall came down the United States breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared the threat of nuclear war were over. The calm was short lived however when the states went to battle against Saddam the first time as he threatened to destroy the United States with whatever means were needed. Twelve years later the nation is at war with Iraq again, and again it is over the accusation that Saddam Hussein is continuing to produce weapons of mass destruction. Author Richard Butler writes in his book "The Greatest Threat: Iraq, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and the Crisis of Global Security" the importance of not downplaying this concern. According to Butler; Iraq and its threat to the world through the use of weapons of mass destruction is one of the most pressing problems America currently faces.

One of the things that makes this book more powerful than some of the others written about this topic is the fact that the author is non-other than the Richard Butler who served as the chairman of UNSCOM. This was the committee that was charged with inspecting Iraq following the first gulf war in 1991. The team was charged with checking Iraq for evidence of the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction. Butler served in this capacity for five years from 1992-1997. In his quest he worked to stop Saddam Hussein's ability to construct and stockpile weapons of mass destruction. Butler writes about being thwarted throughout the time he was on the job by several directions. One of the problems was the foreign minister of the nation, Tariq Aziz. In addition according to the author the members of the team who had motivations for their own nation's were constantly going against his directives and trying to change the things that the committee was charged with doing.This book is interesting today, because of the situation the nation is currently facing As the country of France became more and more heated over the prospect of the U.S. attack Iraq many Americans wondered what it was the French were afraid the U.S. would find once they were in there. As the war unfolded it became apparent that the French have been undermining the United States for years. The words of Butler become more powerful and credible now that they can be measured against what the world is seeing happen with Syria, France and several other nations that have been found to have been playing games with Iraq and the U.S.

Butler wrote in his book that there was a serious problem with global security that was directly caused by the world's seeming inability or unwillingness to force inspections on Saddam. The book foretells of things that the world is currently seeing come to pass and the words of Butler are now ringing true with each news broadcast of mounting evidence against Saddam.

Butler outlines the many ways the world is at danger by allowing Saddam to freely move about the nation and do what he wants to do. Butler urges America to continue in its quest and the book is a rousting endorsement of what America is attempting to do now in Iraq. The foreign policy of America today includes the search for terrorism and the destruction of its leaders and forces. The book written by Butler before the War on Terrorism even began supports just such an action. It is a revealing plea to the United States to do exactly what it is currently doing which is a telling story in and of itself as….....