War on Iraq, Essay Example

For the case of Iraq war, the utilitarian approach is used in this argument. It states that an individual should do what upholds the highest quantity of happiness for the victims. The war was devastating as it led to the deaths of a very large number of soldiers, both American and Iraq soldiers. Moreover, many innocent civilians also lost their lives. Many people have put forward speculations as to the reason for the war. The most prominent reasons for the war are to cub terrorism and search for weapons of mass destruction. From the utilitarian perspective, the war in Iraq would have to produce the greatest happiness by participating in the war more than not participating. However, the main reason for participating in the war is unclear.

Moreover, the taxpayers’ money was spent in the war, which means that taxpayers will be happy in the future if no such wars come up. Both the American and Iraq civilians were affected. The war spread to other nations in Middle East and affected many people. Surely, this did not generate any form of happiness, and therefore, USA did not apply utilitarianism. According to international law and morality, war was evil and the USA should not have engaged in the war. There was no evidence to show the Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. A country should not fight another like US did to Iraq. My opinion is that there should have been no war in the first place. All the hostility displayed by President Bush to Iraq and Saddam Hussein brought more losses than benefits, therefore, no happiness was generated at all. This is against utilitarian approach or philosophy.