Presentation essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Presentation - Essay Example It is unarguable that war is a horrible thing. It causes death on a large scale, and can wound, make homeless, or otherwise harm many more people than it kills. War disrupts peoples lives, and some philosophies like Egoism might argue that getting involved in foreign wars especially is unethical. By taking a Utilitarian view, though, we can argue that even though war is horrible, it can still be an ethical action, because it may eventually benefit people in a way that not going to war and staying with the current state of affairs in a foreign country would not. One obvious example that is often questioned in ethical terms is the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. This is a sticky question, ethically speaking, because whether or not the war has benefited people depends on who you ask. Before the invasion, the country was ruled by Saddam Hussein, who was executed for crimes against humanity due to his 1982 attack on a village after a failed assassination attempt. It could be argued that, from a utilitarian point of view, the lives of the people of Iraq have been improved by Husseins removal from power. Now that the fighting is mostly over, and peoples lives have improved to almost where they were before, it could be argued that there has been a net gain in happiness and benefit, as the people of Iraq now live in a free, democratic nation where they do not have to deal with a tyrannical ruler. However, there are some arguments for the opposite view as well. Although the people of Iraq now no longer have to be ruled by Saddam Hussein, and have held several free and fair elections, they now have to worry about suicide bombers and extremists. Many of these attacks are over now, but the nation is still not a safe place to live, and was arguably safer under Husseins regime as long as you were not on his bad side. These problems, coupled with the undeniable suffering that