Diario de Irak: A Just War or Just War?

This study examines Mario Vargas Llosa’s trip to Iraq in 2003 and his conclusions regarding the rationales for the U. S.-led occupation. Vargas Llosa observes that the war was initiated under false pretenses, and that the Iraqi people are frustrated with the chaos and instability. Extremists who fear Western encroachment on Middle Eastern cultures, prefer to see war in Iraq rather than on their own soils. I use the theories of Marshall McLuhan, Sun Tzu, and Paul Virilio to illustrate the strategies involved in the war machine’s success as well as the lie of democracy which is used to deceive people into believing that the war is just. According to Virilio, we are purchasing protection and security at the cost of our own freedoms, which have been eroded by the Homeland Security Act.