Following the invasion in March 2003 and the swift toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime, extensive searches by U.S. and allied forces failed to uncover any active WMD programs. The Iraq Survey Group, led by Charles Duelfer, concluded in 2004 that Iraq had ended its WMD programs years earlier and did not possess stockpiles of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons at the time of the invasion. The absence of WMDs dealt a major blow to the credibility of the U.S. government. It exposed how intelligence had been exaggerated, cherry-picked, and even misinterpreted to fit a predetermined policy agenda. The war, initially framed as a necessary action to disarm a dangerous regime, increasingly came to be viewed as a war of choice built on false pretenses. The use of WMDs as a justification for the Iraq War had far-reaching consequences. Domestically, it led to a significant erosion of public trust in government and media institutions. Internationally, it damaged U.S. credibility and strained alliances, particularly with countries that had opposed the invasion, such as France and Germany.
In the realm of geopolitics, history rarely repeats itself perfectly. But as tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran escalate, many analysts and observers have drawn parallels to the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Right now, Iran is framed as a grave and imminent threat to the world – accused of developing weapons of mass destruction, and is being demonised through a steady stream of strategic misinformation. The narrative architecture that justified the Iraq War is being reconstructed once more, with Iran as the primary villain. Despite the fact that Iran remains a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly stated that Iran is not actively pursuing a nuclear weapon, the “threat” is consistently amplified.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, has monitored Iran’s nuclear program for decades. While Iran has enriched uranium to higher levels in recent years, especially after the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the IAEA has not found proof that Iran is diverting nuclear material toward a weapons program. The CIA and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), have consistently stated in public reports that Iran is not currently developing a nuclear weapon. In Spite of the above, some U.S. officials and Israeli neocons frame Iran as an existential danger – not only to Israel but to the world. This is dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric. The Israeli government, particularly under leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu, has long warned that Iran “is only months away from acquiring a nuclear weapon” – a claim he repeated for over three decades. These expressions obviously serve to manufacture urgency and reduce the space for diplomacy – just as the WMD hysteria silenced dissent in 2003. In fact, Netanyahu testified before Congress in the United States that Iraq had WMDs – obviously a lie.
We will now remind the reader of the devastation following the US’ unjust invasion of Iraq in 2003. The war itself resulted in immense human suffering. Estimates suggest 1 million Iraqi civilians died as a result of the conflict and its aftermath. The invasion also destabilised the region, contributing to the rise of extremist Daesh groups such as ISIS, and triggering a humanitarian crisis that persists to this day. In Fallujah, the consequences of US intervention lingers as well. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, there was a 38-fold increase in childhood leukemia in Fallujah compared to international averages – a type of blood cancer very rare in young populations, believed to be linked to toxic environmental exposure following the bombings. A 2010 epidemiological survey found that childhood cancer rates were 12 times higher in Iraq than in neighboring countries like Jordan or Kuwait. Families reported clusters of leukemia within neighborhoods, with multiple cases in single families or small communities. Multiple independent investigations have identified US depleted uranium (DU) munitions as a cause of this public health crisis. Fallujah has been described as “the most contaminated city in the world” by some health experts. A 2011 Lancet study concluded that birth defects and cancer clusters were consistent with exposure to ionising radiation and environmental toxins.
The U.S. and Israel’s current trajectory toward conflict with Iran bears all the hallmarks of the prelude to the Iraq War of 2003: exaggerated threats, manipulated intelligence, marginalised diplomacy, and media complicity. But unlike 2003, the stakes today are even higher. The world has already witnessed the costs of war built on lies, yet those lessons are being discarded in favor of renewed militarism and strategic dominance. To avoid repeating the grave mistakes of 2003, it is essential for those who can effect change in the United States to question such suspicious narratives, demand transparency, and prioritise diplomacy over war and destruction.