First, you can’t talk about Iraq without talking about September 11th. That day shook everyone, including the people in charge in Washington. Suddenly, any threat—even one that was kinda vague—felt like it needed a fist. And fast.
The problem? Saddam Hussein (Iraq’s dictator) had zero to do with 9/11. None. Nada. But in the fog of fear, logic sometimes takes a nap. The Bush administration started linking Iraq to terrorism, even when the evidence was… flexible.
Remember the phrase “Axis of Evil”? That was Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. It sounded like a bad 80s movie title, but it made Iraq public enemy number two. The gears of war were already turning.
