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← The Iraq WMD Precedent

The Citizens Who Didn't Believe It: 15 February 2003, and the Iraq Comparison in 2026

February 2003​

On 15 February 2003, before the invasion, people in more than 600 cities protested; BBC News estimated six to ten million took part across up to sixty countries that weekend (Wikipedia, 15 February 2003 anti-war protests). They were widely dismissed at the time. The official reviews later said the weapons case they doubted was wrong. A boomer recalled: "I am a boomer, and I was protesting in the streets when we went into Iraq" (Reddit).

The same line drawn in 2025–2026​

  • Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, June 2025: "We were told there was weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and there wasn't" (Rev transcript).
  • Joe Kent, March 2026: "This is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war" (letter).
  • Max Boot, 28 February 2026: "There is no reason to think this war with Iran is necessary," subhead "Trump criticized the Iraq War. Now he's making the same mistakes" (as listed on memeorandum).
  • A Trump voter, 3 March 2026: "This is the Iraq playbook all over again: lies, shifting goalposts, bombs based on shaky 'intel'" (Thomas Paine Band).
  • April 2026: "I doubt we are being told the truth, kind of like how 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' (WMD) was a fabricated lie used to justify the war in Iraq 23 years ago... It also seems like Israel is at the core of all of this" (@ColinTCrypto, 12 April 2026, about 13,500 views).
  • Senator Elizabeth Warren, as quoted in a March 2026 video poll: the war in Iran is "illegal" and "based on lies and no clear plan" (@DKH013, 20 March 2026).

Why there were fewer protests in 2026​

In April 2026 someone asked: "Why has there been no protests at all in America about this war? Only 18% of the country supports it." One reply: "Today nobody's buying that shit. We all know it's about Israel, so there just won't be any protests" (@Quidnam); that is his view. Another reason is structural: in 2003 there was no draft to bring parents into the streets, and in 2026 there is none yet. The draft list becomes automatic in December.

Sources​

Status: Marjorie Taylor Greene: Alive. Joe Kent: Alive. Max Boot: Alive. Elizabeth Warren: Alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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