Justification for war in Iraq?

Answer 1

President Bush's Iraq War justifications have changed several times since the invasion in 2003. Here, see how the reasons for keeping the US at war in Iraq have shifted from year to year.

2003: Iraq Has WMDs and links to Al Qaeda

The Bush Administration justified the war—and the American public accepted that justification—on the grounds that Iraq posed a terrorist threat to the U.S. These justifications included:

Potential connections between Al Qaeda, the author of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

The possibility that Hussein was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction that might fall into the hands of terrorists.

The safe haven Hussein gave to some terrorist organizations, such as that of Abu Nidal, who died in mysterious circumstances in Baghdad, in 2002.

Over time, it has become clear that none of these justifications were quite true when the war started.