Iraq was not a threat to the U.S. in 2003. Now it is.

Many Americans are understandably wary about being pulled back into Iraq. But this time is different.

Iraq
(Image credit: (REUTERS/Stringer))

America is rightly scarred by the dishonest way President George W. Bush and his political allies roped us into invading Iraq. We were told it was in response to 9/11. We were told Saddam Hussein was in league with al Qaeda. We were told Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. We fell for a bait-and-switch as Bush demanded, then ignored, United Nations-led weapons inspections. As the casualties piled up in Iraq, the public's anger was so raw it led to the Republican loss of Congress and the White House. And the relief we felt when President Barack Obama pulled our troops out in 2011 was palpable.

But 2014 is not 2003. Iraq wasn't about al Qaeda before. It is now.

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Bill Scher is the executive editor of LiberalOasis.com and the online campaign manager at Campaign for America's Future. He is the author of Wait! Don't Move To Canada!: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America, a regular contributor to Bloggingheads.tv and host of the LiberalOasis Radio Show weekly podcast.