ABSTRACT
The United States invaded Iraq on 19 March 2003. The basic storyline at the time, which served to legitimize the invasion, was the Bush administration’s allegations that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and that he had “links” to terrorists. The narrative stated repeatedly that taken together this constituted a “grave” threat to the security of the United States. It would become apparent over time, however, that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to Osama bin Laden and posed no imminent threat to the United States
