President George W. Bush sits in the Oval Office of the White House late March 19, 2003, after a national address announcing he had launched war against Iraq.

Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images

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Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images

President George W. Bush sits in the Oval Office of the White House late March 19, 2003, after a national address announcing he had launched war against Iraq.

Luke Frazza/AFP via Getty Images

In 2003, the U.S. launched a war in Iraq based on what turned out to be bad intelligence about weapons programs, then spent years mired in a conflict with no clear end.

Today, President Trump is threatening to bring the U.S. military into another Middle East conflict. As with Iraq, the justification for a potential attack on Iran is the alleged threat of a nuclear weapon.

We talk to journalist Steve Coll, author of The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq about how this moment echoes the run-up to the war in Iraq and how it differs.

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This episode was produced by Michael Levitt and Connor Donevan. It was edited by Tinbete Ermyas and William Troop. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.