Today marks the tenth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, a war, which Jonathan Schell recently wrote, that created a dangerous precedent, a “change from diplomacy and agreements to force as the means for achieving nonproliferation.” This is, of course, beyond the massive loss of Iraqi and American lives.

The United States’s current bellicosity toward Iran reflects this dangerous change and threatens to repeat the previous deceptions of the rush to war on Iraq, as we’re told about fictitious Iranian weapons of mass destruction—stories just like the ones that led us into Iraq. Most recently, Senators Lindsay Graham and Robert Menendez introduced Senate Resolution 65, which lays the groundwork for the US to offer military aid to Israel in the event of a pre-emptive strike on Iran.

Ten years after the United States’ invasion of Iraq, it is imperative that we learn the lessons of the war that lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and 4,483 US soldiers. On the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, join Schell and The Nation in imploring President Obama and Congress to avoid what would be the catastrophic mistake of a war with Iran. Then lend your support to Code Pink, Iraq Veterans Against the War and United for Peace and Justice, organizations that have proven to be vital in shedding light on the horrific cost and futility of the war.

The Nation’s Open Letter to Congress, published in the fall of 2002 amid the rush to war in Iraq, was sadly prescient in anticipating the lethal precedents of the Iraq invasion.

In today’s episode of Democracy Now!, Al Jazeera reporter Dahr Jamail discusses the legacy of the invasion for the people living in Iraq today.