Allow me to preface this diary by saying that I knew that the Bush administration's pretext for invading Iraq, the claimed existence of WMD's, was bullshit at the time. It didn't take much research to establish that the claimed evidence was based on bullshit, that the Bush Administration was stovepiping information to support its claims of WMD, that major allies, as well as competent and responsible entities within the US government, knew that there was no "there" there.
The Bush Administration "succeeded" in invading Iraq by bribing and arm-twisting allies, fearmongering, political manipulation, and exploiting 9/11. I feel that they used propagandistic techniques to accomplish their goals. I also believe that this complete abuse of power was directed by a small group of individuals, mostly within the Bush administration, who basically "hacked" the US government, bypassing standard checks and balances by exploiting weaknesses - a US military whose duty is to serve and protect, not question, a CIA subject to requests from the White House for specific intelligence-based documentation, and elected officials post-9/11 convinced by fearmongers to vote to "protect America".
Also, I don't watch television, so I am immune from that particular "propaganda vector".