Beinart was the editor of "The New Republic" when it came out in support of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, and was identified as one of the major forces behind the magazine's support for the war; his status as a liberal hawk who supported the Iraq War is cited as a primary causes of his rise. In 2004, a New Republic editorial written during his editorial tenure assessed its support for the Iraq War thus: "We feel regret, but no shame. . . . Our strategic rationale for war has collapsed." In 2010, Beinart said he was motivated to support the Iraq War by a concern that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons.