Cover date on the first issue of this story is April '03. We entered Iraq at the end of March that year.
It's even more obvious when you get to issue #83, which I should really do a post on sometime just for how hilariously, painfully transparent and sloppy it is. It's like a textbook demonstration on how not to do political commentary in a comic book. Kind of thing that would make Willingham cringe. (Although admittedly it would probably have made Willingham cringe anyway, since it was very anti-war, but you know what I mean.)