I remember people doing daily protests against the war and organizing large demonstrations.

There was a lot of support for that war, but that support was far from unanimous, especially on the grassroots level. I do not remember any supporters of the war who I knew personally who wanted to raze Iraq to the ground and, as I recall, the antipathy was more directed at the Saddam regime and not the Iraqi nation.

Your overall point is valid, whitewashing enter nations with a single brush is inaccurate and unfair. However, you are doing the exact thing you are trying to criticize.