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George W. Bush's Decision to Invade Iraq Was Correct; Donald Trump, take note.
American Thinker ^ | 02/18/2016 | Gene Schwimmer

Posted on 02/18/2016 6:37:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Surely, to all but Donald Trump's ardent supporters – which, sadly, probably is all of them – there can be no doubt, after Saturday's Republican debate, that except on the sole issue of immigration, Trump is a Democrat.  Space and the need to stay on point preclude listing all of the Democratic talking points Trump parroted in South Carolina, so this essay focuses on the most egregious one – the "Bush lied, people died" libel – and on Trump's view, unfortunately shared by many Republicans, that, the Iraq war was, in Trump's words, a "big mistake" and that "we got nothing out of it."

First, as Powerline's Paul Mirengoff writes, there is no evidence that Trump opposed the Iraq pre-invasion (emphases added):

Last night, Donald Trump repeated his claim that "I'm the only one on the stage that said we should not go into Iraq."  As I've pointed out before, however, there is no credible evidence that Trump said any such thing.

Trump voiced public opposition to the war for the first time… in the summer of 2004… [by which time] he was following a fairly large pack.

[O]pposing our actions in Iraq once they went pear-shaped is just Monday morning quarterbacking — a Trump specialty.

Second, the Democrats' (and Trump's, but the writer repeats himself) accusation that Bush ordered the Iraq invasion knowing that there were no WMD is flat-out false.  In fact, Bush was skeptical until then-CIA director George Tenet assured Bush that, based on CIA intelligence, Saddam's possession of WMD was "a slam dunk."

As to Trump's criticism that Bush "failed to prevent 9/11" (and was therefore responsible for 9/11?), here is Tenet again (emphasis added):

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bush; invasion; iraq; trump
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1 posted on 02/18/2016 6:37:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

George Bush should have taken control of Iraqi oil to pay for the taking down of old Saddam... Now look who has control of that oil...


2 posted on 02/18/2016 6:39:45 AM PST by Just mythoughts (Jesus said Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: SeekAndFind

It was the biggest blunder in US history. It gave the ME over to the very worst elements of Islam.

AND... it elected Barak IslamoFanatic Obama as President of the United States.

In other words:

A BIG FAT MISTAKE


3 posted on 02/18/2016 6:39:51 AM PST by samtheman (Elect Trump, Build Wall. End Censorship.)
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To: SeekAndFind

We went to Iraq to look for suspected Weapons of Mass Destruction. We never found any.


4 posted on 02/18/2016 6:40:46 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: SeekAndFind

We found WMD, we also found 500 tons of Uranium yellow cake which we shipped back to the US via Canada.

http://www.nationalreview.com/feed/3960/pentagon-completes-secret-shipment-500-tons-uranium-iraq-canada-greg-pollowitz
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/05/17/sarin-mustard-gas-discovered-separately-in-iraq.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/05/19/tests-confirm-sarin-in-iraqi-artillery-shell.html

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33082-2004May17.html
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4997808/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/bomb-said-holddeadly-sarin-gas-explodes-iraq/

And the press had a short, millisecond short, bout of honesty

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/14/isis-chemical-weapons-_n_5987106.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/saddam-era-chemical-weapons-now-under-isis-control-reports-1705144
http://m.nydailynews.com/news/world/isis-seizes-chemical-weapons-depot-baghdad-sarin-gas-rockets-article-1.1859934


5 posted on 02/18/2016 6:42:01 AM PST by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
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To: MinorityRepublican

The search for WMD was just an excuse to justify the war. It was one of a few excuses given.


6 posted on 02/18/2016 6:42:29 AM PST by Trumpinator ("Are you Batman?" the boy asked. "I am Batman," Trump said.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Bush is a loser in the general election.

These clowns are completely clueless about what Trump is doing.


7 posted on 02/18/2016 6:42:30 AM PST by Helicondelta
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To: MinorityRepublican

Don’t forget the thousands of dead or maimed soldiers. Plus, by invading Iraq, we basically let Iran take control of the region.


8 posted on 02/18/2016 6:43:25 AM PST by stratboy
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To: samtheman

“it elected Barak IslamoFanatic Obama as President of the United States.”

That is technically incorrect bullshit!


9 posted on 02/18/2016 6:43:33 AM PST by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: samtheman

Ok class......One Question Quiz today:

Who would you rather have in-place in IRAQ?

ISIS? or SADDAM?


10 posted on 02/18/2016 6:43:36 AM PST by LibFreeUSA
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To: MinorityRepublican

RE: We went to Iraq to look for suspected Weapons of Mass Destruction. We never found any.

WE DID.

Please look at Post #5.


11 posted on 02/18/2016 6:44:25 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Michael Moore - Bush lied. People died.

Donald Trump - I agree.

Code Pink - We agree with Trump.


12 posted on 02/18/2016 6:44:29 AM PST by Durbin
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To: SeekAndFind

The American people disagree.


13 posted on 02/18/2016 6:45:01 AM PST by bigbob ("Victorious warriors win first and then go to war" Sun Tzu.)
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To: stratboy

Tell me again..... why did we “liberate” Iraq?


14 posted on 02/18/2016 6:45:11 AM PST by LibFreeUSA
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To: LibFreeUSA

And not just Saddam, but a pinned-down Saddam, with the US controlling air-space and the Kurds operating an autonomous region.

And not just ISIS... ISIS and Iran.


15 posted on 02/18/2016 6:45:17 AM PST by samtheman (Elect Trump, Build Wall. End Censorship.)
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To: SeekAndFind

This guy is just so wrong its painful.


16 posted on 02/18/2016 6:45:33 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: Helicondelta

Says the clown car tRump supporter.


17 posted on 02/18/2016 6:45:46 AM PST by beandog (TrumperTantrum)
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To: Helicondelta

“Bush is a loser in the general election.”

So, you’re saying that Bush will win the nomination but will lose the election in November?


18 posted on 02/18/2016 6:46:04 AM PST by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: LibFreeUSA

RE: Who would you rather have in-place in IRAQ?

ISIS? or SADDAM?

______________________

Why is it an either/thing? Isn’t it possible to have an Iraq that it better than Saddam while defeating ISIS?


19 posted on 02/18/2016 6:46:13 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: Darksheare
George Bush in his own words:

Bush says Iraq had no WMDs

Now we are letting Iran have nukes (certainly categorized as a weapon of mass destruction). Are we going in there next?

20 posted on 02/18/2016 6:47:03 AM PST by stratboy
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