Romney changes stance on Iraq invasion

Yeah, I’m hardly a Romney defender, but this is another case of headline bait where the lede isn’t really supported by the article. And while I disagree with Romney’s conclusions (there was enough justification to invade without WMD evidence: terrorism ties and violation of the ‘91 cease-fire agreement), the two replies are consistent.

It was well known and commented on at the time that it was a huge gambol going into Iraq. Who can say if it was a wise gamble based on the knowledge and circumstances at the time?

If it had suceeded Bush would be hailed as a genius. It is looking more and more like the gamble failed.

"Well, of course not," Romney answered. "The president went in based upon intelligence that they had weapons of mass destruction. Had he known that that was not the case, the U.N. would not have put forward resolutions authorizing this type of action. The president would not have been pursuing that course."

This passage is a target rich environment.

In the first place, we shouldn't be in the UN in the first place; any argument appealing to a UN position has a weight of precisely zero and is therefore moot.

In the second place, just because Iraq trucked its WMDs into Syria on the eve of the war does not equate to "did not have WMDs".

I hope this piece of crap is not our nominee.

I happen to agree with him that it is now looking certain that we shouldn’t have invaded. Iran is now more influential in Iraq than ever before. Saddam used to keep Iran in check. They were like two scorpions in a bottle. We created a vacuum that is now being exploited by Iran. Obama’s pullout is hastening the return of a civil war. So, we’ve destabilized the region, weakened Iraq, and have, as a result, placed Israel in even more jeopardy. How is this an improvement?

I hate to say it, but Romney may have a point here. As others have pointed out, what he's saying isn't that different from what some Bush-era officials are saying.

Hindsight is usually better than trying to predict the future. I can think of many times I would have made a different decision if I'd had more facts first before I acted. However, we have to act based on the information we have, and sometimes waiting for 100 percent certainty is more dangerous than acting on our best guesses of how to interpret partial information.

Can we blame Bush for acting irrationally or hastily? That's the key question, and I believe the answer is clearly “no.”

I think we can legitimately point out that 1) virtually every intelligence agency in the world believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, and 2) there's a good chance that Saddam himself thought he had WMDs and was lied to by his own top leaders who were under pressure to create things that they apparently hadn't yet managed to create.

As other Freepers have pointed out, Saddam **DID** have the technological capability to make WMDs. He had done so in the past and had used them on his own people as well as on the Iranians. However, having a WMD program is not the same as having WMDs. Maybe Saddam handed WMDs over to someone else; maybe he didn't. Maybe they're still buried in some basement whose location Saddam took to the grave with him. Personally I think the best explanation is that Saddam's own generals and scientists exaggerated their capabilities because they feared for their lives if they were honest with Saddam about what they could and couldn't do.

Yeah, Bush fell prey to the temptation they all get--to be the nation building George Washington of some backwater hellhole and establish a "legacy" for themselves.

To believe a people who have never had real freedom or self determination in a thousand years would somehow instantly put aside primitive tribal hatreds and religious rivalries and jump at the chance to share power was foolish and fatuous. Purple thumbs was great, but we were in charge of everything then.

Now, it's all going to shit and no one will ever go back in to fix it.

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