Posted on 02/15/2016 1:35:17 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
[Huge SNIP]
Thus, by 2003, President George W. Bush had correctly calculated that Saddam's WMD arsenal, after at least five years of no inspections, was an intolerable, unacceptable risk in the wake of 9/11.
This was a fully legitimate fear, with Bush's suspicion of Saddam's stockpiles first informed not by his advisers but, instead, by the media that informed all of us in the 1990s, years before Bush became president.
In short, all of that very recent history was forgotten by an emotional, angry, childish political left after our troops didn't find the WMD stockpiles we all expected.
Of course, we did discover some WMDs in Iraq after 2003 (everyone forgets this), and chief inspector David Kay found both Iraqi infrastructure and intent to ramp up WMD production once Saddam later figured he was in the clear. We did not, however, find the WMD stockpiles we expected.
That said, the argument that George W. Bush deliberately lied about WMDs is not only extraordinarily unfair but stunningly misinformed and nonsensical.
Sure, Donald Trump can generally argue that going into Iraq was ill-advised, and that "we destabilized" the larger Middle East region. "George Bush made a mistake," said Trump in the South Carolina debate. "We should have never been in Iraq."
That's a legitimate point of contention. Fair enough - though Trump better not exclude Obama's prematurely pulling troops from Iraq from that equation. That, more than anything else, enabled the rise of ISIS.
But Trump charging that Bush lied on WMDs is outrageous. He should clarify it, apologize for it, or admit that he did not speak as precisely as he should have.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
250k wasn’t enough.
i spoke with a bunch of WWII and Vietnam vets that were furious that they just drove through troops and artillery without destroying them along the way in the rush to Baghdad.
And NOT paying 500k potential enemies 50 bucks a month??
i agree with your assessment, but Rumsfield was a jerk and this thing was a cluster #### from the beginning.
letting people loot, etc.
obama destroyed us by taking out the troops, but i expect no less from him
it is not brilliant success when soldiers are getting blown apart 2 or 3 a day while not even in combat.
500k men, seal the borders from Iran (basic ####!!!)
he has blood on his hands and a lot.
with all the money poured into rebuilding Iraq, it should be at least equal to a downtown project here.
it is not. Dick (I had more pressing matter during Vietnam) ended up disappointing me greatly.
and KNOWING we had vehicles that could protect against head injury but were not used until mass protests, the whole thing makes me sick
Sounds like Trump is speaking to please the left wing.
Thats THEIR longtime line
and he is spouting it.
WHY?
Always believed george w was getting back at saddam for daddy sr. nuff sed!
That, My FRiend, is par for the Democrat Party. From those who vote Democrat to the head of the Democrat Party. One day they will stand before God in Judgment and answer for that.
could it be because the vast majority of even Republicans now say it was a mistake to go into Iraq?
It was the Bush administration that negotiated the time line for withdraw and it was the Bush administration that negotiated the number of troops to be left in Iraq.
Thanks for the compliment. I like being a successful and likable person!
Cruz supporters are so much like Cruz, -sleaze-wise!
Hey look, it's the Teddy Bares in their element!
Thats a LEFTY line
Thats for those who lick the lefty Agenda.
Like the repulsive Code Pink.
look pal the war was a huge mistake and if you can’t agree with that then you are a sheeple of the Bush’s and in a small minority in this country
Look pal, You spout the straight lefty line.
What are you doing on Free Republic?
Keep your lefty slime away from me.
I have been here for over 16 years,, you are a dumb newby.. nuff said
False information used to start war, yes. Purposefully done, we may never know.
You post on the Code Pink level.
Enough said.
most of our nuclear weapons were made decades ago.
So... according to your argument, we have no nuclear weapons.
news flash. When a weapon is made is not relevant.
You think Trump is a man of his word?
If so, which man?
Which words?
He he he
Even the New York Times is outraged about this “ left wing canard”
But only 20 years too late
And only because Trump said it
because I surely do not remember such a vigorous debate and defense of Bush 43 against this “left wing canard” when he and the nation needed the left to be smacked down
Because that’s where the opinion lies in 40% of the voting bloc that is neither conservative nor liberal
Jeb promises Bush war in the Middle East part 3, pledging to “ remove Assad”
Trump is brilliant again to raise the debate about whether the large scale military interventions of either of the previous 2 Bushes made us “safer “ ...
We can now look back and see long term results
My opinion of anyone is worth $0.00. I’m simply a voter who gets bombarded with emails from politicians asking for $1.
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