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Trump on Bush going into Iraq: 'They lied' [Trump at South Carolina debate 4 years ago this week]
The Hill ^ | 2/13/16 | JESSE BYRNES

Posted on 02/21/2020 8:21:17 PM PST by rintintin

Donald Trump attacked the Bush family during the Republican presidential debate Saturday night, accusing the George W. Bush administration of lying to the public before going to war in Iraq.

"Obviously the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake," Trump said, launching into a fierce critique of rival Jeb Bush's brother.

"George Bush made a mistake," the billionaire continued. "Obviously we can make mistakes, but that one was a beauty."

"We should have never been in Iraq," Trump added. "They lied, they said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none and they knew that there were none."

Jeb Bush aggressively defended his brother.

"I'm sick and tired of Barack Obama blaming my brother for all the problems that he's had and frankly I could care less about the insults Donald Trump gives against me," the former Florida governor said.

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


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: 2016; bush; bushlied; iraq; oldnews; trump
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To: BTerclinger

Trump says it was stupid to take out Saddam. In other words, he says people with your mindset are dumb

I couldn’t agree more


61 posted on 02/23/2020 7:04:54 PM PST by rintintin
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To: rintintin

Trump takes a dump every morning like everyone else and it smells like your opinions. I couldn’t agree more.


62 posted on 02/23/2020 7:09:16 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: BTerclinger

You’re like Don Quixote. He insisted that there were giants up ahead and nobody could convince the fool that they were windmills

Instead of giants , you believe in Iraqi WMDs that don’t exist, because the CIA and deep state told you so. An ignorant sheeple who accepts whatever the warmongers in the deep state say

There’s no conversing with a fool, especially an angry one. Cheers


63 posted on 02/23/2020 7:13:41 PM PST by rintintin
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To: rintintin

And you jump on a merry go around with no knowledge and spout garbage like a stupid isolationist. Why don’t you tell us how we would have been better off not getting involved in WW2?

You’ve been shown numerous articles bu NON DEEP STATE on the WMD but you have your head so far up Pat Buchanan’s and Rand Paul’s rectums you think your 3rd grade worldview/shit smells like roses.

Go on your merry way AGREEING WITH ISIS AND AL QUEDA, and don’t talk to me any more with your useless whining,


64 posted on 02/23/2020 7:18:38 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: BTerclinger

Bush’s mistake was leaving a void in Iraq that Iran was more than happy to fill.


65 posted on 02/23/2020 7:20:36 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

Bush’s mistake in Iraq was listening to Perfumed Princes. If we had treated Iraq like Germany everything would have worked out (admittedly no plan survives first contact but Saddams’s military was immediately out classed - IMHO it was the BS nation building without the iron first that failed.

We should have arrested every imam and run them through dejihadification - those that succeeded and their followers get to eat and work, the rest not so much.


66 posted on 02/23/2020 7:24:19 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: BTerclinger

But our country no longer has the will to do such things.

Just look at the outrage that came just from making some inmates wear panties on their head.


67 posted on 02/23/2020 7:25:39 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator

Also, a more successful occupation of Iraq put us in position for Iran - bombing their useless “navy” and “air force” would have helped depose the iranian mullahs before they got started on their nuke program,


68 posted on 02/23/2020 7:26:03 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: BTerclinger

We could have used Iraq as our ME base and told the Saudis to take a flying leap.


69 posted on 02/23/2020 7:26:58 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: dfwgator; RaceBannon; firebrand; kristinn; rmlew

Yep.

One also has to wonder whats the point of this thread?

The article is from 4 years ago. Now is the time we spend eating popcorn watching / helping the Dems self-destruct, not re-opening old arguments between Trump supporters who stood with our troops during the war vs Trump supporters who were oh-so-brilliant “there was no WMD!”

(because there were a hell of a lot of “there’s no WMD!” in the anti-war Left....)


70 posted on 02/23/2020 7:33:59 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: Pelham; rintintin; eddie willers; RubinBoomer; 867V309; OrangeHoof
None of these resolutions were cobbled together like a middle schooler’s term paper. Diplomats and politicians live by words all their lives, and laboriously parsed each phrase to provide clear direction to the United States in its mandate to lead this coalition. Choosing “restore international peace and security in the area” for the text brought into play a most definite precedent.

Remember that in passing Resolutions 687 and 1441 the permanent members could have restricted his authority, but they incorporated all previous resolutions without any modifications and that left the decision with Bush #2 as their chosen commander in chief.

The war against Saddam Hussein was resumed because Bush #2 finally obeyed UN and confirming Congressional mandates. The United States, heading a coalition exceeding that Churchill and Roosevelt assembled to confront Hitler’s Germany, toppled Hussein’s regime, and forced the UN to confront the reason for its’ existence.

The opinions regarding Bush #2 and Iraq are so strongly rooted in media and opposition declamations that they gain rather than lose stability when factual arguments are presented. The worse they fare in debates; the more persuaded adherents are that deeper ground must exist which contrary arguments cannot reach, regardless of their substance.

Atlantic Charter (twenty six countries) http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/atlantic-charter

The Coalition of the Willing (thirty six countries) http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/The%20Coalition%20of%20the%20Willing.htm

71 posted on 02/23/2020 9:07:25 PM PST by Retain Mike ( Sat Cong)
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To: Retain Mike; rintintin; eddie willers; RubinBoomer; 867V309; OrangeHoof

Resolutions 687 and 1441 authorize driving Iraq’s army out of Kuwait, 687, and ordering Iraq to let UN inspectors back into Iraq, 1441.

That’s all that they say.

Claiming that they authorize an invasion of Iraq and deposing Saddam Hussein is an exercise in arguing from silence.

With your logic anything not expressly prohibited is somehow authorized.

It amazes me how Bush jr’s apologists don’t want the buck to stop with him.

“The UN made me do it”.

At least Harry Truman had the balls to accept responsibility for his decisions.


72 posted on 02/23/2020 9:29:38 PM PST by Pelham (RIP California, killed by massive immigration)
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To: BTerclinger

“not re-opening old arguments between Trump supporters who stood with our troops during the war vs Trump supporters who were oh-so-brilliant “there was no WMD!”

If Bush’s 1,000 man Iraq Survey Group had found some post Desert Storm WMDs in the year that they spent hunting for them then everyone would have what some people refer to as “evidence”.

And if that had been the case then no one would have to listen to freepers who agree on this issue with, oh, Trump.

And with Bush himself. Because he publicly said that he agrees with the findings of the Survey Group.

The Duelfer Report has been public for 15 years. I’ve read it, and judging from what Trump says I’m pretty sure that he has read it too. People who prefer make believe probably won’t like it.

https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_wmd_2004/


73 posted on 02/23/2020 10:08:17 PM PST by Pelham (RIP California, killed by massive immigration)
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To: BTerclinger

Thanks for posting this. Funny how the past disappears, isn’t it? People have short memories.


74 posted on 02/24/2020 3:57:34 AM PST by firebrand
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To: dfwgator

Bush didn’t leave the void. We won that war. Obama left the void.


75 posted on 02/24/2020 4:09:56 AM PST by firebrand
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To: BTerclinger

I know it, right?

We all had articles then, we compiled quotes of the Clinton admin all saying there were weapons, and when the dems switched narrative to no WMD, we blasted them here.

Oh, well, newbies, maybe youngsters who didnt know better, still believe that lie.


76 posted on 02/24/2020 4:46:27 AM PST by RaceBannon (Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for)
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To: Pelham; RaceBannon; firebrand
I just skimmed the "key findings" PDF from that link. These paragraphs from the beginning stands out:
Interviews with former Regime officials who were active in Iraq’s governing, economic, security, and intelligence structures were critical to ISG’s assessment of the former Regime’s WMD strategy. While some detainees’ statements were made to minimize their involvement or culpability leading to potential prosecution, in some cases those who were interviewed spoke relatively candidly and at length about the Regime’s strategic intent...

...Nonetheless, the interview process had several shortcomings. Detainees were very concerned about their fate and therefore would not be willing to implicate themselves in sensitive matters of interest such as WMD, in light of looming prosecutions. Debriefers noted the use of passive interrogation resistance techniques collectively by a large number of detainees to avoid their involvement or knowledge of sensitive issues; place blame or knowledge with individuals who were not in a position to contradict the detainee’s statements, such as deceased individuals or individuals who were not in custody or who had fled the country; and provide debriefers with previously known information. However, the reader should keep in mind the Arab proverb: “Even a liar tells many truths.”

*****

and the the phrase that jumps out 4-8x /page for all the NBC weapons being discussed is consistently

"However, ISG has no information"...

Let us not forget this the same CIA that missed the loss of Iran, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that has likely been involved in the coup attempt against Pres. Trump.

77 posted on 02/24/2020 9:14:20 AM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: BTerclinger

“Let us not forget this the same CIA that missed the loss of Iran, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that has likely been involved in the coup attempt against Pres. Trump.”

The Report is on the CIA website but the Iraq Survey Group wasn’t a CIA operation. CIA and DIA were the lead agencies but the 1,400 personnel included people from every American military service as well as Britain and Australia.

If you read the entire report you see that they found all of Iraq’s weapons labs to be decaying or defunct. The labs gave every sign of not having been maintained since Gulf War One. And we had American inspectors in Iraq for most of the time between the two wars and they never saw any sign of that the labs were back in operation.


78 posted on 02/25/2020 2:04:41 PM PST by Pelham (RIP California, killed by massive immigration)
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To: Pelham; RaceBannon; firebrand; Squantos; Travis McGee
Pelham wrote:
“...If you read the entire report you see that they found all of Iraq’s weapons labs to be decaying or defunct. The labs gave every sign of not having been maintained since Gulf War One. And we had American inspectors in Iraq for most of the time between the two wars and they never saw any sign of that the labs were back in operation.
In March 2005 Duelfer added addenda to the original report, covering five topics:

Prewar Movement of WMD Material Out of Iraq, stating "ISG judged that it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place" but also acknowledging that there was evidence "about movement of material out of Iraq, including the possibility that WMD was involved," and that this evidence was "sufficiently credible to merit further investigation." IAG noted that, due to security concerns, it "was unable to complete its investigation and is unable to rule out the possibility that WMD was evacuated to Syria before the war.""


79 posted on 02/25/2020 8:26:01 PM PST by BTerclinger (MAGA)
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To: BTerclinger

As others have pointed out, if Saddam had WMDs he wouldn’t ship them out, he’d have used them against our invasion.

But if they did exist and had indeed gone to Syria then Assad would have used them to fight the rebellion that managed to gobble up half of his country. He wasn’t shy about using gas on civilians, what possible logic would have kept him from obliterating his serious enemies?

The Gone-To-Syria camp not only lacks physical evidence of WMDs being being in the convoy to Syria, they are asking us to believe that two Arab bad asses would keep them as doorstops instead of using them.

Moreover the Survey Group went through Iraq’s weapons labs and found them to be in poor shape or even unusable. They would not have been in that state if they had been producing WMDs in the 10 years following Desert Storm.


80 posted on 02/25/2020 8:56:21 PM PST by Pelham (RIP California, killed by massive immigration)
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