How Jeb Bush blundered into making the Iraq war his problem

The Week ^ | 5/14/15 | Michael Dougherty

[jimbo123]

Jeb Bush has taken three attempts at answering the following question: "Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion of Iraq?"

Here are my three translations of his answers:

First attempt: Of course, I would bring about the same disaster for my nation and several others. Did you think I was going to disrespect my brother?

Second attempt: Well, I don't know what I would have done about Iraq. Hypotheticals only tell us that we can't really know anything for sure. Did you really think I was going to disrespect the laws of logic and epistemology?

Third attempt: Actually, I can't answer hypothetical questions because so many people paid the ultimate sacrifice. Did you really think I was going to disrespect our dead soldiers?

Feel free to check the above against the originals. In fact, it was even worse than that, with him adding, "The simple fact is mistakes were made, and we need to learn from mistakes of the past to make sure we're strong and secure going forward."

Besides being the most shopworn cliché of moral cowardice, "mistakes were made" is not even an answer an insurance agent would accept for a home flood. Why should we accept it from a man who has the benefit of hindsight and the ambition to be commander-in-chief?

It is a little disconcerting that Jeb Bush, who has so far run the smoothest, most professional, and well-conceived campaign in the Republican field, has given so little thought to the most easy-to-anticipate policy question about making another Bush president.

[jimbo123]

Any candidate who goes through the standard prep for a campaign would have advisers think of all the common “gotcha” questions the media will throw at him

Exactly. What the hell are the Bush advisors doing will all the donor money they're being paid?

[Justa]

There was no ISIS when we left Iraq. It grew out of the vacuum created by Obama/Democrats’ 2009 withdrawal. The moron walked into a strawman trap.

Detestable.