George W. Bush's Decision to Invade Iraq Was Correct; Donald Trump, take note.

American Thinker ^ | 02/18/2016 | Gene Schwimmer

[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):

[Jim Noble]

There was definitely justification; ignoring and not following UN regs

So, if the US or Israel ignores "UN regs", will you cheer for the Russian or Chinese troops marching in?

[dfwgator]

1) Punitive expedition, target Afghanistan. Duration 90 days maximum. Wreck the place, kill women and children more or less randomly, leave with a stern warning of worse to come if any more trouble came out of Kandahar.

And flood the Poppy fields with Agent Orange.

[Jim Noble]

There never was going to be peace in our time unless Iraq remained under western occupation, perhaps for generations

While the real enemies in Riyadh and Islamabad continued to sleep soundly in their beds.

[ek_hornbeck]

Whether they vote, ululate, or cower under the boot of a dictator until the trumpet sounds is of ZERO concern to me or to my people.

I would go further than that and say that many other societies and cultures are better off under the boot of a dictator, both for our sake and for their own. There's nothing more ridiculous than the notion that Jeffersonian Democracy can be exported to tribal societies plagued by ethnic and sectarian conflict.

[Ozymandias Ghost]

“The Iraq invasion was one of the greatest military blunders in the history of Man.”
__________________

OH HELL NO!!!

The Iraq invasion was a huge POLITICAL blunder. The military did their job efficiently and exceedingly well. The problem was the politician’s had no plan as to how to stabilize the country after the war was over. They assumed the populace would all welcome us as liberators. Bush did recover when he agreed w/Petraeus “surge” strategy. Then Obama threw it all away.

[Darksheare]

Funny to see FR posters tossing out stuff Medea Benjamin said all those years ago....

Obama pissed it away.
Anyone who paid any attention watched it go down.
Of course, that is inconvenient.

[SZonian]

Ok,

Have a good one.

[fuzzylogic]

Just wow. Yes, Bush should have considered that his (unknown) successor would be so un-American and would have such lack of respect for our sacrifices he should not have done what he felt was the right thing.

Talk about Monday morning quarterbacking.

[ek_hornbeck]

Do you honestly believe that Muslim societies will adopt western-style forms of government and institutions any time soon, and do you really think that a ballot box will prevent Shia/Sunnis and various tribes from murdering one another?

[BeadCounter]

Just wow. Yes, Bush should have considered that his (unknown) successor would be so un-American and would have such lack of respect for our sacrifices he should not have done what he felt was the right thing.

Talk about Monday morning quarterbacking.

Yep, only Obama/Ellison/Sanders types might have done something so dumb and Sanders probably wouldn't have supported the Arab spring.

[Just mythoughts]

Uhm, ok. I don’t think that was the original point you were trying to make, but ok.

There are many strings that were woven to make a blanket for the reasons why our elected officials made the decisions they made. I did not feel like putting together a chronology of how we are where we are today. There is no escaping the reality of Bush doctrines share the responsibility of where we are today. Russia got sent packing out of Iraq and no more 'oil for food'. Now it is payback from the Russians. Simplified, yes, but nonetheless true.

[dfwgator]

Bush made it easy for Obama to pull out. We should should have occupied the country for at least 10 years like we did Japan after WWII. Then Obama couldn’t have gotten us out of there even if he wanted to.

[fatez]

While the real enemies in Riyadh and Islamabad continued to sleep soundly in their beds.

That is the real problem, we have been in bed with the two perps because of the Cold War. After the Iron Curtain fell, it really should have been looked at, but can you imagine trying to solve the mess that is Pakistan no matter who is President?

The real problems in the Middle East we can thank the Brits and the French for, the Sykes Picot Agreement really screwed up the boundaries and no President could undo without major bloodshed

Islam really is the problem and I don't know how you solve 1.4 billion adherents to it located across multiple failed states...

[Darksheare]

We will never know since Obama backed the Iranian backed candidate in Iraq and handed Iran a controlling interest there.

[Jim Noble]

Conquering Pakistan and “Saudi Arabia” sounds like a big job, but it wasn’t bigger that Germany and Japan.

[wardaddy]

That is precisely it

At this point basically everyone but Trump supporters would prefer to lose to Hillary or Bernie than to lose this nomination to Trump.

An onslaught against Trump from every corner for 7 months the likes we’ve never ever witnessed

Followed by the howls that Trump isn’t conservative enough btw from the very same folks who brought us

Bush 41
Dole
Bush 43
McCain
Romney

In that order these past 6 election cycles

When they didn’t work the outcry switches to Trumps not a nice guy or elevated the rancor or doesn’t fight fair even though the rancor has been brought on by their withering attacks from every corner on Trump

He fights back in kind and they whine they are victims and it’s a new low yada yada

I heard Rove and John Scott just now declaring that the incivility between Rubio and Christie had been Trumps fault too somehow

Trump has faced the conservative media establishment and now talk radio and the RNC and the entire Murdoch and Roger Ailes media power vortex and both the GOPe and yet his response to this war is the focus of Fox and those trying to take him down rather than their corrupted objectivity as standard bearers

Win or lose and it sure looks like win from here Trump has altered the landscape forever

[ChessExpert]

Trump is providing a precedent that Democrats will doubtlessly follow.

He is attacking President Bush for losing the Middle-East.

I expect Hillary and Bernie to follow suit. They will attack the Democratic Congress for defunding and otherwise abandoning South Vietnam. Expect wailing about all the Americans who died there and condemnation over the betrayal of an ally.

I also expect Democrats to finally address the question “Who lost China?” Which Americans undermined an apparently victorious Chiang Kai-shek? Who stole defeat from the jaws of victory? Who will be first, Bernie or Hillary, to acknowledge that there really were communists and communist sympathizers in high, very high places within Democratic administrations.

Betrayal in the Obama years? Where to begin? Not to worry, real Democrats will be right on it. Election season is in full swing and this is a teachable moment.

[Justa]

Easter Sunday, April 11, 2004

[fuzzylogic]

How? He’s the Commander In Chief. He may need approval from Congress to GO to war but I don’t think Congress can dictate that troops stay where they are. The CiC can dictate the rules of engagement too, neutering our capabilities if desired (as he has).

What you’re saying is that we shouldn’t ever use our military, as any use of it will most likely span across presidents and we can’t guarantee a coherent strategy.

[ek_hornbeck]

We will never know since Obama backed the Iranian backed candidate in Iraq and handed Iran a controlling interest there

The options in Iraq were: 1)Baathist Sunnis, 2) Al Quaeda-type Islamist Sunnis, 3) Iran-backed Shia. Where were all the American-style supporters republican government hiding in Iraq? If they existed at all, there were probably enough of them for a phone booth with room to spare.