Jeb Bush Says He Would Have Authorized the Invasion of Iraq
Though he has yet to announce his intention to run for the Republican Party's presidential candidacy, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has distinguished himself from the rest of the GOP lineup with a more lenient stance on immigration. However, his foreign policies harken back to 2003.
In an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly, Bush answered various questions ranging from Common Core to immigration reform, but one short question has incensed both Republicans and Democrats alike.
"Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion?" Kelly asked, prefacing the question with a remark on its contentiousness.
"I would have [authorized the invasion]," answered Bush. "And so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody. And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got."
When asked if he thought invading Iraq in 2003 was a mistake, Bush said the intelligence everyone saw was faulty, and the U.S. did not focus on security, which led to the insurgency.
The Iraq invasion, which led to the deposing of Saddam Hussein and plummeted the nation and the Middle East into a long war, is now repudiated by most on either side of the political spectrum. The war cost almost 4,500 American lives since it began until 2014 as well as billions of dollars.
Unlike other Republican hopefuls, Bush was asked this question because his brother, former President George W. Bush, sent the country into war.
"By the way, guess who thinks that those mistakes took place as well? George W. Bush," Bush added. "Yes, I mean, so just for the news flash to the world, if they're trying to find places where there's big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those."
The Democratic National Committee did not waste time to pounce on Bush with a series of social media posts deriding the former governor for his answer on Iraq. One of the posts included a graph highlighting all the foreign policy advisers the two Bush brothers, as well as presidents George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, shared.
Yet, Democrats are not the only attacking Bush for his answer. Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham took to her show to criticize Bush.
"You can't still think that going into Iraq, now, as a sane human being, was the right thing to do," she said. "If you do, there has to be something wrong with you."
Ingraham went so far as to defend Clinton, who has announced her intention to run for the Democratic Party. She said Clinton would not invade Iraq with the information we have today.
Some attempted to defend Bush, including his former aide and Republican strategist Ana Navarro. She appeared on CNN's " New Day" Tuesday morning, via Mediaite, arguing Bush had misheard the question.
"He was referring to what we knew then, not what we know now," Navarro said. "It's the only way the entire answer makes sense, because then he goes to say what you just posted him saying, that the information was faulty."
Bush has yet to make an announcement clarifying his stance on the Iraq War.
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