Would you Have Gone Into Iraq ? - The Right Answer

Details: Created: Friday, 15 May 2015 13:57; Published: Friday, 15 May 2015 13:57; Written by Ax D. WhiteMan

The current "go to" question of the media to ask GOP Presidential Candidates is:

"Given what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion of Iraq ?"

From Jeb Bush, to Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz; each has offered the wrong answer. That is, they've answered in terms of what we "know" about Iraq's stockpiles of WMD. That was NOT specifically the question. The question asks "what we know NOW; which includes the undeniable incompetence of the Obama Administration and the Clinton State Department.

Accordingly the CORRECT answer is something like this:

"No, had I known that my successor and his Secretary of State would mis-handle the hard fought gains of our brave military; and abandon a struggling but promising Democratic State in the Middle East and encourage the rise of the barbaric group called ISIS - No, of course I wouldn't have authorized the invasion of Iraq."

When the interviewer tries to "re-frame" the question to focus on WMD; the reply should be similar. We could only go on the intelligence known at the time, similarly - the intelligence known when the incompetent President and Secretary of State Hilllary Clinton failed to negotiate a status of forces agreement; was that the power vacuum left by a US withdrawal would lead to the rise of a militant force like ISIS. It is hard to foresee that a US administration could act so irresponsibly - but knowing that now - of course I wouldn't have authorized the invasion of Iraq.

After about three rounds of this - the question will never be asked again.

Isn't one of our guys smart enough to figure this out?