For anyone thinking former President George W. Bush may be second guessing Iraq all these years later in light of the current situation with the Islamic State , you would be wrong.
During a wide-ranging interview with CBS News’ Bob Scheiffer, George W. Bush’s Iraq War strategy was discussed, and the former president told the long-time moderator of Face the Nation that he has “no regrets” about the decade-long war.
“I went in there as a result of a very changed environment because of September the 11th,” he said. “And the danger we were concerned about was that the weapons…would be put into the hands of terrorist groups that would come and make the attacks of 9/11 pale in comparison.”
Bush, who recently wrote a new book about his father and former President George H. W. Bush, said invading Iraq had nothing to do with the war his father was involved in against the Middle Eastern nation when he was president.
Discussing the Iraq War, George W. Bush noted that the nation’s president thought Bush was bluffing about invading the nation.
“When he was captured, I was told that the FBI agent that talked to him — he said, ‘I just didn’t believe Bush.’… And it’s hard for me to believe he didn’t believe me.
“We’d given an ultimatum to the Taliban and delivered… I make the point in the book, of course, that — and Dad understood this better than anybody — that when you say something as president, you better mean it. Words mean something… I thought I was pretty clear at times during my presidency and meant it. Saddam Hussein didn’t believe us. So I was surprised.”
The Huffington Post also posted excerpts of the interview, with a little tidbit about what George W. Bush thinks about his brother and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush running for president in 2016.
“I’d give it a toss-up… I’ll do whatever he wants… I will be one of his strongest backers. If he wants me out there publicly, I’ll be out there publicly. If he wants me behind the scenes, I’ll be behind the scenes…. I’m all in for him. He’d be a great president. And the country could use an optimistic view like his.”
What do you think? Is George W. Bush right to not regret invading Iraq? And what do you think about the prospect of his brother running for president in 2016? Tell us in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.
