Mission Accomplished: Bush Says Iraq Question Got ‘Bumpy’ But ‘Ship Is Stable’ Now

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush gestures as he speaks to supporters during fundraiser Monday, May 18, 2015, in Sweetwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)
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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) admitted things got a little bumpy over whether he would have authorized an invasion of Iraq given 20/20 hindsight but he added that that “ship is stable” now.

“I actually gave a pretty good answer to the question but it was not the question she asked,” Bush said of his initial comments, which came in an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. “And then it got bumpy —it got a little bumpy. But all is well now. The ship is stable.”

Bush’s comments follow a week when national attention fell on him after he initially said he would have authorized invading Iraq given the information available today. He later backtracked and said he misheard the question and didn’t know what he would do. Bush then reversed again and said he would not have invaded Iraq with the information available today.

Bush went on to say that a more important question is whether President Barack Obama should have kept 10,000 troops in Iraq.

“The world is radically different and so the focus ought to be on knowing what you know now, Mr. President, should you have kept 10,000 troops in Iraq? 15,000? or 4,000? That’s the better answer because as of yesterday, Ramadi has now been taken over by ISIS. ISIS didn’t exist when my brother was president. Al Qaeda in Iraq was wiped out when my brother was president.”

Bush added that “there were mistakes made for sure, but the surge created a fragile but stable Iraq…”

Watch Bush below:

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Notable Replies

  1. " ISIS didn’t exist when my brother was president. Al Qaeda in Iraq was wiped out when my brother was president." "

    Actually, al Qaeda didn’t exist in Iraq when your brother was selected as President, either. They came along AFTER he invaded the country. The blame lands squarely on his shoulders for both.

    But nice try on attempting to turn the question into nothing at all like what it actually was. I mean, you are busy revamping your brother’s history, why not revamp those troublesome questions that you know, you have had over a decade to come up with an answer, yet still managed to stumble over and mangle worse than ever did the English language…and that IS saying something.

  2. “I actually gave a pretty good answer to the question but it was not the question she asked,” Bush said of his initial comments, which came in an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. “And then it got bumpy —it got a little bumpy. But all is well now. The ship is stable.” … but still sinking. :o)

  3. Pretty shocking to find out he’s a bigger moron than his brother.

  4. Yup - every problem a President faces allows 4 do-overs before settling on an answer. Looks like Jeb would need to call a friend on a regular basis. Not hardly a time to be feeling smug there.

  5. The captain of the Titanic shouts: “We have nothing to fear from icebergs! Full speed ahead!”

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