Add Ohio Gov. Kasich (R) to the list of Republicans who say they wouldn’t have authorized an invasion of Iraq like then-President George W. Bush.
“There’s a lot of people who lost limbs and lives over there, OK?” Kasich told The Columbus Dispatch on Tuesday. “But if the question is, if there were not weapons of mass destruction should we have gone, the answer would’ve been no.”
Kasich went on to say he “wouldn’t have seen it as vital to national interests.”
Kasich is one of the latest declared and possible 2016 presidential contenders to contrast with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who could also run for president in 2016, on the question.
On Monday, Bush told Fox’s Megyn Kelly that he would have authorized an invasion of Iraq. Bush later backtracked and said he misheard the question. On Wednesday he refused to answer if he would have authorized an invasion given the knowledge available today.
Other declared and likely 2016 contenders have weighed in —both New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) have both very directly said they would have not have ordered an invasion.
