http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/note-jeb-bush-days-answers-iraq/story?id=31037863#.VVSw2y3oTgU.twitter --IT ALL STARTED WITH ONE QUESTION posed by Fox News' Megyn Kelly: "Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion" of Iraq in 2003? And over the last few days, Jeb Bush, who is not yet an official presidential candidate, has struggled to grab hold of one answer. Here's a look back:
1. YES. "I would have and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody, and so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got." --Jeb Bush on Fox News' "The Kelly File" (aired Monday, May 11)
2. I DON'T KNOW. "I interpreted the question wrong, I guess. I was talking about, given what people knew then, would you have done it ... knowing what we know now, clearly there were mistakes as it related to faulty intelligence in the lead-up to the war and the focus on security ... the simple fact is, in the last few years of my brother's presidency, the surge was quite effective to bring security and stability to Iraq, which was missing in the early days ... that security has been totally obliterated by [this] president's pulling out too early, and now these voids are filled by this barbaric, asymmetric threat ... I don't know what that decision would have been. That's a hypothetical." --Jeb Bush on The Sean Hannity radio show (Tuesday, May 12)
3. I WON'T SAY BECAUSE TALKING ABOUT IT DOES A DISSERVICE TO THOSE WHO SERVED. "The problem with hypotheticals is two-fold. One, when I was governor I got to -- I felt it a duty, I didn't have to -- to call all the family members of people who lost their lives and I don't remember the total number but it was easily over 100. And I felt it a duty to do that because I admired the sacrifice of their families. And I admired the men and women -- mostly men -- that made the ultimate sacrifice. So, going back in time and talking about hypotheticals -- what would have happened what could have happened, I think, does a disservice for them." --Jeb Bush at a town hall meeting in Reno, Nevada (Wednesday, May 13)
http://abcn.ws/1IBKjWr4. PROBABLY NOT. "Talking about the future is more than fair. Talking about the past and saying, how would you have done something after the fact is a little tougher. ... Of course, given the power of looking back and having that -- of course anybody would have made different decisions. There's no denying that. But to delve into that and not focus on the future is where I need to draw the line." --Jeb Bush in a gaggle with reporters after a town hall meeting in Reno, Nevada (Wednesday, May 13)
http://abcn.ws/1IBKjWr
