Bush Says Some U.S. Forces Should Have Stayed in Iraq, Hasn't Heard From Obama

[mystery-ak]

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/10/02/exclusive-george-w-bush-says-some-us-forces-should-have-stayed-iraq



by Fox News Insider // Oct 02 2014 // 9:13am
As seen on Fox and Friends

Brian Kilmeade sat down with former President George W. Bush in Texas at a golf tournament for Wounded Warriors.

 Kilmeade asked the former president for his take on some of the tough decisions facing President Obama.

As he has in the past, Bush refused to "second guess" President Obama's decisions, but noted that he was in favor of leaving behind a residual force of about 10,000-15,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

"The president has to make the choices he thinks are important. I'm not going to second guess our president. I understand how tough the job is. To have a former president bloviating and second-guessing is, I don't think, good for the presidency or the country."

Kilmeade asked Bush for his message to veterans who may feel like their sacrifice was not worth it given the current state of Iraq.

"It really was. The world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power, without the Taliban in power," Bush said, describing ISIS as a "group of idealogues who murder the innocent" just like those who attacked on 9/11.

He added that Americans need to understand the "lesson on 9/11" is still just as important today as it was then.

"The human condition elsewhere matters to our national security," said Bush, adding that new democracies, like in Iraq, "take time to take hold."

Bush said recently that he used to speak with his predecessor, Bill Clinton, regularly while in office.

But he said he has not heard from President Obama except when the president called with the news that Usama bin Laden had been killed.

"He has not [called] on a regular basis, which is OK. It doesn't hurt my feelings. It's a decision he has made. Presidents tend to rely on the people they're close to ... and I understand that," said Bush.

He said his younger brother, Jeb, is "weighing his options" on a possible 2016 presidential run, but believes Jeb "wants to be president."

Bush noted that he's "pushing" the former Florida governor to run.

Bush said he doesn't miss Washington, but misses "saluting the men and women who have volunteered to serve our nation."

video at link

[truth_seeker]

Bush is truly a gentleman and a patriot. And gave a classy backhand to Obama.

[MACVSOG68]

Bush is truly a gentleman and a patriot. And gave a classy backhand to Obama.

Indeed!

[aligncare]

Obama's crassness is glaring by comparison to President Bush's gracious comportment at every interview since leaving office. Truly a class act.

I take comfort in that this period of national (and as predicted) global injury will soon be over with the departure from office of that stain on the presidency, Obama.

[EdinVA]

How is it better without saddam in charge?  He kept those insane people under control, as did assad... not real sure we did a good thing...

[musiclady]

How is it better without saddam in charge?  He kept those insane people under control, as did assad... not real sure we did a good thing...

Do some research on what Saddam was doing to 'those insane people' before he was taken out.

It may not be seen as a "good thing" right now because of the mess Obama has made, but it was a good thing while Bush was President and CinC.

And a hearty second to those who have mentioned his class.

The contrast between him and the punk Obama could not be greater.

[EdinVA]

Don't really care what saddam did to those people.  From what I have seen the last 14 years, they deserved it.
Not questioning the difference between President Bush and obama.
Just don't think we really did the world a favor with turning all of this crazyness loose.

[SlapLeather]

Don't really care what saddam did to those people.  From what I have seen the last 14 years, they deserved it.
Not questioning the difference between President Bush and obama.
Just don't think we really did the world a favor with turning all of this crazyness loose.

We didn't turn this loose.

The goal was to establish a long term presence in the ME, Iraq central. All in preparation for effectively quelling what we are seeing. Unfortunately, we currently have no way to act and react effectively. Intel capabilities are laughable.

Ineptitude at it's most transparent and scheming. It's going to be quite ugly for a long time.

[Free Vulcan]

How is it better without saddam in charge?  He kept those insane people under control, as did assad... not real sure we did a good thing...

Agree, but Saddam was at some point going to going to take the WMD's he had and was building and unleash them. ISIS is bad enough but Saddam was scarier in the long run.

[EdinVA]

Between Iraq and Afghanistan the population is about 60 million.... You are telling me that it is ok they they cannot find people with enough guts to take care of 20,000 animals without sending our kids over there to get killed/maimed/sued?  They either agree with all of this, are to stupid to understand or simply don't care.  Our kids are worth more than that...

This whole thing is outta control....

[musiclady]

Don't really care what saddam did to those people.  From what I have seen the last 14 years, they deserved it.
Not questioning the difference between President Bush and obama.
Just don't think we really did the world a favor with turning all of this crazyness loose.

No one "deserves" to be raped by the likes of Uday and Qusay Hussein.

No one "deserves" to be forced to walk off the top of a building.

No one "deserves" to be shot because they didn't cheer for Saddam when he was riding by.

As President Bush said here, democracy can be very messy.  The Iraqis were just not ready to be left alone, and a small residual force was all that would have been required to keep them growing.

It was Obama who threw the Iraqi people into the fiery furnace, and in doing so allowed ISIS to grow and become a threat, not only to the region, but  to the entire world.

[EdinVA]

Well, I went thru small residual force once, all that does is get a bunch of kids killed.

[Dexter]

How is it better without saddam in charge?  He kept those insane people under control, as did assad... not real sure we did a good thing...

Our intervention in the Middle East throughout the last few decades has yet to make the Middle East safer or more stable in any way.

[musiclady]

Well, I went thru small residual force once, all that does is get a bunch of kids killed.

Iraq was stable in 2009 because of the surge.  It only destabilized after our own Hussein became self-appointed king.

Incidentally........or not so incidentally......... the men and women in our military are not "kids."  They are adults, and they have volunteered to protect our country.......  but Obama won't let them.

[musiclady]

Our intervention in the Middle East throughout the last few decades has yet to make the Middle East safer or more stable in any way.

It was more stable in both Afghanistan and Iraq when Bush left office.

It will always be a volatile region, and there will never be true peace (we know "the rest of the story"), but a free Iraq, an ally of the United States, was a positive change in a messed up region.

Until Obama blew it all up......

[Dexter]

Iraq was stable in 2009 because of the surge.  It only destabilized after our own Hussein became self-appointed king.

Incidentally........or not so incidentally......... the men and women in our military are not "kids."  They are adults, and they have volunteered to protect our country.......  but Obama won't let them.

Concentrating excessive military force into a single area is not the same as creating stability. It's not stable if the stability is completely reliant on us never leaving. That's like holding onto a failed Jenga tower with your hands and claiming you have stabilized it.

[EdinVA]

Incidentally........or not so incidentally......... the men and women in our military are not "kids."  They are adults, and they have volunteered to protect our country.......  but Obama won't let them.

I will always refer to my children as my kids (as well as anyone younger than me) and the fact that they volunteered to serve does not give us the right to throw their lives away for nothing.

Any illusion that Iraq and Afghanistan were stable was simply that.

[musiclady]

I will always refer to my children as my kids (as well as anyone younger than me) and the fact that they volunteered to serve does not give us the right to throw their lives away for nothing.

Any illusion that Iraq and Afghanistan were stable was simply that.

Not so.  Compare both countries in 2009 to what they are now.  In the ME, it's always relative, but they were stable........relatively.

And that was a good thing.

Again, our troops are highly skilled and capable adults, no matter how you care to refer to them.  And the fact that they volunteered to defend the country, and to protect our freedoms means they were not "throwing their lives away for nothing."

We can disagree on how effective the War in Iraq was, but until Obama took office and destroyed everything, our troops (and their families) had great pride in what they accomplished in Iraq.

And some of us still feel that pride.........

It wasn't "nothing."

[musiclady]

Concentrating excessive military force into a single area is not the same as creating stability. It's not stable if the stability is completely reliant on us never leaving. That's like holding onto a failed Jenga tower with your hands and claiming you have stabilized it.

You do realize, don't you, that you could apply the same principle to both Germany and Japan after WW II?

We're still in both countries.

And we're still in Korea, stabilizing that region as well.

[olde north church]

Iraq was stable in 2009 because of the surge.  It only destabilized after our own Hussein became self-appointed king.

Incidentally........or not so incidentally.........the men and women in our military are not "kids." They are adults, and they have volunteered to protect our country.......  but Obama won't let them.

Thank you.  The continual infantalization of every person in this country, it's no wonder people are living in their parent's basements and looking to government for everything from abortion money to food.

[EdinVA]

The US and our allies conquered the entire world in WWII.  We did not just send in a small contingent, we sent 12 million.  We owned Germany and Japan, what was left of them, and thru the Marshal plan we dictated how and who would run those countries and how they would behave.  Anyone that violated that behavior was dealt with severely.  Today, they are economic power houses and very strong allies.  And yes, we are still there, but as allies, not to run their county.

When we went in to Afghanistan and Iraq, I was as happy as anyone, but I assumed we had a plan, which it turns out, we did not.  We can slam BO all we want, and it is fun, but he alone did not get us here.  We elected this guy and gave him permission to execute his campaign pledge.  Our Congress has refused to stop him.  My contempt is not for our troops, but the American people.  We will not follow through.  We will send the KIDS over there, tie their hands with some obscene Rules of engagement that will not allow them to fight and when they do, our idiotic court system will allow them to be sued and thrown in prison.  We simply do not have the will to fight.

[Bigun]

It was more stable in both Afghanistan and Iraq when Bush left office.

It will always be a volatile region, and there will never be true peace (we know "the rest of the story"), but a free Iraq, an ally of the United States, was a positive change in a messed up region.

Until Obama blew it all up......

You are entirely right in what you say here but I feel I must remind you of something:

“To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.” --Thomas Paine

[mystery-ak]

Just throwing this out there...Mike..my hubby...many years a 1sg always referred to his troopers as his *kids*....it was never said in an insulting manner more as someone who had to protect and watch over his kids...

[EdinVA]

I have volunteered for Blue Star Families and Team Rubicon because all of the troops are my kids.  I am responsible for what happens to them and it is my responsibility to do what I can to make sure they have all the training, tools, support both on and off the battle field, as well as clear achievable missions.  I just wish more people felt that way.

[mystery-ak]

I have volunteered for Blue Star Families and Team Rubicon because all of the troops are my kids.  I am responsible for what happens to them and it is my responsibility to do what I can to make sure they have all the training, tools, support both on and off the battle field, as well as clear achievable missions.  I just wish more people felt that way.

Yep...