Possible Republican presidential hopeful former Gov. Jeb Bush is drawing fire from the left after appearing on Fox News and saying, had he been in his brothers shoes in 2003, he would have authorized the war against Iraq.
Bush sat down to talk with Megyn Kelly from Fox News over the weekend and parts of the interview were released on Sunday. The full interview will be shown on Fox News at 9 pm ET on Monday night.
In the interview, Bush insisted that almost everybody looking at running for president in 2016, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would have voted to invade Iraq had they been in the Oval Office in 2003. Clinton, the heavy favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, voted to authorize military action against Iraq when she was in the U.S. Senate in 2003 representing New York. While she has said her support for the military authorization against Iraq was a mistake, Clinton paid the price in the 2008 primaries for her vote and still draws fire from Democratic rivals on the matter including from potential primary rivals like former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, D-R.I., and former U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.,
I would have [authorized the invasion], and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody, Bush told Kelly. And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got.
Bush said he agreed with his brother George W. Bush, who was president at the time, that more needed to be done beefing up security in Iraq after Saddam Husseins regime fell, and admitted there were mistakes.
Guess who thinks that those mistakes took place as well? George W. Bush, the former Florida governor told Kelly. Yes, I mean, so just for the news flash to the world, if theyre trying to find places where theres big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those.
The Democratic National Committee quickly jumped on Bush as spokesman Mo Elleithee said there was no difference between the Bush brothers on the matter.
Its no surprise to us that Jeb Bush acknowledges there is no difference between his brother and him on Iraq," Elleithee said on Sunday. He's been defending his brother's Iraq war for years.
The difference between the Bush brothers and most Americans is that most people believe we were misled into invading Iraq, Elleithee added. Knowing now what we did not know then, Jeb Bush still would have gone in.
In recent days, the former Florida governor has tied himself closer to his brothers foreign policy. Last week, Bush said the former president was his closest adviser when it comes to Israel.
Tim Miller, a spokesman for Jeb Bush, explained why his boss turns to his brother on matters regarding Israel.
Gov. Bush has said before that his brother is the greatest ally to Israel in presidential history; he admires his stalwart support for our ally, and that is in line with his commitment to standing with Israel in the face of great threats to their security and our own, Miller told the Washington Post.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
