Republicans: Now is the time to admit you were wrong about the Iraq War

The Week ^ | 06/20/2014 | Michael Brendan Dougherty

[SeekAndFind]

Hillary Clinton is doing it. Glenn Beck did it too. And Dick Cheney? Not so much.

This is the season for admitting you were wrong on Iraq in 2003. And all Republicans who either regret their vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq, or who were silent on foreign policy matters back then, should take this occasion to step up and say they'll never make the same mistake twice. To them I say: Do it for the sake of your conscience, and if not that, at least for the sake of your career.

In the Obama years, Republicans have habituated themselves to being noncommittal on policy questions. They are for cutting the budget, somehow. They are for repealing ObamaCare and replacing it with, well, something. They want tax reform, but let's not get into the details now.

In some ways, this makes political sense. Don't give your opponents targets to hit. But the damage that has been done to the Republican brand on foreign policy is not repairing itself. Obama's faults and flubs in that area aren't giving the GOP an advantage either.

So say it loud and proud: Iraq is a mess. We helped to make it that way. But we have no business putting American treasure, honor, and lives between ISIS and Nouri al-Maliki.

There's no better time than now, when the die-hard hawks are urging "re-engagement." Some of you were not in national politics at the time. South Carolina's Mark Sanford once said that he was against "preemptive war." Now that he's back in Congress, he should take the occasion to shout that out.

[Arlis]

How about the Republicans agree to do it only after ALL the Democrats who voted for the war admit they were wrong first?

[Viennacon]

I’ll admit this. Obastard caused the mess we have now and lost our hard fought gains

[Jim Robinson]

Michael Brendan Dougherty is an idiot. Hillary’s never been right about anything in her entire wretched life.

[2ndDivisionVet]

ISIS Reportedly Captured Saddam’s Chemical Weapons Stockpiles, Attacks Key Refinery
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3169938/posts

Did Saddam Have WMDs After All: ISIS Overruns Iraq Chemical Weapons ‘Mega-Facility’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3169960/posts

[Jim Robinson]

Besides, what difference at this time can it possibly make!

[Reddy]

I’m not a republican anymore, but I won’t be apologizing for the US going to war with Iraq.

Hussein used wmd’s against his own people, supported terrorist activities, threatened the US and her allies, and did not uphold the agreements regarding inspections following the Gulf War.

Had we not gone in, Hussein could have made good on those threats.

It’s always easy to be a Monday morning quarterback.

[Caipirabob]

Republicans: Now is the time to admit you were wrong about the Iraq War

The war was NOT wrong. It was wrong not to make it an Israeli overflow parking lot.

[mac_truck]

But the damage that has been done to the Republican brand on foreign policy is not repairing itself.

It's been almost seven years and they're still blaming Republicans for Obama's mistakes.

[Reddy]

And Beck is helping them.

I heard Beck recently say with my own ears that he came out for homosexual marriage before zero did.

Beck is a mess.

[ClearCase_guy]

Hey look! Islamic terrorists have found warehouses in Iraq filled with Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction!!!

Isn’t now the perfect time for the Republicans to admit they were wrong about the war in Iraq?

****

These people are nuts.

[Kackikat]

So now that O Drama ruined the Iraq War Win by Bush, there is a need to erase that as having been wrong. And the 550 metric tons of yellowcake found in Iraq and sold to a Canada company, shall we get that returned to Iraq? No apology needed.

[Mr Rogers]

I flew missions over Iraq in the 1990s, thru 2001. I was shot at many times. The idea that we were at peace with Iraq in 2002 boggles my mind. I have no idea how many times I was shot at before the second Gulf War, but the first hadn’t ended anything...

[CommieCutter]

So, when do they admit they were wrong about giving nuclear reactors to North Korea?

[PhiloBedo]

Spot on, old chap!!!

[Ramius]

Nope. Taking out Saddams regime was the right thing to do then and it remains the right thing now. Just because things go bad doesn’t mean that the original decision was wrong. Sure, some decisions can be proved wrong by history, but this isn’t one of them.

It burns me that Obama has screwed up what was a pretty well solved situation in Iraq. That sucks. What was wrong was pulling out too soon.

[VerySadAmerican]

I was not in favor of taking out Saddam Hussein. But I’ll say the democrats need to admit they’ve been wrong about Obama.

[A_perfect_lady]

I always thought we were probably not going to accomplish what Dubya set out to do. He was idealistic. He thought bringing democracy to a land that had never known anything but kings, dictatorships, and religious fanaticism would uplift the Islamic world and help guide them out of the 7th century.

I hoped his dream would come true, but deep down I doubted, and still doubt, that Muslims are capable of anything but kings, dictatorships, and religious fanaticism. That religion is simply not compatible with freedom and tolerance. Its very foundations are built on the denial of both those ideas.

Not only can they not accomplish this sort of life in their own lands, but they chip away at it whenever they come to lands that have accomplished it. That religion is a cancer. I'm sorry, but it just is.

[lightman]

What was wrong was pulling out too soon

That's what screwed the pooch.

[huldah1776]

and who armed ISIS?