Was Iraq a Mistake?
The Washington Post Opinion pages have gone to town over the past few days, having a field day with Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and whomever else flubs the most recent Gotcha question: knowing what we know know, was the invasion of Iraq a mistake.
I think both Bush and Rubio (whom I was starting to like) showed a lack of planning and a lack of courage in their respective doddering responses. Each of them, and every other candidate, including Hillary, who is asked a Gotcha question over the next year and a half should at least answer bravely. If invading Iraq with a poor plan, and poor resolve, and a poor exit strategy would inevitably be followed by all the same subsequent mistakes, and if the foregone conclusion would inexorably lead to the present set of circumstances, then of course, the invasion was wrong. Perhaps the better question is whether our next President will assemble a staff that will analyze intelligence more effectively, and will therefore avoid committing troops to a war that poses so many problems.
I am reminded of an essay by Mark Twain where he was asked to identify the turning point of his life. He chose Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon as the turning point of greatest significance. Absent that decision, who knows how many different developments would have happened differently, if at all. {http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/mtwain/bl-mtwain-turning.htm}
Will someone ask Hillary during the campaign if, knowing what we know now, would she have allowed the security in Benghazi to be so severely compromised? Would she have advised Ambassador Stevens to avoid the mission and/or consulate on the anniversary of 9/11? I suspect that Hillary is quietly preparing for the onslaught of such reprehensible questions right now, and this is part of the reason she is smartly staying out of the spotlight. She need not campaign until the GOP selects a candidate, or at least not until the process is well advanced.
Bush and Rubio aren’t to be excused for looking like dopes. They certainly need to be bolder, and stronger in responding to petty questions such as this one. I wish one of them would have said, “What difference, at this point, does it make?” All things considered, Hillary’s well-acted false umbrage did more good than bad for her, I think. Those who were grilling her were surprised and had no follow-up. Additionally, her supporters saw her as strong and assertive in the face of ‘unfair’ interrogation. Yes, people will be bringing it up throughout the campaign, but I believe her performance will not harm her badly.
Bush and Rubio will learn from their mistakes, we hope, but I would prefer that our journalists ask better questions. (Yes, I know Bush’s blunder came when he was questioned by Megyn Kelly of Fox News.) Second-guessing GWB and all subsequent developments serves no good purpose, in my opinion. I think it’s valid to ask all candidates to present their rationale for when war is justified, if ever. I think it valid to ask where the biggest mistakes were made in response to 9/11.
Gotcha questions do not serve a true purpose.
