Jeb Bush Now Going With: Thanks Obama Approach

[GMDino]

(05-21-2015, 06:18 PM)bfine32 Wrote: No doubt in hindsight going into Iraq this time may have been a mistake. Actually, the 1st mistake was most likely leaving too soon the 1st time (Gulf War). WTS, does it now mean that policy that future leaders make should be "excused"?

Hell, you're giving Jeb some of the blame and all he has been in the Governor of FL.

At the time didn't they come to the conclusion that going in after Saddam would destabilize the entire region so they backed off?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/bush-gulf-war/

Quote:Seeking Clear-Cut Victory
President Bush's experiences in combat were never far from his mind as he began to discuss possible war plans with Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell. Powell would later remark that he was surprised by the level of detail in the president's questioning about the plans. After reviewing the initial draft, the president sent the war planners back to the drawing board. Bush wanted an approach that left no room for defeat. He was determined to provide the military with whatever they needed to win quickly and decisively. Cheney referred to Bush's approach as a post-Vietnam "don't screw-around school of military strategy."


Stopping Short of Baghdad
On January 17, 1991, American and allied forces began launching air attacks on Iraqi forces and on February 24 the ground campaign began. By February 27, the coalition had achieved their stated mission of ejecting the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. Exactly 100 hundred hours after the ground battle had begun, the allies suspended all offensive operations. While Bush's decision to conclude the war without removing Saddam Hussein from power would become controversial, his advisors would recall that the president was insistent that the war should not exceed the authorization of the Security Council. Interviewed in 2007, when the U.S. had been fighting in Iraq for more than four years in a war initiated by Bush's son, President George W. Bush, Colin Powell remarked, "In recent months, nobody's been asking me about why we didn't go to Baghdad. Pretty good idea now why Baghdad should always be looked at with some reservations."

http://millercenter.org/president/bush/essays/biography/5

Quote:Critics argued, however, that the victory was hollow because Saddam Hussein remained in power. They faulted Bush for not pursuing Hussein and his army into Iraq and removing him from power. However, President Bush and his team had been clear from the beginning that their primary war aim was to make Iraq withdraw from Kuwait, and they achieved that goal. The removal of Hussein from power had never been one of the administration's war aims. Many in the administration argued that pursuing Hussein into Iraq and attempting to topple him from power would destabilize the region and lead to a lengthy military engagement.

Which, you know, it did...