Why did George Sr. state during his Presidency that invading Iraq would have been an horrific mistake?

Question

And why do you think George Jr. saw it totally different?

Jube...You've got a very legitimate point there!

Answer 1

Bush Sr. was president after a long and varied career. He was ambassador to the UN and to China, he was head of the CIA, vice president, etc. etc. He didn't remove Saddam because he knew it would open a can of worms. He took a big popularity hit because of it, and it's part of the reason he didn't get a second term. But he did it because he knew what he was doing.

Bush Jr. didn't have nearly the background his dad did. Instead of listening to his dad, or to his military experts who told him an invasion wouldn't work, he listened to ideologues from the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). These people had no experience with war or invasion or occupation, they only believed that as the last remaning superpower we could run the world.

Bush's biggest mistake was not in listening to them instead of the people who knew what they were talking about, it was in refusing to admit that he'd made a mistake. This is Bush's biggest weakness, his inability to change course, to try something different.

Answer 2

41 said something similar to what you posted. He knew there were no plans for regime change and didn't want the U.S, alone to go in without U.N. authorization. General Schwartzkoff, wanted to continue into Baghdad and take down the regime against President Bush's wishes, not orders. That's when Stormin' Norman decided to retire. He had the man power but nothing more in the plans for a regime change.

Both presidents were following the orders of the U.N. with a Willing Coalition to do the job.

You Flamers are seriously infected with S.M.S. (Selective Memory Syndrome) when you not only refer to 41 and 43 as Sr. and Jr. and make this out to be a personal thing with W. He too was following the enforcement of Resolution 1441, remember that little detail? I bet not. You best be considering which of these non-capable candidates are going to get beaten by the Conservatives a year and a half from now.

Bush beat Gore! Get over it! All of your left-wing nut cakes in congress voted for the war and support Bush. With one exception. Obama was so stupid he decided he would vote against it! Why did he do that?

Now, all those S-Ps are backing off from that support. The Liberal Congress lied and our young people died! We won't let you forget it either.

Bush was re-elected not because his father was president. He won because the people wanted him to win and have him back for another four years.

Answer 3

He said it would be a mistake "without a clear exit strategy." W did not care. He was sold a bill of goods by Rumsfeld, whose knowledge of military science would not fill a thimble. Indeed, I wonder which did more damage to the military: MacNamara or Rumsfeld. All W cared about was that he had an opportunity to be a "Wartime President" and drive the price of oil over $60 per barrel, thereby fulfilling the promise made to Prince Bandar.

IN other words, W did not see things totally differently. He did not look.

Answer 4

Because Senior knew what it was like to fight in a war and he had the common sense to know the history of the region and what the instability of a war would do to it.
Jr has been trying to outshine his dad and act has if he had a set so, with absolutely no compunction or exhibition of common sense and review of the region, he jumps in and what a bang up job he has done. It is now an even more volatile powder keg thanks to his blundering in.

Answer 5

Everyone has a right to their own opinions.

Answer 6

"After all, [Saddam] is the guy who tried to kill my dad." --GWB