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Did Trump initially support the Iraq War?

Did Trump initially support the Iraq War?

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JANFU

JANFU

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I don't believe he had a strong opinion either way. He probably changed his mind day to day based on who the last talking head he watched on tv was.
 
BrewerBob said:
I don't believe he had a strong opinion either way. He probably changed his mind day to day based on who the last talking head he watched on tv was.
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From what I have seen he changed his mind later.
 
The Iraq war that Bush started in 2003 and Obama ended in 2011 or the new one that Obama started?

What difference, at this point, does it make? ;)
 
What difference does anybody's political lean make? He didn't initially support the Iraq war based on whether the person answering the poll is Republican, Democrat, or Zoroastrian. He simply did.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
The Iraq war that Bush started in 2003 and Obama ended in 2011 or the new one that Obama started?

What difference, at this point, does it make? ;)
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That is the thing isn't it. The question is what should be done about ISIS now? The invasion is in the history books, no one can change that. Total withdrawal is in the history books, no one can change that either. Placing blame is sort of irrelevant to what happens now and in the future. It is the people in power now who control that, not Bush. He is long gone.

Bush can be blamed for everything that happened prior to 20 January 2009, then the responsibility shifted to Obama or the onus was placed on his shoulders. Obama and his decisions, his actions and or non-actions since that date has brought us to where we are today. Not Bush.

Personally, I think the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam was a mistake. I think the original war or the helping of the northern alliance in Afghanistan was merited and fought the way it should have been. The original war that is. Our air power, a few SF and paramilitary on the ground with the northern alliance troops doing the ground fighting. I also believe the nation building we started in Afghanistan was wrong and another mistake. We should have handled that differently.

I also think the overthrow of Qaddafi was a mistake along with trying to oust Assad. But our number priority is the defeat of ISIS. How can be debated, but ISIS needs to be destroyed. If that means helping the Russians and Assad do it, by all means, join hands. I also think our non-action or limited action in Iraq has driven the present government of that country into close ties with Iran. My two cents.
 
JANFU said:
Did Trump initially support the Iraq War?

I am a Democrat- Yes
I am a Republican- Yes
I am a Democrat- No
I am a Republican - No
I am an Independent -Yes
I am an Independent - No

Trump: this Esquire article proves I opposed the Iraq War. Esquire: no, it doesn’t. - Vox

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/...ons-of-his-iraq-war-stance-in-13-minutes.html

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box...00-trump-again-claims-he-was-against-iraq-war

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I don't know if he did or didn't and I think it is irrelevant what one thought back in 2003. The same goes for Hillary Clinton back in 2003. People evolve and can change their minds as circumstances warrant and situations change. It is what they think today that is important. It would be nice for them to explain why they changed their minds, but I do think one should go by what they believe in or stand on the issues today, not 13 years ago.

Trump wasn't in power or running for anything in 2003 and any views or statements back then was as a private citizen. Clinton was a senator from New York and had a say in the resolution to use military force to oust Saddam or not. Clinton was in power, abet one of one hundred. Trump as I stated, only a private citizen expressing his views one way of the other.

I really do not care where each stood on Iraq back then. I will not vote for either.
 
Perotista said:
I don't know if he did or didn't and I think it is irrelevant what one thought back in 2003. The same goes for Hillary Clinton back in 2003. People evolve and can change their minds as circumstances warrant and situations change. It is what they think today that is important. It would be nice for them to explain why they changed their minds, but I do think one should go by what they believe in or stand on the issues today, not 13 years ago.

Trump wasn't in power or running for anything in 2003 and any views or statements back then was as a private citizen. Clinton was a senator from New York and had a say in the resolution to use military force to oust Saddam or not. Clinton was in power, abet one of one hundred. Trump as I stated, only a private citizen expressing his views one way of the other.

I really do not care where each stood on Iraq back then. I will not vote for either.
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This isn't about "evolving," but whether or not he held the view at the time that we should invade Iraq. (Spoiler alert: he did).
 
Perotista said:
That is the thing isn't it. The question is what should be done about ISIS now? The invasion is in the history books, no one can change that. Total withdrawal is in the history books, no one can change that either. Placing blame is sort of irrelevant to what happens now and in the future. It is the people in power now who control that, not Bush. He is long gone.

Bush can be blamed for everything that happened prior to 20 January 2009, then the responsibility shifted to Obama or the onus was placed on his shoulders. Obama and his decisions, his actions and or non-actions since that date has brought us to where we are today. Not Bush.

Personally, I think the invasion of Iraq and the removal of Saddam was a mistake. I think the original war or the helping of the northern alliance in Afghanistan was merited and fought the way it should have been. The original war that is. Our air power, a few SF and paramilitary on the ground with the northern alliance troops doing the ground fighting. I also believe the nation building we started in Afghanistan was wrong and another mistake. We should have handled that differently.

I also think the overthrow of Qaddafi was a mistake along with trying to oust Assad. But our number priority is the defeat of ISIS. How can be debated, but ISIS needs to be destroyed. If that means helping the Russians and Assad do it, by all means, join hands. I also think our non-action or limited action in Iraq has driven the present government of that country into close ties with Iran. My two cents.
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Our military is designed for, and quite capable of, defeating any nation's ability to fight a war by using extreme offense to eliminate that ability. Our military is not designed for, or proven capable of, defeating an ideology, nation building or playing policeman. If the most powerful and expensive military on the planet cannot defeat an enemy which has no Air Force, no Navy and has a rag tag, at best, Army in over a decade then the problem lies with the mission, rules of engagement and/or battle plan - most of which are outside the direct control of the US military.
 
Of course he did, he is just a coward and a con man by denying it.

And Kellyanne Conway should not falsely claim that when Obama said it in 2008, the media did not challenge that. The real issue is that Obama said in 2002, on the record that he was against the way, not long after the war started as Trump did. Does Trump want to campaign to replace Captain Hindsight

Captain_Hindsight_766605.jpg

From South park who had 20/20 vision after the fact? Pathetic, changing your story when the **** hit the fan, just like with Libya. Trump is a hypocritical whiner.
 
Cardinal said:
This isn't about "evolving," but whether or not he held the view at the time that we should invade Iraq. (Spoiler alert: he did).
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So what has one's opinion 13 years ago have to do with one opinion now? Do you hold Hillary Clinton's vote to go to war against her? I don't, circumstances and people change. Perhaps what is more important is knowing why. Did they change due to convictions and changing circumstances and situations or did they do so to curry favor with voters and put forth a facade because it is convenient to do so at this time? Only Trump and Clinton know that answer for sure. The rest of us can only make an educated guess.
 
Perotista said:
So what has one's opinion 13 years ago have to do with one opinion now? Do you hold Hillary Clinton's vote to go to war against her? I don't, circumstances and people change. Perhaps what is more important is knowing why. Did they change due to convictions and changing circumstances and situations or did they do so to curry favor with voters and put forth a facade because it is convenient to do so at this time? Only Trump and Clinton know that answer for sure. The rest of us can only make an educated guess.
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The significance of it is that Trump is (per usual) lying about it because he's using the authorization to go to war as an attack on Clinton.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Our military is designed for, and quite capable of, defeating any nation's ability to fight a war by using extreme offense to eliminate that ability. Our military is not designed for, or proven capable of, defeating an ideology, nation building or playing policeman. If the most powerful and expensive military on the planet cannot defeat an enemy which has no Air Force, no Navy and has a rag tag, at best, Army in over a decade then the problem lies with the mission, rules of engagement and/or battle plan - most of which are outside the direct control of the US military.
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I agree, the military is not suited for nation building or acting like policemen. The military was designed to destroy and kill. ISIS can be defeated in Syria if we turn the military loose. The results would be one our current president doesn't want, Assad remaining in power. In several international polls, the majority of Syrians want him to continue to be their leader. The problem is the way I see it, if Obama defeats ISIS too quickly, that ensures Assad remains in power. So he won't do that. He put on a show of trying to defeat ISIS while using ISIS to oust Assad. He can't have it both ways.
 
Cardinal said:
The significance of it is that Trump is (per usual) lying about it because he's using the authorization to go to war as an attack on Clinton.
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Politicians lie and for the most part say what they think the people they are talking to want to hear. They preach to their base.
 
Perotista said:
I agree, the military is not suited for nation building or acting like policemen. The military was designed to destroy and kill. ISIS can be defeated in Syria if we turn the military loose. The results would be one our current president doesn't want, Assad remaining in power. In several international polls, the majority of Syrians want him to continue to be their leader. The problem is the way I see it, if Obama defeats ISIS too quickly, that ensures Assad remains in power. So he won't do that. He put on a show of trying to defeat ISIS while using ISIS to oust Assad. He can't have it both ways.
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Yes he can. He both ended the war in Iraq and then sent US ground forces into Iraq.
 
Perotista said:
Politicians lie and for the most part say what they think the people they are talking to want to hear. They preach to their base.
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Um, okay, thanks for the observation? But you're grasping why it's being pointed out that Trump supported the invasion of Iraq, right?
 
Looking back....

"Did Tojo agree with bombing Pearl Harbor?"

"Did Hitler agree with invading Russia?"

"Did Napoleon agree with the Battle of Waterloo?"
 
Cardinal said:
Um, okay, thanks for the observation? But you're grasping why it's being pointed out that Trump supported the invasion of Iraq, right?
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Okay, but I still don't see what that has to do with now. There have been a lot of things when I was younger I viewed one way only to change over time on how I felt about them. There have been others that I have remained steadfast.

The way I look at it, what is important is not what either candidate thought back in 2003. what is important is what they plan on doing about it today or once elected. Way too much effort in my opinion is spent on what someone did 20, 30 or more years ago and not on what they are planning on doing today or once elected.

If it is important to you that Trump supported the Iraq war back in 2003, so be it. I think it is irrelevant. I think it is far more important to have an idea of what Trump would do with Iraq and ISIS in particular today or if he is elected. But that is me.
 
Perotista said:
Okay, but I still don't see what that has to do with now. There have been a lot of things when I was younger I viewed one way only to change over time on how I felt about them. There have been others that I have remained steadfast.

The way I look at it, what is important is not what either candidate thought back in 2003. what is important is what they plan on doing about it today or once elected. Way too much effort in my opinion is spent on what someone did 20, 30 or more years ago and not on what they are planning on doing today or once elected.

If it is important to you that Trump supported the Iraq war back in 2003, so be it. I think it is irrelevant. I think it is far more important to have an idea of what Trump would do with Iraq and ISIS in particular today or if he is elected. But that is me.
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[Sigh]

The "what that has to do with now" is that Trump is lying about it so that he can attack Clinton for authorizing the war. I've already told you that, and don't understand why you're having such a difficult time focusing on that one point.
 
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