Speaking at a national security forum in Davenport, Iowa, on Thursday, Mr Bush acknowledged that his brother’s record on prosecuting the war and its aftermath was not ideal, as he tried to balance his own outlook and reconcile the implicit connection he has to some of his brother’s unpopular decisions. As far as they’re concerned, Iraq was a righteous venture that was ruined only by the gutlessness of President Obama and his cabal of apology tour aides.
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Asked if he was “all-in” for the leadoff caucus state, the former Florida governor stressed that he would be “competitive”.
Asked specifically if he would re-authorize waterboarding, Bush responded, “I’m not ruling anything in or out”.
Iowans peppered Bush with questions as he made his way up the main concourse, and he leaned into criticism of his stance on immigration-defending his support for legal status for immigrants in the country illegally but also emphasizing tougher enforcement on the border and in the workplace.
“I do think, in general, that torture is not appropriate and effective, and the change in policy that my brother did and was put into executive order form by the president was the proper thing to do”, he continued. Terpstra, who said he is undecided on a Republican candidate, said he thought Bush gave “a very nice speech”.
The last two Republican presidents were, of course, his brother George W. Bush and his father George H.W. Bush. He said it was a mistake to stop the NSA’s bulk collection of Americans’ metadata because there’s no evidence that “civil liberties were violated, that people’s privacy was violated”. “I’m glad you brought that up”, Bush quipped after the moderator allowed his brother had taken action toward ending the practice before Obama took office.
“It was a heroic effort and people lost their lives doing this and then to just say to fulfill a campaign promise to get out or Iraq in a precipitous way that we’re out of here and then to create the chaos that came afterward I think is just shameful to be honest with you”, Bush said on Thursday.
A Senate report released last year found the Central Intelligence Agency interrogation techniques were more brutal than previously disclosed and did not provide any life-saving intelligence.
“It’s not really about Bush”, said Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International’s US security and human rights program. Bush pretended that these tactical choices would somehow turn the tide, which is absurd, though they would represent a heightened engagement which many Iraqis would welcome.
“I actually got away with not eating a whole lot”, Bush told NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell.
But he went on to say that some harsh questioning methods might be necessary in extreme circumstances.
Maybe you’ve seen that Jeb Bush has refused to rule out more torture if he’s elected president. We should be taking out ISIS.
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“I don’t know how good he is on the grill, I do this with my son, Jeb Jr. every day”, Bush replied. After his speech, Jeb opened himself up to a question-and-answer session.
