Marco Rubio's campaign ran off the rails when Rubio flubbed the answer to what had to be the question he was expecting most: Knowing what we do now was the invasion of Iraq a mistake?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was it a mistake to go to war in Iraq?
(CROSSTALK)
RUBIO: Oh, I don't believe it was -- the world is a better place because Saddam Hussein doesn't run Iraq.
MODERATOR: After finding that there were no weapons of mass destruction, would you, if you knew that, have been in favor of the Iraqi invasion?
RUBIO: Well, not only would I have not been in favor of it, President Bush would not have been in favor of it. And he said so.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
WALLACE: Senator, isn't that a flip?
Six weeks ago, it made sense to invade Iraq in 2003. Now you say it was a mistake.
RUBIO: No, they're two different questions. It was not a mistake. The president, based on -- this is the way the real world works. The president, based on the information that was provided to him --
WALLACE: But she was saying based on the information --
(CROSSTALK)
RUBIO: No, no, but, look, there's two different --
WALLACE: She was saying based on the -- what we know now.
RUBIO: Well, based on what we know now, a lot of things -- based on what we know now, I wouldn't have, you know, thought Manny Pacquiao was going to beat in -- in that fight a couple of weeks ago.
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: -- you got asked the same question and you said since.
RUBIO: No, that was not the same -- no, that was not the same question. The question was whether it was a mistake. And my answer was it's not a mistake. I still say it was not a mistake, because the president was presented with intelligence that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, it was governed by a man who had committed atrocities in the past with weapons of mass destruction --
WALLACE: But, what she asked you was, was it a mistake to go to war with Iraq?
RUBIO: It was not a mistake given the fact that what the president knew at the time.
WALLACE: No, she didn't say that. She just said, was it a mistake?
RUBIO: Well, that's not the same question. The question I was asked is, what you know now? Well, based on what we know now, I think everyone agrees that we still --
WALLACE: Was it a mistake -- was it a mistake to go to war with Iraq?
RUBIO: It's two different -- it wasn't -- I --
WALLACE: I'm asking you to --
RUBIO: Yes, I understand, but that's not the same question.
WALLACE: But I'm asking -- but that's the question I'm asking you, was it a mistake to go to war?
RUBIO: It was not a mistake for the president to decide to go into Iraq, because at the time, he was told --
WALLACE: I'm not asking you that. I'm asking you --
RUBIO: In hindsight.
WALLACE: Yes.
RUBIO: Well, the world is a better place because Saddam Hussein is not there.
WALLACE: So, was it a mistake or not?
RUBIO: But I wouldn't characterize it -- but I don't understand the question you're asking, because the president --
WALLACE: I'm asking you, knowing -- as we sit here in 2015 --
RUBIO: No, but that's not the way presidents -- a president cannot make decision on what someone might know in the future.
WALLACE: I understand. But that's what I'm asking you. Was it a mistake?
RUBIO: It was not a mistake for the president to go into Iraq based on the information he was provided as president.
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Careful not to mention what Bush's Vice President knew at the time about the cherry picked intelligence Cheney himself actively tried to slant. Chris Wallace's persistence in trying to get a straight answer is admirable.
Obviously Marco Rubio doesn't want to state unequivocally that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. Why? While most Americans think the invasion of Iraq was an enormous blunder Republican Primary Voters have clung to the belief that invading Iraq was the correct thing to do NO MATTER WHAT repercussions have followed. In fact the Republican base predictably blames Obama for the mess Iraq has become as the Shia dominated Iraqi government lost control of many Sunni areas. Nothing Bush did in Iraq could possibly go wrong and only Democrats make mistakes in their twisted worldview (complete with a self-serving revised historical narrative).