It was not a mistake for the president to go into Iraq based on the
information he had as president. Today we know -- if the president had
known that there were no weapons of mass destruction at the time, you
still would have had to deal with Saddam Hussein but the process would
have been different. I doubt very seriously that the president would
have gotten, for example, Congressional approval to move forward with an
invasion had they known they were no weapons for mass destruction. That
does not mean he made the wrong decision because at the time he was
presented with intelligence saying there were weapons of mass
destruction. He wasn't dealing with a Noble Peace Prize winner, he was
dealing with Saddam Hussein and he made the right decision based on the
information he had at that time.
We have learned subsequently that information was wrong. My answer was,
had at the time, it would have been apparent the intelligence was wrong,
I don't think George Bush would have moved forward on the invasion and
he certainly wouldn't have Congressional authority. But the presidents
don't have the benefit of hindsight. You have to make difficult
decisions based on the information that's before you at that moment.
~ Marco Rubio
As told to Chris Wallace after Wallace harassed him about it during an interview. Can we now put this question to rest?
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