Rubio Refuses to Call Iraq War a ‘Mistake’

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace questioned Sen. Marcio Rubio (R-FL) about the 2003 Iraq war and whether or not that was a mistake.

Wallace asked several times if it was it a mistake.

“That was not the same question,” Rubio replied. “The question is whether it was a mistake. My answer is, it’s not a mistake. I still say it’s not a mistake because the president was presented with intelligence that the president was presented with evidence that said they had weapons of mass destruction, he committed atrocities.”

“If the president had known 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,” he added. “I doubt very seriously the president would have gotten congressional approval to move forward with invasion knowing there were no weapons of mass destruction. That does not mean he made the wrong decision because at the time he was presented with intelligence there were weapons of mass destruction. He wasn’t dealing with a Noble Peace prize winner. He was dealing with Saddam Hussein. He made the right decision based on what he knew at that time. We learned subsequently that information was wrong. My answer is, at the time, it appears the intelligence was wrong, I don’t think George Bush would have moved forward. 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.”

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