OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican presidential candidates may be saying the Iraq war was a mistake in hindsight, but the hawks are not in retreat at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.
All three likely GOP White House contenders who spoke Thursday took a hard line on Iran and criticized the weakness of President Obama. Both Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry likened living in Obama’s America to 1979 under Jimmy Carter. Former Sen. Rick Santorum called for bombing the Islamic State back into the 7th century.
In fact, Santorum argued that the real questions shouldn’t be directed at Republicans over the decision to invade Iraq. The defending champion of the Iowa caucuses said Clinton should instead have to answer for the withdrawal of troops at the end of 2011, which Santorum blamed for the creation of the Islamic State.
Perry hit Obama for drawing a red line on Syria and then failing to back it up. Santorum contended that the only time Republicans have won the popular vote in the last six presidential elections was in 2004, the Iraq war election year in which national security was a major issue. (Santorum lost his Senate seat in the 2006 elections, in which the Iraq war loomed even larger.)
Most of these comments were met with raucous applause, suggesting widespread agreement among the rank and file in attendance. GOP presidential candidates may not want to be identified with the unpopular Iraq war, but they haven’t all broken from George W. Bush’s foreign policy.
Knowing what we know now, maybe they wouldn’t have invaded Iraq. That doesn’t necessarily mean they think we should have left.
