Former President George W. Bush, who led the United States into war across the Middle East, attacked President Trump on Wednesday night, saying U.S. intervention is necessary “for the sake of peace” around the globe.
During a panel alongside former President Bill Clinton at the Nir School of the Heart, Bush laid into Trump for his recent decision to withdraw up to 1,000 American troops from northeast Syria — fulfilling his longheld campaign promise to bring troops home after more than a decade of war.
“An isolationist United States is destabilizing around the world,” Bush said, according to the Washington Post‘s Josh Rogin. “We are becoming isolationist and that’s dangerous for the sake of peace.”
Bush led the U.S. into war in Afghanistan and Iraq with more than 4,500 Americans dying in Iraq — including more than 3,500 killed in combat — and up to 205,000 Iraqi citizens dying in the war since March 2003.
Trump Announces Iran Deal Is Complete, Says Military Operations Will End Immediately
Trump bet tariffs would bring back American factory jobs. New report says it didn’t work
Trump heads to G7 with Iran deal momentum, trade fights waiting
Immigrants filed tens of thousands of lawsuits in Trump’s first year
Both gubernatorial candidates look to Make Iowa Healthy Again
Detroit sisters accused of stabbing restaurant worker after wrong food order
Trump mixes sports and patriotism with UFC Freedom 250 ‘spectacle’
UFC Freedom 250 White House event: Photos
Sean Strickland removed from UFC White House event by Secret Service
National Guardsman pleads guilty to fatal shooting of soldier he found in bed with his ex-girlfriend
Eric Trump denies asking former UFC star if White House fights were rigged
Trump announces peace deal with Iran, declares Strait of Hormuz will reopen: ‘Let the oil flow!’
Trump arrives for UFC fight
Boston police arrest 14-year-old after masked suspects allegedly rob siblings’ lemonade stand
Congressional baseball game offers longstanding traditions, and plenty of confusion
In total, Bush’s post-9/11 wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and intervention in Pakistan have resulted in the deaths of between 480,000 and 507,000 people — including nearly 7,000 American soldiers who had deployed to the regions.
Today, the overwhelming majority of American Veterans and all U.S. voters say that Bush’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were “not worth fighting” more than a decade later, the latest Pew Research Center survey finds. Likewise, nearly six-in-ten voters say U.S. military intervention in Syria is not worth fighting or risking American lives.
Bush, according to Rogin, also said his biggest regret as president from 2001 to 2008 was not passing an amnesty for the 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the U.S., seemingly attacking the Trump administration’s focus on enforcement of immigration law that has helped boost wages for blue-collar and working-class Americans.
“We are a nation of immigrants but the language coming out of the system today is rejecting immigration,” Bush said.
During his two terms in office, Bush’s immigration platform centered on his “any willing worker” policy that declared all foreign nationals were welcome to come to the U.S. so long as they took American jobs, which were already scarce during the Great Recession and the aftermath of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.
Trump Announces Iran Deal Is Complete, Says Military Operations Will End Immediately
Trump bet tariffs would bring back American factory jobs. New report says it didn’t work
Trump heads to G7 with Iran deal momentum, trade fights waiting
Immigrants filed tens of thousands of lawsuits in Trump’s first year
Both gubernatorial candidates look to Make Iowa Healthy Again
Detroit sisters accused of stabbing restaurant worker after wrong food order
Trump mixes sports and patriotism with UFC Freedom 250 ‘spectacle’
UFC Freedom 250 White House event: Photos
Sean Strickland removed from UFC White House event by Secret Service
National Guardsman pleads guilty to fatal shooting of soldier he found in bed with his ex-girlfriend
Eric Trump denies asking former UFC star if White House fights were rigged
Trump announces peace deal with Iran, declares Strait of Hormuz will reopen: ‘Let the oil flow!’
Trump arrives for UFC fight
Boston police arrest 14-year-old after masked suspects allegedly rob siblings’ lemonade stand
Congressional baseball game offers longstanding traditions, and plenty of confusion
Bush’s continued attacks on Trump and his “America First” agenda stand in contrast to the former president’s history of refusing to denounce the far-left policies of Obama.
“I don’t think it’s good for the country to have a former president undermine a current president,” Bush said in 2014. “I think it’s bad for the presidency for that matter.”
Story cited here.
