Jeb has spent most of his campaign fumbling as he attempts to get out of his big brother’s shadow, but yesterday the younger Bush fully embraced W.’s strategy in the Middle East. Outlining his military strategy against ISIS, Jeb Bush called for America to put boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria.
Take a look at the latest coverage of Jeb seizing his family’s failed Middle East legacy:
The speech laid bare a policy that could ultimately result in a third president named Bush deploying U.S. military forces in the Middle East. Overall, his proposals amount to a more muscular version of the approach President Obama is pursuing and is largely in line with what other GOP presidential candidates and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton have outlined.
“Radical Islamic terrorists have declared war on the western world. Their aim is our total destruction,” he said. “We can’t withdraw from this threat, or negotiate with it. We have but one choice: to defeat it.”
The presidential hopeful advocated for increased defense spending, a new generation of combat aircraft, a larger naval fleet, improved missile defenses and an improved submarine program. He also reiterated that Congress ought to restore the Patriot Act’s controversial metadata program, which collected data in bulk of every American.
Bush has not been unwilling to characterize ISIS as “radical Islamic terrorists” and denounced their goal to destroy Western civilization.
“Their aim is our total destruction. We can’t withdraw from this threat, nor negotiate with it,” he said. “We have but one choice — to defeat ISIS.”
He reiterated his support for reinstating the Patriot Act’s metadata program, and also reinforced strategic plans outlaid earlier in his campaign, such as creating a safe zone in Syria, arming the Kurds, and enforcing a no-fly zone.
Jeb Bush signaled a willingness to deploy U.S. ground troops or more special forces to fight the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, sayingWednesday he would rely on military advisers to develop an overall mission to destroy the militant group.
“It’s a question of what the military commanders say,” Bush told USA TODAY in an interview before delivering a national security speech at The Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. “Effective policy means you’re seeking the advice of the combatants” on the “optimum strategy.”
Bush would not indicate a number of troops necessary, instead leaving that decision to the recommendation of military generals.
A president Jeb Bush would be the third Bush to commit troops in the Middle East. His father, George H.W. Bush, waged the mostly popular Iraq War known as Desert Storm, and his brother George W. Bush launched another war in Iraq that was largely unpopular that led to the ouster of Saddam Hussein. He also engaged in Afghanistan, which led to the longest war in U.S. history, to fight al Qaeda.
Published: Nov 19, 2015