Elections

Bush won’t cite differences with brother’s foreign policy

By David Lightman - McClatchy Washington Bureau

April 17, 2015 12:50 PM

In this Feb. 4, 2015, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush pauses while speaking at a Economic Club of Detroit in Detroit. Running for president as part of a family dynasty is presenting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with inevitable comparisons he must address as he moves closer to a campaign for the White House. AP

Jeb Bush doesn’t want to talk about whether he disagrees with any of his brother’s foreign policy.

Bush, the former Florida governor and possible 2016 presidential candidate, was asked at a Manchester, New Hampshire news conference about any differences.

Not relevant, Bush said. President George W. Bush left office in 2009 highly unpopular, largely because of the Iraq war.

“The circumstances for today are different than they were in 2000, certainly different than they were in 1988,” Jeb Bush said Friday.

The world, he said, has “a whole new set of opportunities. The world that we're in is radically different than it was when my brother was up here in 1999. And certainly like light-years away from the '80s. So ideas need to be about the future and I'll get a chance to do that."

Bush said earlier this year that intelligence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction proved “not to be accurate.” Asked about other possible George W. Bush mistakes, Jeb Bush said, "That's not particularly relevant in a world of deep insecurity, focusing on the past is not really relevant. What's relevant is what's the role of America going forward?"