Did George W. Bush Create ISIS ? 
George W Bush
Could a small force of American soldiers have prevented Iraq from sliding back into chaos , as Governor Bush claims ? 
The exchange started like this : at the end of Jeb Bush 's town-hall meeting in Reno , Nevada , on Wednesday , a college student named Ivy Ziedrich stood up and said that she had heard Bush blame the growth of ISIS on President Obama , in particular on his decision to withdraw American troops from Iraq in 2011 . 
The origins of ISIS , Ziedrich said , lay in the decision by Bush 's brother , in 2003 , to disband the Iraqi Army following the toppling of Saddam Hussein 's government . 
Wow ," Bush said . 
Here is what happened : In 2003 , the U.S. military , on orders of President Bush , invaded Iraq , and nineteen days later threw out Saddam 's government . 
Historians -- along with Governor Bush and Ivy Ziedrich -- will be arguing about the question for a long time . 
"All right ," Bush said . 
Bush Administration officials involved in the decision -- like Paul Bremer and Walter Slocombe -- argued that they were effectively ratifying the reality that the Iraqi Army had already disintegrated . 
But the Bush White House went ahead . 
While it 's true that George W. Bush took actions that helped enable the creation of the Iraqi insurgency , and that some leaders of the insurgency formed ISIS , it 's not true that he "created" ISIS . 
And there 's a good argument to be made that an insurgency would have formed following the invasion of Iraq even if President Bush had kept the Iraqi Army together . 
Indeed , by 2011 the situation in Iraq -- as former Governor Bush said -- was relatively stable . 
But let 's get to Governor Bush 's assertion -- that Iraq went down the tubes because of President Obama 's decision to pull out all American forces , and that Obama could easily have left behind a residual force that would have kept the peace . 
"When we left Iraq , security had been arranged ," Bush said . 
A few days after that , President Bush or someone in his Administration decreed the dissolution of the Iraqi Army . 
Bush did n't like it : he offered a retort and then left the stage . 
So , on this , Governor Bush is n't entirely accurate , but makes a good point : the Obama Administration might have been able to keep some forces in Iraq if it had really tried .
Could a small force of American soldiers have prevented Iraq from sliding back into chaos , as Governor Bush claims ? 
The exchange started like this : at the end of Jeb Bush 's town-hall meeting in Reno , Nevada , on Wednesday , a college student named Ivy Ziedrich stood up and said that she had heard Bush blame the growth of ISIS on President Obama , in particular on his decision to withdraw American troops from Iraq in 2011 . 
The origins of ISIS , Ziedrich said , lay in the decision by Bush 's brother , in 2003 , to disband the Iraqi Army following the toppling of Saddam Hussein 's government . 
Wow ," Bush said . 
Here is what happened : In 2003 , the U.S. military , on orders of President Bush , invaded Iraq , and nineteen days later threw out Saddam 's government . 
Historians -- along with Governor Bush and Ivy Ziedrich -- will be arguing about the question for a long time . 
"All right ," Bush said . 
Bush Administration officials involved in the decision -- like Paul Bremer and Walter Slocombe -- argued that they were effectively ratifying the reality that the Iraqi Army had already disintegrated . 
But the Bush White House went ahead . 
While it 's true that George W. Bush took actions that helped enable the creation of the Iraqi insurgency , and that some leaders of the insurgency formed ISIS , it 's not true that he "created" ISIS . 
And there 's a good argument to be made that an insurgency would have formed following the invasion of Iraq even if President Bush had kept the Iraqi Army together . 
Indeed , by 2011 the situation in Iraq -- as former Governor Bush said -- was relatively stable . 
But let 's get to Governor Bush 's assertion -- that Iraq went down the tubes because of President Obama 's decision to pull out all American forces , and that Obama could easily have left behind a residual force that would have kept the peace . 
"When we left Iraq , security had been arranged ," Bush said . 
A few days after that , President [TGT] or someone in [TGT] Administration decreed the dissolution of the Iraqi Army . 
Bush did n't like it : he offered a retort and then left the stage . 
So , on this , Governor Bush is n't entirely accurate , but makes a good point : the Obama Administration might have been able to keep some forces in Iraq if it had really tried .