House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said it was “absurd” for President Obama to note that Islamic terrorists the U.S.-led coalition is currently battling are an offshoot of those fought under the Bush administration.
{mosads}”ISIL is direct outgrowth of al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion, which is an example of unintended consequences — which is why we should generally aim before we shoot,” Obama said in an interview earlier this week with VICE News, using an alternate acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“To me that’s absurd, because he’s been president for six years. ISIS didn’t even start in Iraq, it started in Syria,” McCarthy said late Tuesday on Fox’s “On the Record,” noting Obama pushed for the U.S. to leave Iraq.
McCarthy invoked Obama’s remarks to launch a larger attack on his administration’s foreign policy.
“You saw the president say it was a JV team, and then he’s even said Yemen was an example of his foreign policy. Well, that country has collapsed as well,” McCarthy said. “He’s got to start blaming other people and he’s got to actually focus” on the U.S. strategy.
Obama’s request for military authority to battle ISIS has stalled in Congress, with Democrats concerned it goes too far and Republicans arguing it doesn’t go far enough.
“It’s having its hearings right now,” McCarthy maintained on Fox, suggesting lawmakers aren’t dragging their feet on the issue. “Not slow, you should take this [seriously],” he said.
McCarthy said that when he was briefed by White House counsel on the number of military generals they spoke to when crafting the document, the number was zero.
“That’s not how you deal with military. That’s a political answer,” McCarthy said.
“The world is less safe today than after 9/11 or before. That is a sad comment on what’s gone on,” he added.