Liz Cheney blasted Barack Obama’s policy for handling Iraq saying what we see now is, “A direct consequence of walking away from the Middle East and creating chaos, creating a vacuum that ISIS, that Iran, that America’s enemies are now filling.”
Cheney, a former State Department official and daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and argued that when Obama became president Iraq was “stable” but because of a lack of a status of forces agreement, there is now the chaos in the Middle East that we see today.
Chris Wallace: Let’s move to Iraq and the rise of ISIS. Liz, you blame President Obama for pulling all U.S. troops out of Iraq in 2011, but the fact is the original status of forces agreement that called for the withdrawal of all troops was negotiated by President Bush and critics would argue that the rise of al Qaeda and other terrorists in Iraq started after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the Bush/Cheney Administration.
Liz Cheney: Well, the reality is that there was always an intention that there would be stay behind forces and that once the combat operations were over, there would be an agreement and another SOFA agreement negotiated to allow forces to stay behind. That is what the Obama administration refused to do. Eventually ending up with agreeing to such a small number of U.S. Forces that it would not have been effective in terms of providing security in Iraq. The other thing that is indisputable, is that when Barack Obama took the Oath of Office in January 20th, 2009, the situation in Iraq because of the surge ordered under the Bush/Cheney administration was stable. Al Qaeda and Iraq had been defeated. The Shia militias had largely been defeated. Even President Obama and Vice President Biden claim that Iraq was a success at that point. What you see now, and I would say, not just in Iraq, but what you see in terms of the refugee crisis, all across Europe today is a tragedy there, is a direct consequence of Barack Obama’s Middle East policies. A direct consequence of walking away from the Middle East and creating chaos, creating a vacuum that ISIS, that Iran, that America’s enemies are now filling.
Dick and Liz Cheney have been discussing their new book lately. (RELATED: Dick Cheney Is ‘Religiously Staying Away’ From Talking About Donald Trump)
