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Welcome To CNN, Jay Carney: McCain SLAMS Former WH Spox Following Obama Speech

Al Weaver Reporter
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In his first appearance as a CNN contributor, former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney got into a sparring match with a more-than-willing Sen. John McCain over the current situation in Iraq and Syria, and whether the Iraq War could have helped to avoid the mess the U.S. is currently facing with ISIS:

Anderson Cooper: “Senator McCain, you and I spoke just last week about. You said President Obama had no goal, no strategy when it came to destroying ISIS. What did you think about what you heard tonight?”

Sen. McCain: “I think it was a very weak argument. And by the way, I’m astounded that Mr. Carney should say that the Free Syrian Army is now stronger. In fact, they have been…”

Jay Carney: “Well, that’s not that I said, Senator. If I could, sir, what I said is, if we know a great deal more now about the makeup of the opposition..”

McCain: “Come on, Jay, we knew all about them then. You just didn’t choose to know. I was there in Syria. We we knew about them. Come on, you guys were the ones, your boss was the one when the entire national security team wanted to arm and train them that he turned them down, Mr. Carney. After a…”

Carney: “Well Senator, I think we have to agree to disagree on this.”

McCain: “No, facts are stubborn things, Mr. Carney, and that is his entire national security team, including the Secretary of State said he want to arm and train and equip these people and he made the unilateral decision to turn them down. The fact he didn’t a residual force in Iraq, overruled all of his military advisers, is the reason why we’re facing ISIS today.”

“So the facts are stubborn things in history and people ought to know them. And now the president is saying, basically, that we are going to take certain actions, which I would favor, but to say that America is safer, and that the situation is very much like Yemen and Somalia shows me that the president really doesn’t have a grasp for how serious the threat of ISIS is.”