Rick Santorum agreed with Donald Trump saying, “I think he is correct in that the Iraqi government has been one of the biggest problems for us in defeating ISIS.”
Former Sen. Santorum appeared on CNN’s “State of the Union” Tuesday, where he did distance himself from Trump saying, “I think his idea of bombing oil fields is a, is a big mistake.”
Rick Santorum: I have serious problems with the government of, of Iraq too. And it is incredibly influenced by Iran, and is doing the bidding a lot of Iran. And I have concerns that you know we are, we are fighting a war through them, very ineffectively. Because of them we are not arming the Kurds. That’s, that’s pretty clear. We are not, we’re not giving effective support, effective support to the Jordanians and other, other Sunni Arabs in the, in the region. So I you know, I don’t know if I would use the term corrupt, but I would say they are certainly not aligning with us and making, making it a more effective fight to defeat ISIS. I think his idea of bombing oil fields is a, is a big mistake. We have to make sure that when we do take that territory back the area can be productive and stable economically. So, I think the oil field idea is a bad idea, but his idea that the governments of Iran and Iraq are in cahoots and working together and causing problems for the United States to be successful is absolutely true.
Jake Tapper: But what do you think of a presidential candidate saying, when asked, the government of Iraq wouldn’t want you to do it saying, ‘Who cares?’
Santorum: Again that’s the bravado, but the substance, you know in this case the substance, I generally agree with Donald Trump. I mean,
Tapper: Although the strategy of bombing all their oil fields.
Santorum: I don’t, I don’t, I don’t like the old field strategy but I think he is correct in that the Iraqi government has been one of the biggest problems for us in defeating ISIS.