Sen. Lindsey Graham Loses It on CNN: Defends Trump and Blames Obama for ISIS in Iraq

GOP Handbook: 1^st Page, 1st Paragraph, 1st Sentence 

“Always Blame Obama”

Read the article below and tell me: “Who is really pedaling bullsh*t?”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reacts angrily to CNN host Dana Bash when asked about blaming Trump for his decision to withdraw U.S. Forces from Iraq by saying: “That's a bunch of bullsh*t”

He then went on to blame, guess who? Yep, Mr. Obama … that is a routine GOP ploy these days: Keep blaming Obama NEVER Trump.

This is how this story went down:

Sen. Graham dismissed a question from CNN’s anchor Dana Bash as “a bunch of bullsh*t” during a conversation about violence in the Middle East.

During his appearance on “State of the Union” Bash asked Graham whether President Trump would be to blame if the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) were to become more powerful after U.S. troops leave Syria. 

Graham responded that President Obama should bear the blame because of his decision to withdraw from Iraq in 2011, saying: “Everything we’re dealing with today falls on Obama’s watch. He’s the one who withdrew from Iraq.”

Bash then countered asking: “But he did it because there was a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in Iraq, right?”

Graham shot back: “Listen. No, that’s a bunch of bullsh*t.  Pardon my French. That’s a complete lie. That’s a complete, absolute lie.”

Bash’s eyes widened in surprise: “So, that didn’t happen?”

Graham went on to say that he had hoped (at the time) that Obama’s decision to withdraw troops from Iraq in 2011 was correct but that he feared the decision would “come back to haunt us.”

Historical Factual Note: Obama’s 2012 presidential election campaign boasted that the mission in Iraq ended because of the Commander-in-Chief and that he had fulfilled a campaign promise. Other GOP critics like Graham still argue that withdrawing troops would create a power vacuum that could be filled by radical forces.

DEMS generally lay the blame for Middle East destabilization on former President George W. Bush for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (and taking the focus off Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks), and the fact that “ISIS came about as a result of our withdrawal from Iraq. That caliphate was established in Syria because Obama sat on the sidelines and watched the place be dismembered,” Graham said.

Regardless, and as Bash mentioned, Obama was largely implementing the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which was inherited from George W. Bush’s pledge at the time made by an agreement with then Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki that established a December 31, 2011 deadline for removing all American troops from Iraq.

Trump’s recent decision to withdraw American troops from Syria elicited a wide range of reactions from within the Republican Party.

Many think that move would endanger America’s allies in the region and embolden all our adversaries. 

Libertarian or isolationist conservatives, however, celebrated Trump’s surprising announcement, saying that military intervention is not in the national interest.

Although critical of withdrawing from Syria, Graham said he’s mostly “very pleased” with the Trump administration and has had more access to the president than ever. He hopes Trump will meet with his generals and reconsider that decision, and he concluded saying: “He was dealt a bad hand by Obama and he needs to play it better than he’s playing it. Keeping the troops in Iraq is great.”

My 2 cents: I am at a loss for words – and for me that is highly unusual, but how can anyone in any rational way counter the GOP’s constant blame game, i.e., facts don’t impact them; the truth is like a foreign language to them; and Trump only hears what he himself (or via FOX) spew.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but I suspect as to many military-minded others, ISIS is apt be celebrating and busily recruiting to refill their ranks – we shall see.

Thanks for stopping by.