President Obama has wasted an opportunity for peace in Iraq and if elected Hillary Clinton would too, presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday.
“If Hillary Clinton thinks we’re well-positioned as a nation, she is disqualified as commander-in-chief,” Graham told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
The South Carolina Republican also said he’d be better at navigating Middle East policy than any other presidential candidate. A member of the Committee on Armed Services, he’s focused much of his time in the Senate on foreign policy.
“For the last 10 years I’ve been busting my butt,” Graham said. “There’s nobody better prepared to deal with the chaos in the Middle East than Lindsey Graham.”
Viewed as a long shot to win the GOP nomination next year, Graham is a hawkish senator known for his support for boots on the ground in Iraq and his heavy criticism of Obama’s withdrawal in 2011.
“Barack Obama turned down sound military advice by not leaving 10,000 troops behind in 2011,” he said. “His decision to withdraw completely from Iraq and not help the Syria army when we could has led to what we have today.”
Clinton, who was serving as secretary of state at the time, has defended Obama’s decision. But she has also suggested he may have been able to prevent the rise of the Islamic State by more aggressively arming Syrian rebels in 2012.
