Blame President Barack Obama, not his predecessor, for the turmoil in Iraq, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told New Hampshire’s WMUR.com.
The Iraq war began in 2003, led by President George W. Bush. It ended in December, 2011, during Obama’s presidency. Graham is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination, and spoke as his potential rivals weighed in on whether they would have authorized American involvement in the war.
“I blame Obama for Iraq, not Bush,” Graham said as he toured New Hampshire. “Bush made mistakes. He corrected his mistakes. Obama leaving Iraq, ignoring the advice of all of his military commanders –he was told what would happen if you leave Iraq with no troops left behind."
Graham, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Bush invaded Iraq with “faulty intelligence...but with intelligence the entire world believed. So when you look at the mistakes of Iraq, the one I blame the most is Barack Obama, not George W. Bush.”
Graham also told WMUR.com he’s now “99.9 percent” certain he’ll run for president, though he would not confirm reports that he’ll do so on June 1.