Sen. John McCain blasts Obama’s foreign policy on Fox News, contrasts it with California earthquake
Aug 24, 2014, 9:32 AM | Updated: 2:07 pm
U.S. Sen. John McCain made an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” and talked about the earthquake that hit California hours earlier while also criticizing President Barack Obama’s handling of ISIS in the Middle East.
“The president has to understand that America must lead and, when American hasn’t, a lot of bad things happen,” McCain told Fox News’ Chris Wallace.
The senator somehow found a way to tie in Sunday morning’s Bay Area earthquake, although he used the event to contrast Obama’s handling of terrorist groups.
“This is not like the earthquake in San Francisco,” he said. “All of this could have been avoided, like leaving a residual behind force in Iraq. And obviously the challenge is now much greater than it would have been.”
Business Insider says the Obama administration hinted at a broader campaign against ISIS last week, especially after seeing video of U.S. journalist James Foley being beheaded.
Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, suggested on Friday the administration was weighing strikes against ISIS in Syria. Rhodes’ comments came a day after Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called the threat posed by ISIS “imminent” and like “nothing we’ve seen.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), who typically aligns with McCain on matters of foreign policy, said on CNN Sunday that the group is now the “most prominent terrorist organization in the world.”
McCain sounded hopeful Sunday that Obama would call for stronger force against ISIS, although he wasn’t sure if that will be the case.
“I don’t think his advisers would be that far out front if they didn’t have some confidence,” McCain said. “It is a precursor to the president making an announcement of a new approach.”
