Charles Krauthammer says George W. Bush’s “surge” strategy in Iraq had essentially snatched “victory from the jaws of defeat,” but President Barack Obama squandered that victory by failing to negotiate a status of forces agreement with the country.

The Iraq War “was won and we were in a position, if we had just negotiated a status of forces agreement, to have an ally in the region, to have a base, to train their air force — that would have changed the course of the future,” he told The Daily Caller. “Instead, a decision was made by the new administration to evacuate, leaving a vacuum where Iran has come in, where al-Qaida thrives and al-Qaida actually has extended itself into Syria. This was all unnecessary — and all the result of the liquidation of a war that was won.”

“So I think history is going to look at this a little bit differently than we do contemporaneously,” Krauthammer added. “This was a very high price — too much blood, too much treasure — for those intervening years, but I think in some sense what happened at the end was able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and then that was tossed away.”

TheDC recently conducted an extensive interview with Krauthammer in his Washington office about his new book, “Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics.” Over the next several days and weeks, we will be featuring the rest of the segments from the interview, including Krauthammer’s reflections on various political and media figures, so check back regularly. The previous segments can be viewed below:

Krauthammer dishes on what he thinks of Jon Stewart

The one question Charles Krauthammer won’t answer

Krauthammer talks his book, his hobbies and how he learned hypnosis

Krauthammer on Jimmy Carter: ‘The worst ex-president ever’

Krauthammer: Matt Drudge is ‘the greatest headline writer in the history of mankind‘

Krauthammer reveals what he thinks of Rush Limbaugh

Krauthammer: Benjamin Netanyahu ‘is the right man’ for Israel’s crisis with Iran

Krauthammer: Sanctions ‘need to be strengthened’ on Iran for nuclear negotiations to work

Krauthammer: GOP civil war is a liberal media myth

Krauthammer loves Ted Cruz’s passion

Krauthammer discusses his relationship with Bill Buckley

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