McCain called for troops to be left behind in Iraq to stabilize the situation in 2011. McCain Iraq interview gets heated

Sen. John McCain continued his blistering attack on President Barack Obama’s handling of Iraq on Friday, again calling for his entire national security team to be replaced and saying his decisions have been very costly.

“The president wanted out and now we are paying a heavy price,” the Arizona Republican said on MSNBC.


McCain said repeatedly that the U.S. “had the conflict won” after the 2007 troop surge, with Iraq maintaining a stable government and Al Qaeda extremists largely defeated.

But the Obama administration’s decision not to leave behind a residual force, he said, has caused the situation to deteriorate. Now, the senator said, “this has turned into one of the most serious threats to American security in recent history.”

McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also reiterated his call for the president to fire his entire national security team, including Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.

( Also on POLITICO: Why Obama can't get out of Iraq)

“Everyone on the national security team,” he said, when asked who the president should let go. “They have been a total failure.”

McCain, though, did not explicitly advocate a U.S. strategy for helping the crisis now, remaining noncommittal on the potential use of airstrikes against militants in the country. Instead, he called on the president to enlist the advice of retired Army Gens. David Petraeus and Jack Keane, two of the architects of the surge.

The senator linked the situation in Iraq with the civil war in Syria, citing the “failure” of the administration to commit resources in both of the neighboring countries. McCain has often slammed the administration for what he perceives as inaction in Syria and a lack of commitment to the Syrian opposition.

And McCain said that if Obama withdraws completely from Afghanistan, that country will also destabilize rapidly. “You’re going to see the same thing in Afghanistan if we don’t leave a residual force behind,” he claimed, saying he can “guarantee” it.

( Also on POLITICO: GOP on Iraq: We told you so)

On Thursday, McCain, who had in 2011 called for troops to be left behind in Iraq to stabilize the situation, called the administration’s pullout a “colossal failure of American security policy.”

The senator has long been a critic of the president on Iraq, dating back to their 2008 presidential campaign. McCain, the Republican nominee in that election cycle, repeatedly criticized then-Sen. Obama for arguing against the troop surge.