Political Quotes

“Yes, it wasn't that stuff happens; it was that we had it wrong. The strategy we had in place up to 2006 was failing. And the way you know it was failing is that if you go there often enough--I remember the first trip we took in Iraq after Baghdad fell. We were in three SUVs. We went downtown, shopping, and met with some leaders. And every time we went thereafter, it was always a bit worse, to the point that we were inside of a tank, virtually, to go outside the wire. It was clear to anybody who was paying attention at all in Iraq that it was not working. I remember talking to a sergeant at one of the mess halls and asking: Sergeant, how is it going over here? And his answer was: Well, not very well. We just drive around getting our ass shot off. About 1 year later, maybe 2 years later, we went back to the same unit, to different sergeant, after the surge, and I asked another sergeant: How is it going? Sir, we are kicking their ass. So the bottom line here is that I think Senator McCain and I have been more right than wrong. But we were willing to tell our own President it wasn't working. He did make mistakes. We all have. It is not about the mistakes you make. It is how you correct your own mistakes. This President--President Obama, you are at a defining moment in your Presidency. If you do not change your strategy regarding ISIL in Iraq and Syria--because it is one and the same--then this country is very likely to get attacked in another 9/11 fashion.…”