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Blame Game: Who Created the Mess in Iraq?

CBN

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While another major Iraqi city has fallen into the hands of ISIS, U.S. politicians and the media are now playing the blame game: Who is responsible for the worsening situation there -- former President George W. Bush or President Barack Obama?

Sunday's taking of Ramadi was the biggest gain for Islamic State this year.

"They've sent in huge numbers of vehicle-born IEDs, big trucks, massive amounts of explosions and they've destroyed the place," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said.

It seemed that ISIS was on the run after the Iraqi government re-took the city of Tikrit in March. But just as they did in Mosul last June, Iraqi soldiers fled from the advance of ISIS in Ramadi.

The Islamic State's control over the capital city of Iraq's Anbar province is now calling into question the government's ability to stop ISIS and the Obama administration's strategy of airstrikes only.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the United States needs more boots on the ground in Iraq to stop the jihadist army.

A recent CNN poll showed only about half of Americans believe current U.S. policy will lead to the defeat of ISIS, and 80 percent say ISIS poses a serious threat to the United States.

The terrorist group's victory comes as some members of the U.S. media are calling into question President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq.

They're asking both declared and potential Republican presidential candidates if knowing what Americans know now, did Bush make the right decision?

Fox News's Chris Wallace recently pressed presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on the matter.

Wallace: "Was it a mistake to go to war with Iraq?"

Rubio: "It was not a mistake for the president to decide to go into Iraq because at the time he was told…"

Wallace: "I'm not asking you that. I'm asking you..."

Rubio: "In hindsight? Well, the world is a better place now that Saddam Hussein is not there...but I don't understand the question."

Wallace: "I'm asking you knowing as we sit here in 2015…"

Rubio: "But that's not the way presidents thought (sic). A president cannot make a decision based on what someone might know in the future." 

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is considering a run but has yet to declare his candidacy. He said a hypothetical question about the past is not the right question to ask at this moment in time.

"The reason we have problems with Iraq today is not George W. Bush's strength; it's because of President Obama's weaknesses," Jindal charged. "The reason we have instability today is that this president, President Obama, created a void there."

Absent from the hard, hypothetical questions about Iraq is Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She hasn't answered a reporter's questions on any subject in a month.

Meanwhile, many analysts still say Obama made a mistake by cutting back on America's troops in Iraq.

What America did in Iraq -- and mistakes by both the Bush and Obama administrations -- are likely to get more media attention and scrutiny as the 2016 presidential campaign heats up, as will the question of what needs to be done to defeat ISIS.

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