Rand Paul Dings Cheney And Defends Obama On Iraq

Senator Rand Paul answer questions during a meet and greet event Friday, May 30, 2014, at the Garrard County Cooperative Extension Office in Lancaster, KY. (AP Photo/The Advocate-Messenger, Clay Jackson)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Friday said that President Obama is not to blame for the current situation in Iraq, and instead pointed to Iraq War architects like former Vice President Dick Cheney.

“They didn’t really, I think, understand the civil war that would break out,” Paul said of Iraq War supporters in an interview with NBC News. “And what’s going on now — I don’t blame on President Obama. Has he really got the solution? Maybe there is no solution. But I do blame the Iraq War on the chaos that is in the Middle East.”

“I also blame those who are for the Iraq War for emboldening Iran. These are the same people now who are petrified of what Iran may become, and I understand some of their worry,” Paul continued.

When NBC’s David Gregory asked Paul about Cheney’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal with daughter Liz Cheney.

“I think the same questions could be asked of those who supported the Iraq War,” he said about the op-ed. “You know, were they right in their predictions? Were there weapons of mass destruction there? That’s what the war was sold on. Was democracy easily achievable? Was the war won in 2005, when many of these people said it was won?”

Latest Livewire
92
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Rand is just being machiavellian here.
    Friends close, enemies closer.

  2. This is Rand Paul’s biannual fart of common sense. It will create a stink in the GOP, but will soon dissipate.

  3. rand paul is interesting, considering we have a democratic party that foreclosed on the middleclass and poor and subsidized the rich thru a recession. I think the fed reserve should be audited considering they help cause most of the problems in the economy

  4. Six months ago various repubs wanted the U.S. to support the Syrian rebels with money and arms. Many of these self same rebels are now ISIS. Nothing most repubs say makes sense in their rush to do the opposite of the administration.

    Amazing that they are still competetive in politics in the U.S. Says a great deal about our electorate.

  5. If you truly think that Rand Paul is a friend of the middle class, then I encourage you to donate your life savings to his campaign.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

86 more replies

Participants

Avatar for cabchi Avatar for fgs Avatar for overreach_this Avatar for jw1 Avatar for mapleleaflover Avatar for marby Avatar for feathered_head Avatar for brooklynmichael Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for grindelwald Avatar for trumpdog Avatar for randyabraham Avatar for cvilledem Avatar for tjirish44 Avatar for vishnu Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for pakilolo Avatar for magical_panda Avatar for joelshearer Avatar for smokinthegotp Avatar for occamsrazor2 Avatar for meta Avatar for misterneutron Avatar for shirley145

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: