Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg took a swipe at White House national security adviser John Bolton as he blasted the Trump administration’s decision to send 1,500 troops to the Middle East.
“This is not a good sign. Escalation is the last thing we need in the Middle East right now,” Buttigieg, an Afghanistan War veteran, said during an interview with Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that aired Sunday.
“And when you see what’s been happening, it appears that the administration, driven by the way by John Bolton, one of the architects of the Iraq War, is continuing to try to prosecute a case to lead to higher tensions, escalation, and perhaps conflict with Iran as though we learned nothing from the last 15 years of armed conflict — conflict in the Middle East,” said Buttigieg, who is the mayor of South Bend, Ind.
Bolton, who served as undersecretary for arms control in the Bush administration, pushed for the Bush administration to invade Iraq in 2003.
The Trump administration announced Friday that 1,500 troops would be sent to the Middle East to respond to an ongoing threat from Iran, per a request from U.S. Central Command. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan said the deployment “is a prudent defensive measure and intended to reduce the possibility of future hostilities.”
Shanahan said that the deployment would include surveillance aircraft, a squadron of 12 fighter jets, and military engineers. Additionally, a battalion of Patriot missile batteries will remain in the Middle East, although it was slated to depart the region. Trump said Friday the troops would serve “mostly in a protective capacity.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln, B-52 bombers, and a Patriot anti-missile battery were already sent to the Middle East this month.
During the interview, Buttigieg also took a jab at President Trump’s lack of military service. Buttigieg said Thursday that he thought Trump got out of serving in the military by “trivializing” a disability.
“There is no question, I think, to any reasonable observer that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving,” Buttigieg said.
“You have somebody who thinks it’s alright to let somebody go in his place into a deadly war and is willing to pretend to be disabled in order to do it. That is an assault on the honor of this country,” he added.
In 1968, Trump received a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels, preventing him from serving in the Vietnam War.
