Obama admits they got it wrong on ISIS, Iraq

OBAMA ADMITS THEY GOT IT WRONG ON ISIS, IRAQ
Having acknowledged that his administration underestimated the growing ISIS threat and overestimated the Iraqi army’s ability to defend itself against the militant group, President Obama went on to reiterate that the U.S. is not at war. Not to worry: The American pilots flying missions over hostile territory and advisors embedded with Iraqi forces on the battlefield in the fight to destroy the Islamic State are merely “assisting.”  Fox News: “The president said in a wide-ranging interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes that the Islamic State militants went ‘underground’ after being squashed in Iraq and regrouped under the cover of the Syrian civil war…[Obama] said his director of national intelligence, James Clapper, has acknowledged that the U.S. ‘underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.’ He also said it was ‘absolutely true’ that the U.S. overestimated the ability and will of the Iraqi army. However, Obama also acknowledged that the U.S. is dealing with a conundrum in Syria, as the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State is helping Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom the U.N. has accused of war crimes…However, Obama called the threat from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and other terror groups a more ‘immediate concern that has to be dealt with.’”

“What we’re not going to do is fallen to the al Qaeda trap of sending hundreds of thousands of Americans back.  That’s exactly what they want.  They want to bog us down, tie us down, to bleed us.  We’re going to be smarter about this.” — Tony

Blinken, White House Deputy National Security Adviser on “Fox News Sunday” Watch here.

POLL: AMERICANS DON’T BUY OBAMA’S NO TROOP ASSERTION

WSJ: “Nearly three-quarters of Americans don’t believe President Barack Obama’s assertion that the country won’t use ground troops to fight the militant group Islamic State in Iraq or Syria, the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Annenberg survey finds…Some 72% of registered voters surveyed said U.S. ground troops eventually will be deployed against Islamic State’s fighters. Only 20% said they believe the U.S. won’t end up using military ground forces.”

“At the end of the day, I think it’s gonna take more than air strikes to drive them outta there. At some point somebody’s boots have to be on the ground.”—

House Speaker John Boehner on ABC’s “This Week”

OBAMA BELIEVES DEMOCRATS CAN HOLD SENATE
The Hill: “President Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that he thinks the Democrats can hold the Senate. The president told 60 Minutes that he will spend the next six weeks campaigning on his economic record. ‘The country is definitely better off than we were when I came into office,’ Obama said, offering to put his record ‘against any leader around the world in terms of digging ourselves out of a terrible, almost unprecedented financial crisis.’…It could be a difficult case for Obama to make in the final weeks before Election Day. Despite months of jobs and stock market growth, the president’s approval ratings on the economy remain stubbornly low…”

ERNST TAGS BRALEY IN IOWA DEBATE

Des Moines Register: “Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Joni Ernst squared off in a lively U.S. Senate debate Sunday evening, marked by heated exchanges on abortion, contraceptives, climate change and environmental regulations, and by biting attacks and comebacks, especially in the final few minutes …Braley repeatedly slammed Ernst for being associated with the billionaire Koch brothers and an obstructionist tea party agenda…Ernst calmly fired back: ‘Congressman, you threatened to sue a neighbor over chickens that came onto their property. You’re talking about bipartisanship. How do we expect as Iowans to believe that you will work across the aisle when you can’t walk across your yard?’…The debate highlighted stark differences on issue after issue. …In a lightning-round of questions at the end, the center of flattery was Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a farmer whom Iowa voters hold in high esteem. Although retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin was sitting a few feet away in the audience, when Braley was asked who he’d telephone first if elected to the Senate, Braley answered: ‘Chuck Grassley.’ And Ernst, when asked which of the 2016 presidential candidates she identifies with, she too answered Grassley.”

[Fact check – Despite what he said in his debate with Republican challenger Joni Ernst, PolitiFact previously rated the statement that Bruce Braley missed 79% of Veterans Affairs Committee hearings as “mostly true.”]

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