Sen. John McCain said President Obama has “lost touch with reality” in Iran and Yemen and accused the White House of having no coherent strategy to combat the threat of terror in the region.
“It is delusional for them to think that what they’re doing is succeeding,” the Arizona Republican said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.
McCain called for a stronger military presence in the areas where Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants appear to be gaining ground.
“I know that is a tough thing to say and a tough thing for Americans to swallow, but it doesn’t mean the 82nd Airborne,” McCain said. “It means forward air controllers. It means special forces. It means intelligence, and it means other capabilities.”
An outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s posture toward Israel, McCain said he “regrets” that ties between the U.S. and Israel have “deteriorated to this degree.
“Relations have never been worse between ourselves and the only genuine democracy in the entire Middle East,” he said.
The chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee touched on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to Congress on Sunday.
Many have called the planned appearance an insult to Obama because Netanyahu accepted an invitation to speak on Capitol Hill from House Speaker John Boehner without consulting the White House.
“I do believe that it’s important that Prime Minister Netanyahu speak to the American people. And, by the way, we need congressional ratification of any agreement that is made. This is too big to not be treated as a treaty,” McCain said.
Obama has threatened to veto any legislation that increases sanctions on Iran.
McCain said Iran will pose “a direct threat to the existence of the state of Israel” if it is allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon.
