News

Last week, violence struck the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing 63 just days after U.S. troops completed their withdrawal, making it the deadliest day in over a year. On this weekend’s broadcast of “Inside Washington,” Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer blamed the violence on President Barack Obama, suggesting this might not have happened had he left a “residual” force in the beleaguered country. “This is a direct result of the vacuum created by the president, against the recommendations of the generals on the ground to leave a force,” Krauthammer said. “And that is a failure of this administration. We had three years to do one thing. The surge had succeeded �“ al Qaida had been defeated, and in the surge, even [Nouri al-] Maliki had reduced and defeated the Shiite militias, who are now resurgent in Basra and in Baghdad. In other words, you had the beginnings of a national government. And what we needed was America in the continuity, and as soon as it was removed gratuitously, all of the unraveling has begun.”