Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations Max Boot criticized President Obama as "disengaged" with regard to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East Friday on Fox News.
Host Jenna Lee asked for Boot's reaction to a clip from earlier this week where White House press secretary Jay Carney could not cite President Obama's last conversation with the commanding general in Afghanistan.
"My reaction President Obama doesn't recognize that he is a war-time president. He is very disengaged and that's a huge problem. He was not engaged in Iraq and that is lot of reason why Iraq is as bad as it is because he did not follow up on the success of the surge and he did not stay personally involved and he has been disengaged in Afghanistan."
Boot explained President Obama is not only disinterested in the wars, he is also delegating policymaking decisions to Vice President Joe Biden. Biden's judgment on foreign policy came under attack this week from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who wrote in his memoir the vice president has "been wrong on every major foreign policy decision [...] over the last four decades."
The CFR fellow warned Obama's refusal to take ownership of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq could imperil future stability in the Middle East.
"He has not taken ownership of these wars and has not really seen his own credibility being on the line in outcome of these wars. I think that is a very dangerous thing because we have been at war but I don't think the president has recognized that or made that his priority."
Full segment: