Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) blasted MSNBC’s Morning Joe panel for shifting the blame on new violence in Iraq and he called for the firing of President Obama’s entire national security team, calling them "a total failure."
Asked by Mika Brzezinski what he thought the United States should be doing to stop the uprisings in Iraq, McCain bluntly answered, "I think there are no good options right now." "The decision…made by the Obama Administration to not have a residual force in Iraq" left room for violence to break out, the Arizona Senator said. He added, "So all of those fears [of violence] we had, have come true. And it didn’t have to happen."
Panelist Willie Geist said, "I think for a lot of Americans, Iraq had been put in the rearview mirror, only to come up this week and flare up in just an incredible way." He asked McCain, "So, I wonder if you could articulate for people watching at home what you think is at stake for American interests here, what are we watching unfold this week?"
McCain slammed Geist, telling him "Well, first of all I would say that the over 4000 mothers and fathers and husbands and wives who lost their loved ones in that conflict- they probably haven’t put it completely in the rearview mirror."
The Huffington Post's Sam Stein then tried to step in and pepper the Arizona senator with questions, but was quickly shut down. He questioned McCain’s use of the word "victory" when referring to the victory the United States secured for Iraq before President Obama withdrew troops. "I’m a little bit confused. I want to know what victory is to you, Senator McCain," Stein said.
"I think you are confused because you didn’t know what happened with the surge where we basically had the country pacified…So, I’m sorry about your confusion, but the facts on the ground were that Al Qaeda had been defeated almost completely…And so I’m sorry about your confusion, but anybody who was there will tell you we had the conflict won," McCain told Stein.