Hannity to Rand Paul: ‘Not Sure Why’ You Blame Hawks for ISIS, ‘I Was One of Them’

Hannity To Rand Paul: "Not Sure Why" You Blame Hawks For ISIS, "Because I Was One Of Them" (RealClearPolitics)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: George W. Bush warned us what would happen with pinpoint accuracy what would happen if we went into Iraq without providing training, intelligence for Iraqi forces. Or in the case of Syria, the president draws a line in the sand and doesn't follow through. I'm not sure why you're blaming hawks in the party, because I was one of them. I supported the Iraq war for all the reasons every agency in the world thought was real intelligence. not sure why you're blaming your fellow conservatives.

SEN.RAND PAUL: Ultimately, I think I could have stated it better. The ultimate people who are responsible for terrorism are obviously the terrorists, so ISIS is responsible for the mayhem, the murders, the brutality, the beheadings. That's ISIS. But I would say that we could have a valid discussion over whether or not ISIS has grown stronger by pouring arms into the Islamic rebels in the Syrian civil war.

As we did, even our ambassador said that we will be giving arms to people who will fight alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS. And it is objective truth that ISIS grew stronger the more weapons that went into the Syrian civil war. I think it was an unintended consequence that ISIS grew stronger because of weaponizing these Islamic rebels.