Rep. Will Hurd: The Obama Admin Has ‘a Long List of Blunders’ in Fighting Terrorism

LEMON: “...the breaking news this morning — it’s out of Iraq. Ramadi is back in the hands of Iraqi forces. The Iraqi flag raised over the city including a government compound that spent months under ISIS control. This is a new CNN poll I want to show you. It’s out this morning, it paints a sobering picture of how American, the American public feels about the war on terror. A growing majority displeased overall with that. So, we’re joined now by Congressman Will Hurd, he’s a Republican from Texas on the Homeland Security Committee. He is also a former CIA undercover officer. Thank you. This will be the first congressional response we’ve gotten here on our air to Ramadi. Do you think — does this feel like a big victory to you, or should we proceed with caution, even with what seems like a victory now?”
HURD: “It seems like a victory. We should proceed with caution. If we hold Ramadi — this is a good thing for our strategy in that region and against ISIS. And these are the types of things we should be doing more. And this should have been — this should have been happened 18 months ago. If we give the U.S. military the authority and the ability to go forward and do their job, they can. And you see that with their role playing behind the scenes and training and equipping the Iraqi forces. And it shows how with American leadership the Iraqi forces can do a lot of things.”
LEMON: “Ok. So, Congressman, let’s talk about the new poll that I mentioned [indecipherable] when I introduced you here. About 50 percent of Africans had little or no confidence according to this poll in the president’s ability to protect the country against terror attacks. Do you agree with that?”
HURD: “I — I understand why people are frustrated and upset, and I do recognize and agree that people are worried about the posture that this administration is taking in fighting terrorism. You know, we can — there’s a long list of blunders. You know, it starts with calling ISIS the JV. We realize how big a mistake that was. It’s also not just fighting ISIS, it’s what are you doing with Russia? You know, right now, we’re talking about winning Ramadi, but you also have Syrian forces bombing under Bashar al-Assad, bombing a rebel forces that we’re supporting that are helping us in the fight against ISIS. The American people see this, they recognize this and they’re upset with how this president is dealing with the issues.”