Ret. General Mocks Trump’s Plan to Bomb Oil Fields: ‘He Just Does Not Understand’ Iraq

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

BALDWIN: "Let me pivot and you ask about the U.S. War on ISIS and, specifically — and I never thought I’d be asking but Donald Trump but I’m going to because you are a military man of many, many years, so tapping into your expertise. Let me play you a little sound. Anderson cooper sat down with Donald Trump and ask about his thoughts on ISIS and the fact that they should be blowing up oil fields." 
[start clip]
TRUMP: "If I win I would attack those oil fields owned and controlled by ISIS. They are taking tremendous money out. They are renovating a hotel in Iraq. Can you believe it?" 
COOPER: "Wouldn’t you be destroying the wealth of Iraq?" 
TRUMP: "There is no Iraq. There is no Iraq. Excuse me, there are no Iraqis. They are broken into so many factions." 
COOPER: "And you don’t think that bombing Iraqi oil fields owned by ISIS is going to anger huge amounts of people?" 
TRUMP: "I wouldn’t send any troops because you wouldn’t need them by the time I got finished. I’d bomb the hell out of the oil fields and get Exxon and other oil companies to rebuild them so fast your head would spin. You ever see how fast they put up rigs? These guys are unbelievable. They would be in there, finished so fast." 
COOPER: "Wouldn’t you need U.S. troops to protect the oil fields?" 
TRUMP: "Yes. You put a ring around them. You’ve taken all of the wealth away. This is what should be done."
[end clip] 
BALDWIN: "Bomb the hell out of those oil fields. I see that smile on your face. You’re a military man and don’t delve into the realm of politics but I know you have thoughts on this. Is that even in the world of plausible?" 
HERTLING: "Well, let me just state first, Brooke, that over the last 40 years when I was a soldier, I was very apolitical. We would judge the people running for office based on their capability of not just being the president but being the commander in chief. That’s a leadership requirement. And leadership consists of three things. Character, presence and intellect. And when you’re talking the way Mr. Trump did last night to Anderson cooper, it just shows that he does not understand the issues in Iraq, he does not understand the intricacies of the application of military force and he’s not able to provide strategic guidance. We have a saying in the military that it’s very tough to live in a .50 caliber world with a ..22 caliber mind. That’s what troubles me about this current debate because this is very complex and there are hundreds of thousands and millions of Iraqis who do believe they have a country. It’s more than about oil. It is about a government and the intricacies of government and application of force is tough. You can’t answer with very simple answers like this."