Former Congressman Allen West warned Friday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will turn to "China or Russia" for assistance with the growing violence in Iraq, if he doesn't get help from the United States.
"This is a tough situation [President Barack Obama's] going to be in. But, I think that if you have the right preconditions, you could look at reinserting yourself. Because, right now, if you don't, al-Maliki is going to go to either Russia or China," the Florida Republican said on "Fox & Friends."
Al-Maliki was scheduled to visit the White House Friday, purportedly to discuss the upswing in violence in Iraq, CNN reported.
According to the U.N., nearly 1,000 Iraqis died in attacks during October,
the Huffington Post reported.
West said the violence indicates that al-Qaida has not been "decimated" since U.S. forces left Iraq in 2011. Instead, he said a resurgence of terrorist groups is underway there.
"They've had a resurgence in Iraq," he said of al-Qaida. "They're calling themselves the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant now."
"We once had a foothold there, where we could have kept the pressure on al-Qaida and other terrorist-associated elements," West said. "Now, you're going to have to go back and fight your way back in, which is something you never want to do."
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