Blame for the chaotic seizure of major Iraqi cities by an al-Qaida splinter group must fall squarely on the shoulders of former President George W. Bush, according to David Swerdlick, a columnist and contributing editor for
TheRoot.com.
"The only way to look at this if you’re going to be assessing blame is to go all the way back to the beginning of the war,'' Swerdlick told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"President [Barack] Obama did take the right position in 2002 that we shouldn't have ever been there in the first place and [deciding in 2011] to exit without renegotiation."
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"You have to lay the blame first and foremost at Bush and the other people, Republicans and Democrats, who authorized the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We should not have been there in the first place.''
Swerdlick, whose website focuses on news and opinion for "African-American influencers,'' believes Obama was elected, in part, to help stabilize the Iraqi government while bringing troops home.
"He promised to get out of Iraq and stay in Afghanistan, and that has been the policy,'' Swerdlick said.
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