G.W. Bush Offers Rare Criticism of Obama

At an hour-long question-and-answer session with the Republican Jewish Coalition, former President George W. Bush offered harsh criticism of President Obama’s handling of the Middle-East.

Bush has previously avoided criticizing the sitting President, but Saturday night he offered his views on Obama’s handling of the Iranian nuclear deal, the retreat from Iraq and President Obama’s approach to dealing with ISIS.

Bush said that Obama’s approach to Iran is naive and that allowing sanctions to expire with an idle threat that they could be put back in place at any time was unrealistic. The former president also characterized Obama’s approach as short-sighted when he said “You think the Middle East is chaotic now? Imagine what it looks like for our grandchildren. That’s how Americans should view the deal.”

Bush then put ISIS’ advancement in Iraq squarely on Obama’s shoulders. He called President Obama’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq without a Strategic Forces Agreement a “strategic blunder.”

On dealing with terrorists, Bush hinted that Obama has been too soft. Bush said “In order to be an effective president … when you say something you have to mean it. You gotta kill em.”