Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force. Years later, when he lived in the Texas governors' mansion, he invited Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell into his home for two years. Perhaps that's why he got so choked up talking about the sacrifice of our brave men and women at a forum in South Carolina Thursday. He answered questions on foreign policy, stating he would keep Guantanamo Bay open, a decision he said was incredibly easy: "The bad guys don't need to be over here."
That's when the governor got a bit more candid, challenging President Obama's lack of direction when it comes to protecting America.
"This president does not know how to, and I’m just going to editorialize here just a little bit — this president does not know how to connect the dots. If he did, we would not be negotiating with Iran today. If he did, we would have the Castro brothers on their knees in Cuba, but we threw them a lifeline."
Perry also addressed the president's failure in Iraq. Withdrawing troops prematurely, Perry said, likely led to the rise of ISIS.
“We have this wreck in Iraq today because this president made a statement during a political campaign to move our soldiers out of there on a date certain and everything is going to heck in a hand basket over there."
He held back tears explaining that we can't forget the deep impact war has on those who serve, and those they leave at home. As governor, Perry signed a letter a week every year from 2003 to 2010 to a Texas family who had lost a loved one in the war. It's this kind of personal knowledge of our servicemen and women's sacrifice that is crucial to the White House.
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“We need a president who understands that to their soul and that will never, ever put those young men and women in jeopardy and harms way unless we’ve used up every option that we have.”
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