CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript

Interview

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SEN. KELLY AYOTTE, (R) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Are you just as concerned as Lindsey Graham? I assume you are.

AYOTTE: I'm deeply concerned. I think we've seen a pattern here. We saw that basically this administration is ignoring the advice of our military commanders. We saw it in Afghanistan with withdrawing majority of the surge, the remainder of the surge troops in the middle of the fighting season, and now we're seeing in Iraq. General Austin, the commander in Iraq, has given a number of 14,000 to 18,000 troops would be needed to complete our mission to make sure Iraq remains stable.

And I think unfortunately, what we're going to see here is Iran cheering over this decision, and they're going to have more control in Iraq than we want them to have.

BLITZER: But the Pentagon, I'm sure the general wouldn't want any U.S. troops to stay there if they didn't have status of forces agreement with the Iraqi government that would protect these U.S. military personnel from any prosecution. They need immunity to stay, and the Iraqi government said no immunity.

AYOTTE: Wolf, I find that a little astounding that the administration couldn't negotiate this. And also my staff was on a conference call with Denis McDonough today, and he said that even if the Iraqis said now that they'd give immunity that the administration wouldn't change its decision. So I question that a little bit in terms of the immunity. I think the administration could have pushed them harder on this.

BLITZER: Because the defense secretary, Leon Panetta, and others have said if you want to have 3,000 or 5,000 U.S. troops, that is what they want to retain in Iraq. But apparently the Iranians have a lot of influence in Baghdad right now and have had growing influence of these past several years, and the Iraqi government of Nouri al Maliki simply can't stand up to that Iranian pressure. So here's the question to you -- why should the U.S. stay in Iraq if the government there supports Iran?

AYOTTE: Because we do not want to empower Iran. It is so important with how much sacrifice we've made in Iraq that we have a stable government in Iraq and that we don't continue to empower --

BLITZER: But senator, they're aligned with Iran as far as Syria is concerned. Nouri al Maliki's government is supporting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's stance towards Bashar al Assad in Syria. So why would the U.S. want to retain any troops in an Iraq that aligns itself with Iran and Syria?

AYOTTE: Wolf, we're only going to further empower Iran by pulling our troops out. And let's not forget a very important point. We had a subcommittee hearing the armed services committee readiness committee this week, and I've learned there are going to be 14,000 contractors that are going to remain in Iraq. This is an unprecedented undertaking by our secretary of state's department, and we're basically going to have a civilian army in Iraq either way, but without the military training who are going to have to make sure that our personnel are secure.

BLITZER: Who's going to pay for all those contractors?

AYOTTE: Well, U.S. taxpayers.

BLITZER: Why not the Iraqis? They're exporting a lot of oil.

AYOTTE: It would be nice to have Iraq do that.

BLITZER: You're a senator, you could take --

AYOTTE: I certainly will hold --

BLITZER: -- to stop U.S. taxpayer money for funding these contractors.

AYOTTE: I'll certainly hold Iraq accountable. But one of the issues they have with contractors, they're not equipped to engage in the type of protection we need for our personnel there. And that's why, getting back to the recommendations of our military leaders, General Austin, 14,000 to 18,000 troops needed to secure Iraq.

Ash Carter, the deputy secretary of defense, came before the armed services committee and said security in Iraq was important for our national security on a scale of 10-10. And yet now we have the administration saying we're going to pull all the troops out.

BLITZER: You make a fair point, senator, but it's shocking to me that General Austin, the U.S. military commanders who had spent so much of America's blood and treasure in trying to help the Iraqis themselves, they could not convince their Iraqi counterparts that they should accept a new status of forces agreement that would give remaining U.S. military personnel the immunity they need, and as a result, all U.S. troops are leaving. If that's what the Iraqi government wants, the American people can't force them to allow us to stay. So we're going to leave right now, and that's going to be that.

AYOTTE: Wolf, I have to say, I'm really concerned when I have Denis McDonough say that even if the Iraqi government came out today and said that we're going to give immunity we're going to pull out anyway, to me that tells me there's politics at play, and that makes me concerned we did not negotiate as hard as we could. We need immunity for our troops, but at the end of the day, that is key. But I'm concerned that the administration was more focused on the next election here.

BLITZER: You make a good point, but do you have confidence in Nouri al Maliki? Is he a friend of the United States?

AYOTTE: I think he's a very difficult leader to deal with, no question. But he's now going to become more of a friend obviously with Iran without the presence of U.S. troops there. And the further destabilization of Iraq is going to undermine everything that our troops -- my husband is an Iraq war veteran, and so many have sacrificed for what we have done there. And their stability is in our national security interest. Look what Iran just did in trying to plan attacks on our soil. We should not be empowering them.

BLITZER: Here's the bottom line question, and it's a tough question to ask. Your husband served there. We know a lot of people who served there. Nearly 4,500 Americans died in Iraq. Thousands more have been seriously injured. They've come back without limbs and blinded. And we know the U.S. has spent $1 trillion in Iraq. Was all of that a waste?

AYOTTE: Well, Wolf, I'm really concerned that if we undermine all the progress, if we seize defeat from the jaws of victory with what we sacrificed there, that we could undermine everything we've sacrificed. And that's why I think this administration by the administration, they should have pushed Iraq harder to keep our troops there so we could get this right.

BLITZER: One final question before I let you go, senator. Looking back with hindsight, knowing everything you know right now, did President Bush in March of 2003 blunder when he ordered the invasion of Iraq?

AYOTTE: Wolf, I think hindsight is always 20-20 on these issues. I'm proud of the work that my husband did there and the other soldiers, and I think that we will be better off in the world, in the Middle East by having a secure, democratic Iraq. And that's why I believe it's very important that we do not withdraw these troops prematurely.

BLITZER: Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, a good discussion, senator. These are tough questions. I'm glad you answered the questions directly. Thanks very much.

AYOTTE: Thank you.

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