Fox News "On The Record with Greta Van Susteren" - Transcript

Interview

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GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: 2014 -- now, that is when the U.S. plans to end its combat role in Afghanistan, ending the longest war in our nation's history. But how many U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan after that is still unclear. The Obama administration has lots of decisions to make. So how will the president's policy towards Afghanistan unfold in his second term? Once again, our foreign policy experts.

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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: When Afghanistan ends, it needs to end well. We need to bring most of our troops home. But if you left 15,000 or 20,000 behind in Afghanistan with airplanes and helicopters and special forces units, that'd be the end of the Taliban, and those young women would have a chance.
If we leave Afghanistan like we did Iraq, it's going to fall apart. Obama had Iraq inside the 10-yard line. He had lot of problems to deal with. Iraq was a success story in the making. Not leaving any American forces behind in Iraq -- and 10,000 or 12,000 would have done it -- has let the country deteriorate. Everybody's gone back to their sectarian corners.

Iran has more influence in Iraq now than ever. They're overflying Iraq to reinforce Syria. It breaks my heart that we were so close to winning in Iraq, and Obama administration dropped the ball right on the goal line. And if they just talk about leaving Afghanistan, rather than getting it right, that will haunt us for decades.

And when it comes to Iran, why should the Iranians believe that the Obama administration is serious about stopping their nuclear program when all we talk about is leaving the region? If you're going to allow Assad to kill 32,000 of his own citizens and do nothing about it, let it infect (ph) the whole region because you have a hands-off approach to Syria, what kind of signal is that to send to Iran?

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