massachusetts served multiple tours of duty in iraq as a u.s. marine. thanks so much for joining us. >> great to be back. >> you served directly under general petraeus when he was commanding various commands in iraq as well. we'll get to that in a moment, but bottom line. how would you assess these eight years president obama's handling of the iraq situation? >> well, look, it's been rather mixed. president obama prevented an attack on the homeland. dealt with an incredibly difficult, complex worldwide situation. especially in the middle east. he did pull the troops out of the middle east, out of iraq, but the problem it -- the problem is he pulled out the troops and had no political plan to ensure the peace. a few year the later had to send the troops back and we're still there now. >> as the president-elect says to the creation or enhancement of isis, did that lead to -- >> it didn't lead to the creation of isis but the problem, left a vacuum in which a terrorist group, turned out...