But back then we had engaged about 100,000 Sunnis in that battle. We had about 100,000 Iraq security forces that were once cleared, we would hold and they provided protection for the Sunni populations. And We had 160,000 American troops. Probably 35 to 40,000 of those were involved in that fight. That's what it took for us to defeat 6 to 8,000 members of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Now we've got 31,000 members of the Islamic State and we don't have a strategy for defeating them. (02:12–02:18)
CLAIM
Asserts that 160,000 American troops were in Iraq during the 2007 surge, with 35,000 to 40,000 involved in fighting.
This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.
