North: I Can't Tell Families of Iraq Fallen Their Deaths Were Worth It

Now that the Iraqi towns of Ramadi and Fallujah have fallen to al-Qaida, retired Lt. Col. Oliver North says he isn't sure he can tell families of fallen service members their sacrifice was worth it.

"This is a devastating blow to those who fought in this war," North said Monday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."

"I look at those kind of events as a personal tragedy for those who've lost them," North said. "But up until now, when they would ask the question, was that sacrifice worth it, I could answer yes."

The victory America sought in Iraq, a stable country, a friendly government that respected its own people and was a place where terrorists could not reign again, was doable, North said.

"That's not what we're seeing happen there."

North blamed the fall of the two towns on a failure of the Obama administration to close the Bilateral Security Agreement that had already been negotiated.

The sacrifice services members made for each other is still there and worth it, North said, but Obama's refusal to use the word "victory" or to step up and do what needs to be done is "disaster for those families."

More than 8,000 Iraqis, 90 percent of them civilians, have been killed in Iraq in 2013. The last U.S. troops were pulled out of Iraq in December 2011.

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• McCain, Graham Blame Obama for al-Qaida Takeover of Fallujah