John McCain: When US Doesn't Lead, 'Bad Things Happen'

Unlike the earthquake in San Francisco, President Barack Obama could have avoided a lot of the problems in Iraq that the country is now facing, says Sen. John McCain.

"The president has to understand that America must lead," McCain told Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday."

"When America hasn't, a lot of bad things happen," he explained.

"This is not like the earthquake in San Francisco," he added.  "All of this could have been avoided like leaving a residual force behind in Iraq." 

"Obviously the challenge is now much greater than it would have been when the president made the decision not to leave a residual force in Iraq, among other things," McCain contends.

Obama's senior advisors have made statements about the need to go into Syria to defeat Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and the Arizona Republican said that he hopes "it's a precursor to the president making an announcement of a new approach."

He says that his concern is that Obama has "not laid out a strategy" so far.

"The president has got to come forward with a cohesive, comprehensive strategy," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday." "Not only in Iraq, but also in Ukraine."

"This is an administration, which the kindest word I can use is feckless, where they have not outlined a role that the United States of America has to play, and that's a leadership role," he added.

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