Steve Bannon Blames Fox News ‘Lies’ for U.S. Troops In Middle East: ‘Bald-Faced Lies!’

Steve Bannon blamed Fox News and former President George W. Bush for dragging the U.S. into decades of Middle East conflicts and warned on Friday that the country is once again being pushed toward war, this time with Iran.

On his War Room podcast, Bannon said the US would not be in the position of defending personnel overseas amid strikes between Israel and Iran if “bald-faced lies” had not led to American invasions during the war on terror.

He pointed a finger at Bush-era neoconservatives and the media, singling out Fox News.

“We got American troops in Iraq? Why?” Bannon said. “Because Fox News and all of them and Bush lied to us. Lied! This was not a failure of intelligence… it was bald-faced lies.” He added:

It wasn’t a failure of intelligence, or we made some bad calculations. It was bald-faced lies. Let’s talk like adults today. Let us have an adult conversation. Bald-faced lies. Go over to section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery and tell them about yellowcake and tell them about all the lies and spin of the neocons. Isn’t this movement in reaction to that war? Is it in reaction to the financial collapse brought on by the Bush administration?

Yes, yes, yes. I know the Democrats – a ton to do with it, and the Wall Street guys, they were all guilty. That’s where this movement came from. Stop the forever wars because your sons and daughters are fighting them, just like your sons and daughters going to be fighting this one. So if we’re going to do it this time, let’s have an adult conversation. Do not come here and say, “Oh, we’ve got to protect America.” Then get them out. Get them out of Iraq, get them out of the embassy.

Bannon also criticized Israel for launching an offensive and expecting the U.S. military to get involved “a couple of hours into” it.

While addressing Israel’s defense of its cities after the IDF attacked Iranian military installations and nuclear facilities, Bannon said, “Either you got it – if you’re going to go alone, you got – you can take care of your deal, or not. You don’t need us to decide to go alone. Decide to reject it. No, we don’t need you, we’re going to go it alone. And the go-it-alone lasts about six hours, not only do they want defense, they want us to go on offense.”

Watch above via War Room.