BRADLEY KLAPPER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says Iraq is in a civil war and the U.S. has no business sending troops there.

He says Republicans are playing politics by criticizing President Barack Obama over the violence.

Reid is particularly chafing at accusations Obama withdrew troops too quickly. They left Iraq in 2011 after the U.S. couldn’t reach a security agreement with Iraq’s government.

Reid says it’s time for Iraq to resolve its own civil war. He says Obama will “identify and protect” what’s in U.S. security interests, and not listen to GOP critics and former Bush administration officials responsible for, quote, “the No. 1 foreign policy blunder” in U.S. history: the invasion of Iraq.

Obama will discuss Iraq with House and Senate leaders of both parties at the White House Wednesday.

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