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"It was clear to me--and many others--that withdrawing all our forces would endanger the fragile stability then barely holding Iraq together,"
It’s going to be a rough week for President Obama, thanks in part to his former CIA director and defense secretary, Leon Panetta, who in an interview published this morning said the president has “kind of lost his way.”
By not pressing the Iraqi government to leave more U.S. troops in the country, he “created a vacuum in terms of the ability of that country to better protect itself, and it’s out of that vacuum that ISIS began to breed,” Panetta told USA Today, referring to the group also known as the Islamic State.
The interview was the first of what inevitably will be a series as he promotes his book, “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace,” which is sharply critical of Obama’s handling of the troop withdrawal from Iraq, Syria and the advance of the Islamic State.
In the book, Panetta writes that Obama has a “frustrating reticence to engage his opponents and rally support for his cause” and too frequently “relies on the logic of a law professor rather than the passion of a leader.” Sometimes, he writes Obama “avoids the battle, complains, and misses opportunities.”
“I think we’re looking at kind of a 30-year war” that will also sweep in conflicts in Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen and Libya, he told USA Today’s Susan Page.
Such criticism is widespread among Republicans but mostly muttered privately by Democrats. Having it come from a stalwart Democrat such as Panetta — widely admired for his work in Congress, at the Pentagon and at the CIA — will sting and provide sure fodder for Republicans in the remaining weeks of campaigning before the midterm elections.
In an interview at his home with Capital Download, USA TODAY's video newsmaker series, Panetta says Obama erred:
• By not pushing the Iraqi government harder to allow a residual U.S. force to remain when troops withdrew in 2011, a deal he says could have been negotiated with more effort. That "created a vacuum in terms of the ability of that country to better protect itself, and it's out of that vacuum that ISIS began to breed." Islamic State also is known as ISIS and ISIL.
Yes, but he was an insider and has first hand knowledge that Obama fucked up by pulling out all of our troops before the situation was stable.Panetta is a dyed in the wool democrat.
I just heard an interview with Panetta asking why GITMO prisoners are released and why al-Baghdadi was released from an Iraqi prison....he completely avoided answering those questions.....trust Leon at your peril.
