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Panetta unloads on White House for pulling US forces out of Iraq

Navy Pride

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I always thought he was a pretty square shooter. Its great to see and Obama surrogate tell the truth for once.

Panetta unloads on White House for pulling US forces out of Iraq | Fox News

October 2 2014

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lashing out at President Obama’s inner circle for failing to secure a 2011 deal to leave U.S. troops in Iraq, effectively accusing the White House of sabotaging the talks – in turn, opening the door for the region to become a haven for the Islamic State.
Panetta, who served as CIA director and then Defense secretary during those negotiations, aired his complaints in his forthcoming memoir, “Worthy Fights.” Excerpts on the Baghdad talks were published by Time.
 
Leon Panetta just like Robert Gates are long time "yes men" in government. But they do their jobs and didn't allowed themselves to become politicized no matter who's administration they worked for.

But Panetta and Gates are the only two competent appointees that Obama ever made to serve in his failed administration during the past six years and nine months.

I'm sure Panetta is going out of his way trying to be kind towards Obama just like Gates did in his book.
 
I always thought he was a pretty square shooter. Its great to see and Obama surrogate tell the truth for once.

Panetta unloads on White House for pulling US forces out of Iraq | Fox News

October 2 2014

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lashing out at President Obama’s inner circle for failing to secure a 2011 deal to leave U.S. troops in Iraq, effectively accusing the White House of sabotaging the talks – in turn, opening the door for the region to become a haven for the Islamic State.
Panetta, who served as CIA director and then Defense secretary during those negotiations, aired his complaints in his forthcoming memoir, “Worthy Fights.” Excerpts on the Baghdad talks were published by Time.

Particularly the bolded. Sure you did. Anything, even a monkey critical of Obama would be on your friends list.
 
Leon Panetta just like Robert Gates are long time "yes men" in government. But they do their jobs and didn't allowed themselves to become politicized no matter who's administration they worked for.

But Panetta and Gates are the only two competent appointees that Obama ever made to serve in his failed administration during the past six years and nine months.

I'm sure Panetta is going out of his way trying to be kind towards Obama just like Gates did in his book.

Oh please Apache, you know better then that. If either of them were to be "nice" they would have waited until Obama was finished with his presidency to write books.
 
Particularly the bolded. Sure you did. Anything, even a monkey critical of Obama would be on your friends list.

As usual attack the OP. The facts speak for themselves.
 
Oh please Apache, you know better then that. If either of them were to be "nice" they would have waited until Obama was finished with his presidency to write books.


Now is the best time to do it.
 
I always thought he was a pretty square shooter. Its great to see and Obama surrogate tell the truth for once.

Panetta unloads on White House for pulling US forces out of Iraq | Fox News

October 2 2014

Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is lashing out at President Obama’s inner circle for failing to secure a 2011 deal to leave U.S. troops in Iraq, effectively accusing the White House of sabotaging the talks – in turn, opening the door for the region to become a haven for the Islamic State.
Panetta, who served as CIA director and then Defense secretary during those negotiations, aired his complaints in his forthcoming memoir, “Worthy Fights.” Excerpts on the Baghdad talks were published by Time.



Kind of ruins the myth that Obama couldn't convince the Iraqi government to leave some residual troops in place to guide the Iraqi's


In them, Panetta explained that Iraqi leaders privately wanted some U.S. forces to stay behind after the formal 2011 withdrawal, though they would not say so publicly. The former secretary, though, said the U.S. had “leverage” to strike a deal, and the Defense and State departments tried to do exactly that.

“But,” he wrote, “the President’s team at the White House pushed back, and the differences occasionally became heated. … and those on our side viewed the White House as so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interests.”
 
Oh please Apache, you know better then that. If either of them were to be "nice" they would have waited until Obama was finished with his presidency to write books.

For national security reasons, they couldn't wait.
 
Oh please Apache, you know better then that. If either of them were to be "nice" they would have waited until Obama was finished with his presidency to write books.

Telling their side of the story now is not being nice?

Does Obama deserve that pass? Absolutely not. It's just one more indicator of his incompetence from someone on the inside.
 
Μολὼν λαβέ;1063824011 said:
Telling their side of the story now is not being nice?

Does Obama deserve that pass? Absolutely not. It's just one more indicator of his incompetence from someone on the inside.

Apache was the one that said they were being nice. Criticising your former boss isn't being nice even if what your saying, you believe to be right. Where were his balls when he was in a position to influence events at the time. Why didn't we hear from LP at the time that Obama was dishonest and sabotaging SOFA?
 
We've spent billions of dollars and a decade training the Iraqi army.
They wilted at the mere sight of the ISIS.
I guess we were wasting our time and money....either our training was ineffective or the Iraqis won't fight for their freedom..:shrug:
It's their land.....and they won't fight for it.
Too bad.

All that is worthless if they lack resolve, which seems to be part of the problem.
 
What's that suppose to mean?

Just like the Army's Chief of Staff going public that only 3 combat brigades out of 33 were classified as being combat ready last year. That information is usually classified for two years. I suppose the General decided for national security reasons it was important enough to let the American people know how bad things really are.
 
Just like the Army's Chief of Staff going public that only 3 combat brigades out of 33 were classified as being combat ready last year. That information is usually classified for two years. I suppose the General decided for national security reasons it was important enough to let the American people know how bad things really are.

I don't think there's a comparison between the two. Being militarily ready verses sabotaging SOFA talks.
 
Kind of ruins the myth that Obama couldn't convince the Iraqi government to leave some residual troops in place to guide the Iraqi's

Not exactly. We issued the terms of a continued presence and they rejected them. What these unnamed "Iraqi leaders" may or may not have said privately is irrelevant. The United States shouldn't do back room deals. You can have our lives and resources under the conditions WE specify or you get nothing.
 
As long as the USA continues to try to be the World's Largest Police force, it will face major complications, financially, terrorism extremists, radical ISLAMIC Groups, North Korea, and the Putins, get it now?

You break it you bought it ring a bell??- how about bring em on??- or why is it these tea maggots and right wing wackos, hate BIG GOVERNMENT , but LOVE AND WANT BIG GOVERNMENT, when it comes to everlasting wars that drag on forever, ?????

As long as these scummy neo con pigs, like Limpbaugh keep yapping how they want Obama to fail, then ill be happy a hell, This Country keeps failing and losing wars...
 
Not exactly. We issued the terms of a continued presence and they rejected them. What these unnamed "Iraqi leaders" may or may not have said privately is irrelevant.


Not according to the supplied quote or anything in the article. If you have a reliable source to support this rather vapid claim, I suggest you supply it. In the meantime the Secretary of Defense at the time says differently.....we'll take that, thanks.

Just a suggestion, but did you actually read the article, or just whip it out there?
 
Apache was the one that said they were being nice.

In Robert Gates case, I was just repeating what Gates said.

As for Panneta, I'm sure he want's to distance himself from Obama as much as possible and the same is probably true with Gates.

But some are saying that Panneta is a Hillary Clinton man and also wants to distance Hillary from Obama.

You're talking about a community organizer who got elected as President who had no experience at anything.
 
Not according to the supplied quote or anything in the article. If you have a reliable source to support this rather vapid claim, I suggest you supply it. In the meantime the Secretary of Defense at the time says differently.....we'll take that, thanks.

Just a suggestion, but did you actually read the article, or just whip it out there?

*snip*

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that disagreement between Baghdad and Washington over the issue of immunity for American soldiers from Iraqi law was the main obstacle to reaching a deal to maintain an American military presence in Iraq beyond the end of the year.

Mr. Maliki also signaled that there would be no compromise on this matter even in further discussions to keep a small contingent of American trainers and advisers.

"When the issue of immunity was brought up and the Iraqi side was told that the American side won't leave a single soldier without full immunity and the Iraqi answer was that it's impossible to grant immunity to a single American soldier, negotiations stopped regarding the numbers, location and mechanics of training," Mr. Maliki told reporters in Baghdad.

*snip*

Mr. Maliki, who clinched a second term as prime minister in December after a grueling election, sought maximum political gain for Friday's announcement, projecting himself as the guardian of Iraqi sovereignty in the face of American demands.

"This is a huge victory and a massive success for Iraq and its diplomacy and its will and the will of its patriotic political forces," he said in his appearance on Saturday.

*snip*

Source.
 
We've spent billions of dollars and a decade training the Iraqi army.
They wilted at the mere sight of the ISIS.
I guess we were wasting our time and money....either our training was ineffective or the Iraqis won't fight for their freedom..:shrug:
It's their land.....and they won't fight for it.
Too bad.

Personal responsibility doesn't apply to foreigners when there are billions of dollars in Defense contracts on the line.
 
In Robert Gates case, I was just repeating what Gates said.

As for Panneta, I'm sure he want's to distance himself from Obama as much as possible and the same is probably true with Gates.

But some are saying that Panneta is a Hillary Clinton man and also wants to distance Hillary from Obama.

You're talking about a community organizer who got elected as President who had no experience at anything.

Yeah, that's what I think too, it's all politics, no substance and of course he and Hillary go back twenty five years, and of course she needs to be as far away from Obama as Romney needed to be from Bush. Anything new?
 
Yeah, that's what I think too, it's all politics, no substance and of course he and Hillary go back twenty five years, and of course she needs to be as far away from Obama as Romney needed to be from Bush. Anything new?

Maybe; there's no way in Hell Hillary can distance herself from Obama. She did his bidding.
 
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