Outgoing US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during his final press conference in the Pentagon briefing room in Washington, DC,
on February 13, 2013 (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)
Posted on 09/21/2014 9:05:57 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Washington (AFP) - The rise of the brutal Islamic State group can partly be blamed on President Barack Obama's failure to arm moderate Syrian rebels far earlier, said former US defense secretary Leon Panetta.
It comes after the United States Congress on Thursday passed Obama's plan to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels to battle Islamic State jihadists, a key plank of his strategy to smash the militants who have overrun vast areas of Iraq and Syria.
Panetta told CBS's "60 Minutes" news program in an interview aired Sunday that he and then secretary of state Hillary Clinton had urged Obama in 2012 to arm moderate Syrian rebels against President Bashar al-Assad.
"I think the president's concern, and I understand it, was that he had a fear that if we started providing weapons, we wouldn't know where those weapons would wind up," said Panetta, defense secretary when the US pulled out of Iraq in 2011.
"My view was: you have to begin somewhere," added Panetta, also a former CIA director.
Asked if not arming them had been a mistake, he replied: "I think that would've helped. And I think in part, we pay the price for not doing that in what we see happening with ISIS."
Panetta cautioned that it would take "a long time" to defeat the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Peon Lanetta, always on the wrong side.
Outgoing US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta speaks during his final press conference in the Pentagon briefing room in Washington, DC,
on February 13, 2013 (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)
Hey, He got a 98-0 vote by the Senate when he was confirmed.
Scary, Huh?
Leon Panetta is the prototypical example why you should never ever trust a liberal.
Wouldn’t you like to have a nose like that full of nickels?
Active Duty ping.
He was in charge the night those poor guys were abandoned on Benghazi rooftops to die fighting alone, observed in high definition clarity in real time, with an entire Naval Air Station on Sigonella Sicily which is closer to Benghazi than Tripoli is by the way.
Leon was an Army Intel guy back in the day and his son is a navy Intel guy and they both know better — I must admit Leon does after all these years have the forlorn, avuncular teddy bear schtick down very, very well.
when old Leon plays politics he does it gently and very nimbly but make no mistake here he is clearly helping himself and his own
Trying to cover Hillary’s a** in the mix.
That's going to take one hell of a big time "covering", applies both figuratively and literally :)
I am sorry to say this, but the single biggest failing of American foreign policy is that it is too linear. It always looks at things in a direct line, and never considers matters beyond the immediate objective. Thus, as Assad is bad, let's remove him no matter the cost. A more intelligent foreign policy would have realized Assad is bad, worked at having him deposed, BUT also ensured that there was a replacement for him that was viable. However, standard protocol is to remove the likes of Assad and Qaddafi without spending time thinking about who ....or what ....will take the space left.
You can’t trust anyone that would work for the Clintons.
Syria is none of our business, we should send no troops, no aid, and we should stop bailing out other middle east countries and Europe.
It may be rumor, but I read Leon’s nose has FLR (Foward looking radar) installed. Smart nose.
> Panetta told CBS’s “60 Minutes” news program in an interview aired Sunday that he and then secretary of state Hillary Clinton had urged Obama in 2012 to arm moderate Syrian rebels against President Bashar al-Assad.
IOW, Panetta finally brought up this fact in an attempt to support the Hitlery candidacy.
The Hillary Letters Hillary Clinton, Saul Alinksy correspondence revealed
Free Beacon | 9/21/14 | Alana Goodman
Posted on 9/21/2014 10:28:08 PM by Nachum
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3206462/posts
Well then we should make up our minds. You’ll see any number of pundits telling us that ISIS is the greatest threat we’ve seen in the last 60 years, etc. The mass media has joined in with that drumbeat. If it goes on much longer, we’ll be in a full blown ground war, just short of asking EVERYBODY to sacrifice for the war effort of course.
It will make for a great October surprise, sweeping the democrat fascists to power in Amerika,
Sickening.
Oh, this guy was a weasel before he met the Clintons. He started out politically as a leftist Republican working for CA Sen. Tom Kuchel in the ‘60s.
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