Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has given a string of interviews amid the release of his upcoming memoir Worthy Fights, which have not been favorable to President Obama. In a few pages released in Time Magazine, Panetta said that President Obama’s failing to secure a 2011 deal that would’ve left U.S. troops in Iraq was a case of intentional sabotage, leaving the Iraqi people at the mercy of the Islamic State.
Panetta, who served as CIA director and defense secretary during the negotiations, also took to “60 Minutes” at the end of September to make the case against the president’s decisions in the region.
Now, in an interview with USA Today, Panetta said Obama has “lost his way” on the international stage.
“We are at a point where I think the jury is still out,” former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said of President Obama’s legacy in an interview with USA Today. “For the first four years, and the time I spent there, I thought he was a strong leader on security issues,” Panetta said. “But these last two years I think he kind of lost his way. You know, it’s been a mixed message, a little ambivalence in trying to approach these issues and try to clarify what the role of this country is all about.”
Panetta made clear in his memoir that he has no doubt that the politically motivated decision to pull out of Iraq far earlier than military advisors suggested is the cause of the current crisis.
“To this day, I believe that a small U.S. troop presence in Iraq could have effectively advised the Iraqi military on how to deal with al-Qaeda’s resurgence and the sectarian violence that has engulfed the country,” he wrote.
But going forward, Panetta says what he believes will ultimately determine the president’s legacy will be the decisions he makes during the remainder of his term. After the midterm elections are over in November, it is certainly true that Obama will not beholden to his leftist base, who would rather see him leave ISIS unharmed.
“He may have found himself again with regards to this ISIS crisis. I hope that’s the case. And if he’s willing to roll up his sleeves and engage with Congress in taking on some of these other issues, as I said I think he can establish a very strong legacy as president. I think these next 2 1/2 years will tell us an awful lot about what history has to say about the Obama administration,” Panetta said.
