President Obama's Former Defense Secretaries Are Critical Of His Syria Strategy

Gates and Panetta Critical of Obama On Syria -- New York Times

President Obama’s first two defense secretaries criticized the administration’s handling of the Syrian crisis on Tuesday night, saying they would not have asked Congress to authorize the use of force and would have accelerated the shipment of weapons to Syrian rebels.

While the two former Pentagon chiefs, Robert M. Gates and Leon E. Panetta, shared skepticism over the chances of Russia’s brokering a deal to effectively neuter Syria’s chemical weapons, they disagreed over whether focused, limited military strikes would have a strategic effect.

“My bottom line is that I believe that to blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple days, to underscore or validate a point or a principle, is not a strategy,” Mr. Gates said during a forum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “If we launch a military attack, in the eyes of a lot of people we become the villain instead of Assad,” a reference to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

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More News On President Obama's Former Defense Secretaries Being Critical Of His Syria Strategy

Gates, Panetta question Obama's Syria strategy -- USA Today/AP
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Former Defense secretaries blast Obama's Syria strategy -- The Hill
Defense secretaries express doubt on Syria deal -- NECN