Former CIA Director And U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta: Faults White House For Pulling US Forces Out Of Iraq

Leon Panetta Says Obama Administration Brushed Aside Push For Troops To Stay Behind In Iraq Because It Was 'Eager To Rid Itself Of' The War -- Daily Mail

* Leon Panetta, who ran the CIA and the Defense Department for Obama, argued for a 'residual force' to stay behind in Iraq to stabilize the country
* The White House, he writes in a new book, fell down on the job and didn't negotiate a security agreement with the al-Maliki government in Baghdad
* Obama has said it was Iraq, not the US, that scuttled any chance for American troops to stay past 2011
* The power vacuum left when Obama ordered servicemen and women home has been filled by ISIS and other al-Qaeda offshoots
* Panetta said two weeks ago that Obama ignored his advice to arm Syria's moderate rebel groups in 2012 – a move that the president now embraces

A former high-ranking Obama administration official writes in his forthcoming memoir that the White House was 'so eager to rid itself of Iraq' that advisers steered the president toward withdrawing all U.S troops instead of trying to ink an agreement to let them legally stay past 2011.

Leon Panetta, Obama's first CIA director and his second Defense secretary, writes in the book 'Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace' that Obama's inner circle lacked a sense of urgency about finalizing a deal with Iraq's then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

'To my frustration,' Panetta writes, 'the White House coordinated the negotiations but never really led them,' leaving the Defense and State Departments to proceed 'without the President’s active advocacy.'

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More News On Former CIA Director And U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta Faulting the White House For Pulling US Forces Out Of Iraq

Panetta: Obama Vacillated on Syria -- ABC News/AP
Fmr. Defense Secretary blames Obama for ignoring his advice in Iraq -- CNN
Leon Panetta criticizes Obama for Iraq withdrawal -- CBS
Panetta Faults White House on Iraq Troop Presence -- WSJ
Panetta: WH ‘never really led' in Iraq troop talks -- The Hill
Panetta unloads on White House for pulling US forces out of Iraq -- FOX News
Panetta: Obama, White House Responsible For Chaos In Iraq -- Washington Examiner
Panetta: We should have left troops in Iraq -- USA Today
Panetta accuses Obama of rushing retreat from Iraq at all costs -- RT
Why Panetta’s Lament Is Newsworthy -- Seth Mandel, Commentary
Obama’s Ex-CIA Chief Slams White House for ‘Hesitation and Half Steps’ -- Josh Rogin, Daily Beast
Leon Panetta blows whistle on lies about Iraq -- Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

WNU Editor: Leon Panetta's post on his opposition to the White House's plans for withdrawing from Iraq is here .... Leon Panetta: How the White House Misplayed Iraqi Troop Talks -- Leon Panetta, Time