October 7, 2014
Mariah Timms
News Writer
Politics
Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has condemned the Obama administration’s current approach to ISIS threats. Panetta said that the removal from Iraq earlier in Obama’s time in office led to the vacuum in Iraq and Syria that allowed ISIS to move in. He says he advised more pressure on then-Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to allow troops to remain in the area. Also, the U.S. should have armed Syrian rebels sooner, said Panetta. The current air strikes are a good idea, says Panetta, but they will not be effective without ground forces, to at the very least identify targets. Panetta says he respects and admires President Obama, but feels he should have been more decisive in this matter. Vice President Joe Biden has called the timing of the comments “inappropriate.”
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