The Commandant of the United States Marine Corp, General James Amos, did something very unusual this week: he spoke out critically against policy decisions of the President of the United States Barack Obama.
Reporting for The Fiscal Times, David Francis observes that “It’s highly unusual for a high-ranking soldier, let alone a high-ranking Marine, to publicly question White House and Pentagon policy. Yet that’s exactly what four-star Gen. James Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, did yesterday in Washington.”
Speaking at the Brookings Institute, Amos criticized the Obama administration for:
1. Paving the way for the emergence of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) by completely withdrawing American troops in 2011. Amos said: “I have a hard time believing that had we been there, and worked with the government, and worked with parliament, and worked with the minister of defense, the minister of interior, I don’t think we’d be in the same shape we’re in today.”
2. Failing to live up to U.S. obligations around the world. Amos said: “We may think we’re done with all of these nasty, thorny, tacky little things that are going on around the world — and I’d argue that if you’re in that nation, it’s not a tacky, little thing for you. We may think we’re done with them, but they’re not done with us. We’re probably the only country in the world that has the resources and the capability to be able to do some of this that others can’t.”
3. Forfeiting gains made in Iraq and Afghanistan for which U.S. troops had fought and sacrificed. Referring to the fall of the Anbar province in Iraq, which Marines won in 2010 and in whhich 852 Marines were killed and naother 8,500 injured, Amos said “It breaks our hearts. They believed that they’d made a difference.”
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2 comments:
Absolutely. A perfect title for a story about our post-Bush foreign policy would be "Hard Won Victory Squandered". I flew F-16 missions over Iraq in '02 (from Saudi) and in '04 and '08 from a base in Iraq. We had that place locked down by '08. It would have been a terrific forward operating location for U.S. forces to lever against Iran. All lost now, thank to the fanatical pursuit of a Socialist utopia.
Absolutely. A perfect title for a story about our post-Bush foreign policy would be "Hard Won Victory Squandered". I flew F-16 missions over Iraq in '02 (from Saudi) and in '04 and '08 from a base in Iraq. We had that place locked down by '08. It would have been a terrific forward operating location for U.S. forces to lever against Iran.
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