Barack Obama bungled the Iraq withdrawal negotiations. He failed to reach an agreement with the Iraqi government regarding U.S. offers to leave thousands of uniformed soldiers in Iraq past the deadline.
We all know how well that worked out.
Al-Qaeda forces captured Fallujah and western Iraq this year just two years after US troops withdrew from the country.
In this Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014 photo, masked anti-government gunmen hold their weapons as they patrol Fallujah, Iraq. The situation deteriorated significantly in late December, when security forces dismantled a protest camp near the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi. To defuse tensions, security forces withdrew from Ramadi and the nearby city of Fallujah. Al-Qaida-linked militants promptly took over parts of Ramadi and the center of Fallujah. (AP)
Today Barack Obama asked the Pentagon to draw up plans for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan.
FOX News reported:
President Obama has asked the Pentagon to plan for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year amid a dispute over a security pact, but continues to leave open the possibility that some troops could remain after 2014 — options he discussed Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The White House detailed the “contingency planning” in a statement following the phone call between Obama and Karzai.
The two leaders spoke amid an ongoing dispute over a vital security agreement. That agreement would allow the U.S. to keep troops in Afghanistan after 2014, but Karzai is refusing to sign it, saying he wants his successor to sign the pact after elections this spring.
Obama and Karzai have rarely spoken in recent months, a reflection of the White House’s frustration with the Afghan leader.
The White House said that Obama, in his talk with the Afghan leader, affirmed U.S. support for a “fair, credible, timely and Afghan-led” election process and vowed not to support any particular candidate. But Obama also told Karzai “that because he has demonstrated that it is unlikely that he will sign” the security pact, the U.S. is making other plans.
It takes some real talent to lose two wars as US President.
Barack Obama may be the first.
