President Obama was so eager to withdraw troops from Iraq and make good on a campaign promise that he ignored an opportunity to negotiate a deal that would've allowed the U.S. military to ensure a more peaceful transition of power, according to former Defense Secretary and CIA chief Leon Panetta.
'[T]to me - and many others - ... withdrawing all our forces would endanger the fragile stability then barely holding Iraq together,' Panetta alleges in his forthcoming memoir, titled 'Worthy Fights.'
Although the U.S. troop withdrawal had already been discussed and negotiated by U.S. and Iraqi officials, he noted, the White House was informally offered a chance by Iraq's leaders to negotiate a deal to maintain a contingency of American forces to ensure a smooth transition.
'Privately, the various leadership factions in Iraq all confided that they wanted some U.S. forces to remain as a bulwark against sectarian violence,' Panetta said. 'But none was willing to take that position publicly, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki concluded that any Status of Forces Agreement, which would give legal protection to those forces, would have to be submitted to the Iraqi parliament for approval.'
President Obama was so eager to withdraw troops from Iraq and make good on a campaign promise...The tumultuous country's internal politics all but guaranteed that the negotiations would be difficult, he added, but the State and Defense departments nevertheless tried to reach a deal with Iraqi leaders.
'We had leverage,' Panetta said, noting that the White House could always use U.S. reconstruction aid to Iraq as a bargaining chip.
But Obama and the White House dithered, dragging their feet on the crucial and time-sensitive issue, eventually allowing al-Maliki to 'slip away.'
'Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy did her best to press that position, which reflected not just my views but also those of the military commanders in the region and the Joint Chiefs,' the former defense secretary said.
'But the President's team at the White House pushed back, and the differences occasionally became heated,' he added. 'Flournoy argued our case, and those on our side viewed the White House as so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interests.'
And then it happened: Time ran out, and it was now time for the U.S. to finalize its exit strategy. From Panetta:
The clock wound down in December, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter continued to argue our case, extending the deadline for the Iraqis to act, hoping that we might pull out a last-minute agreement and recognizing that once our forces left, it would be essentially impossible for them to turn around and return.
To my frustration, the White House coordinated the negotiations but never really led them. Officials there seemed content to endorse an agreement if State and Defense could reach one, but without the President's active advocacy, al-Maliki was allowed to slip away. The deal never materialized.
This account, of course, differs from the president's own version of events.
'In order for us to maintain troops in Iraq, we needed the invitation of the Iraqi government,' President Obama said on Aug. 29. 'The reason that we did not have a follow-on force in Iraq was because the Iraqis were - a majority of Iraqis did not want U.S. troops there, and politically they could not pass the kind of laws that would be required to protect our troops in Iraq.'
The president's remarks in August were made in reference to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a terrorist group that has grown in power and strength since 2010 and has captured large portions of Iraq and Syria, murdering all that stands in its way. This group was able rise to prominence due in part to the power vacuum and instability of Iraq.
Panetta's book is scheduled for released on Oct. 7. Excerpts from his forthcoming memoir were first obtained and published by Time.
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