Panetta blames Obama, sees 30-year terror war

WASHINGTON: The fight against the Islamic State group will be difficult and could last decades due to decisions made by US President Barack Obama, former Pentagon chief Leon Panetta has said.
“I think we’re looking at kind of a 30-year war” that could extend to threats in Libya, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen, Panetta told USA Today in a story published Monday.
Panetta, a respected policymaker who served under Obama, blamed the challenges on decisions the president made over the past three years.
Among those decisions, he cited Obama’s failure to push the Iraqi government hard enough to allow a residual US force to stay in the country after troops withdrew in 2011, saying that created a security “vacuum.”
The former defense secretary also pointed to Obama’s rejection of advice in 2012 from Panetta and then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton to begin arming Syrian rebels fighting against President Bashar Assad.
“I do think we would be in a better position to kind of know whether or not there is some moderate element in the rebel forces that are confronting Assad,” Panetta said.
And Panetta said Obama lost credibility when he warned Assad not to use chemical weapons against his own people and then failed to act when the Syrian leader crossed that “red line” last year.
The former Pentagon chief was speaking ahead of the release of his new book, “Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace,” set for Tuesday by Penguin Press.
USA Today said that Panetta is explicitly critical Obama in his book, writing that his “most conspicuous weakness” was “a frustrating reticence to engage his opponents and rally support for his cause.”
The president too often “relies on the logic of a law professor rather than the passion of a leader,” the former defense chief added, saying that approach means Obama “avoids the battle, complains and misses opportunities.”
At times, Obama “gets so discouraged by the process” that he sometimes stops fighting, Panetta told USA Today.
Even before its publication, the book has already drawn the ire of the White House and State Department.
“I’m finding that former administration officials, as soon as they leave write books, which I think is inappropriate,” Vice President Joe Biden told students at Harvard University on Friday. “At least give the guy a chance to get out of office.”
But Panetta also expressed hope Obama would change course during his last two years in office and recover from his mistakes.
Separately, Islamic State raised its flag on a building on the outskirts of the Syrian frontier town of Kobani on Monday after an assault of almost three weeks, but the town’s Kurdish defenders said its fighters had not reached the city center.
A black flag belonging to Islamic State was visible from across the Turkish border atop a four-story building close to the scene of some of the most intense clashes in recent days.
Airstrikes by American and Gulf state warplanes have failed to halt its advance on Kobani, which it has besieged from three sides and pounded with heavy artillery.
Local sources inside Kobani confirmed that the group, formerly known as ISIL, had planted its flag, but said Kurdish forces had repelled its advances so far.
“ISIL have only planted a flag on one building,” said Ismail Eskin, a journalist in the town. “That is not inside the city, it’s on the eastern side. They are not inside the city. Intense clashes are continuing. The bodies of 25 (Islamic State) fighters are there.”
At least 30 people were killed in two suicide attacks on two checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters in Syria’s northeastern city of Hasakah on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“The attacks targeted checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters on the western entrance of the city. They occurred within minutes of each other,” Rami Abdelrahman from the Observatory said.