Former Pentgon chief Leon Panetta says Barack Obama should have armed moderate Syrian rebels earlier

WASHINGTON: -- THE rise of the brutal Islamic State group can partly be blamed on President Barack Obama’s failure to arm moderate Syrian rebels far earlier, says former US defence secretary Leon Panetta.

It comes after the US Congress on Thursday passed Obama’s plan to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels to battle IS jihadists, a key plank of his strategy to smash the militants who have overrun vast areas of Iraq and Syria.

“I think the President’s concern, and I understand it, was that he had a fear that if we started providing weapons, we wouldn’t know where those weapons would wind up,” said Panetta, defence secretary when the US pulled out of Iraq in 2011.

“My view was: you have to begin somewhere,” added Panetta, also a former CIA director.

Full story: http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/former-pentgon-chief-leon-panetta-says-barack-obama-should-have-armed-moderate-syrian-rebels-earlier/story-fnh81jut-1227066376457


-- News.com.au 2014-09-22

Head line should read. The West should have stayed out of it.

And now US says it doesn't needs no UN approval to bomb Syria, apparently a request from Iraqis is enough.

Obama needs no U.N. approval to order airstrikes in Syria, ambassador says

One Nobel Peace Prize winner indeed.

And now US says it doesn't needs no UN approval to bomb Syria, apparently a request from Iraqis is enough.

Obama needs no U.N. approval to order airstrikes in Syria, ambassador says

One Nobel Peace Prize winner indeed.

He didn't ask for that stinking prize, dude.

He didn't ask for that stinking prize

Do you think he should return it then?

Forget that, the US is setting a new international norm where all you need to legally bomb a country is a request from a third party. Of course the whole notion of legality in international relations was thrown out of the window a long time ago but shouldn't the US at least *display* a semblance of compliance?

Timing is always best when served in hindsight.

Thanks Panetta.

And how many other "moderate militants" have been armed in the past that have risen to be a major threat? Stay out of it! Let them sort it out regionally. Any citizens from other countries that leave to join the circus should have passports cancelled and they can just stay there.

The notion that these so called 'moderate' rebels could have defeated not only ISIS but the Assad government as well 'if they had been armed' is ludicrous, these militants were being armed, they are a negligible minority and hold no contiguous territory.. helping them directly helps ISIS

Its a false narrative to state the Obama should have acted sooner. This story feeds the party line Obama offers and enables him to imply congress is at fault; Panetta's point is not a critique. The fact is, Obama has been providing considerable weapons to "moderate" rebels for some time. These weapons were funneled out of Libya (and IMO among the primary reasons to dispose of Qaddafi) and routed through Turkey. Moreover, through regional allies such as Saudi Arabia eastern European weapons were purchased by planeloads and routed to "moderate" rebels. Its an utter mess because the US has enabled this utter mess!