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US President Barack Obama has said failing to prepare for the aftermath of the ousting of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi was the worst mistake of his presidency.
Mr Obama was answering a series of questions on the highs and lows of his time in office on Fox News. Link.
What worries me with the West's meddling in the M.E. is that we don't plan or consider the consequences of our actions; Hussein was removed and that failure to garrison troops or create some form of replacement policing machine created the mess we see now in Iraq and then within 15 years of that salutory lesson we removed Ghaddafi and left even quicker.
I have read that had there been a stationing of western troops as we saw in South Korea then things might have been more peaceful but I'm not so sure as Korea was so different.
Anyhow, at least we have had a confession from one of the wests leaders in these events - time for others to also step forward.
~ he still cant bring himself to say that entering the civil war was a mistake ~
~ The Arab spring created the mess we now see in Iraq.
What worries me with the West's meddling in the M.E. is that we don't plan or consider the consequences of our actions; Hussein was removed and that failure to garrison troops or create some form of replacement policing machine created the mess we see now in Iraq and then within 15 years of that salutory lesson we removed Ghaddafi and left even quicker.
I have read that had there been a stationing of western troops as we saw in South Korea then things might have been more peaceful but I'm not so sure as Korea was so different.
Anyhow, at least we have had a confession from one of the wests leaders in these events - time for others to also step forward.
Same as Bush unfortunately: both believe there were mistakes but not that entering was a mistake.
Obama came after Bush, after watching Bush make mistakes and using Bushes mistakes in his argument for putting a D in the chair (him), for Obama to make the exact same mistake as Bush did makes Obama worse, the lesson as fresh, there was no way for him to not know he was making a mistake other than willful ignorance. I have some sympathy for Obama's argument that the Europeans should have stepped up and managed Libya, but there was no way that was going to happen because France and Britain clearly from the start only had interest in Libya so far as domestic political maneuverings go. As the lone superpower and leader of NATO management was always going to be our job, Obama simply refused to do it.
While Bush was President, Ghaddafi was neutralized and pretty much under US control. Once Obama became President, Ghaddafi was empowered again to cause havoc in his own country ~
What worries me with the West's meddling in the M.E. is that we don't plan or consider the consequences of our actions; Hussein was removed and that failure to garrison troops or create some form of replacement policing machine created the mess we see now in Iraq and then within 15 years of that salutory lesson we removed Ghaddafi and left even quicker.
I have read that had there been a stationing of western troops as we saw in South Korea then things might have been more peaceful but I'm not so sure as Korea was so different.
Anyhow, at least we have had a confession from one of the wests leaders in these events - time for others to also step forward.
Interesting statement. How did Bush prevent Ghaddafi doing whatever he wanted in his own country?
Bush threatened invasion if Ghaddafi didn't give up his weapons program and terrorism support and Ghaddafi, wisely, believed him. That's the benefit of having a President who issues redline warnings and then follows through on the threat. Ghaddafi saw what happened to Hussein and decided to stay in power and live until Bush was gone. When he saw Obama take over, an all talk liberal with no backbone, he went back to his old ways. Assad in Syria took advantage of Obama's weakness as well and gave his redline the finger and Obama went golfing.
Libya's actions came after nine months of secret diplomacy, beginning with an overture from Colonel Qaddafi to London and Washington just as the invasion of Iraq was beginning.
Mr. Bush's aides, clearly seeking to build on the capture of Saddam Hussein last Saturday, described the Libyan action as directly linked to the Iraq war, suggesting that Colonel Qaddafi had decided to give up his weapons aspirations rather than face off against the United States and its allies.
I have so many questions.
Why did we invade Iraq, and why didn't we follow through once some sort of order was established? I agree with the OP that S Korea might not be a good comparison, but we could consider the what if? Had we stayed there without looming pull out deadline, things might be different now...or may be not.
Why did we really go into Libya and why not Syria? What if we had stayed out? What if we had gone into both?
What criteria was used?
We will never find out for sure but can only speculate, as do most pundits and professional opiners.
I would like to be a fly on the wall, soaking it all in, getting a glimpse of what is really going on behind the scene...the backroom dealings, all the privy information, the greasing of hands...
My friends and I often can't even decide where to go for dinner, so I can only imagine what it would take to lead a country as big and influential as the US of A.
Yeah, we have our opinion about this or that, knowing not even a small percentage of what it takes to do the job. I am no friend of Obama, nor do I have any excuses for Bush, but I trust that they do what they think is best for our country.
You're just proving my point. ~
My problem with Obama and Iraq is that he decided, as a campaign strategy, to push getting out of Iraq no matter what. When he got elected, he did just that. It was the wrong thing to do and the US had plenty of leverage to remain in Iraq on US terms. but Obama was and is a politician first, not a leader.
Obama could have left American troops in iraq
however, they would have been subject to iraqi law. something the iraqi government refused not to impose
and Obama then made the correct decision to abide by the exit date that the dicknbush regime had previously agreed
So, you're claiming that a few Iraqi politicians controlled the US military? Only under President Obama. If Bush had still been President, it never would have happened. President Obama got exactly what he wanted, to hell with the consequences.
...and is now dead, in no small part because of the United States. So what exactly are you talking about? How can you present Bush as a strong leader who would have taken Ghaddafi out and Obama as an "all talk liberal with no backbone" and then ignore the fact Ghaddafi was taken out under Obama's watch?Bush threatened invasion if Ghaddafi didn't give up his weapons program and terrorism support and Ghaddafi, wisely, believed him. That's the benefit of having a President who issues redline warnings and then follows through on the threat. Ghaddafi saw what happened to Hussein and decided to stay in power and live until Bush was gone. When he saw Obama take over, an all talk liberal with no backbone, he went back to his old ways.
The Arab spring created the mess we now see in Iraq.
Do you have any idea what you're taking about ?
President Bush 2, himself, agreed to the terms that you're criticizing President Obama for abiding to with the argument that they never would have happened under President Bush 2. You're wrong by definition, they were actually enacted under President Bush 2.
...and is now dead, in no small part because of the United States. So what exactly are you talking about? How can you present Bush as a strong leader who would have taken Ghaddafi out and Obama as an "all talk liberal with no backbone" and then ignore the fact Ghaddafi was taken out under Obama's watch?
It's almost as if you're wearing a sign on your back right now which says, "I'm partisan".
So, you're claiming that a few Iraqi politicians controlled the US military? Only under President Obama. If Bush had still been President, it never would have happened. President Obama got exactly what he wanted, to hell with the consequences.
you are mistaken
the USA complied with the exit agreement entered into by the dicknbush regime
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