Panetta: Obama Efforts 'Not Sufficient' to Destroy ISIS
Sunday, 22 Nov 2015 10:39 AM
Leon Panetta, President Barack Obama's former Defense secretary and CIA director, said Sunday that his old boss has the "right mission" to destroy the Islamic State (ISIS), but is not executing well enough.
"I think that the resources applied to that mission, frankly, have not been sufficient to confront that," Panetta said Sunday on "Meet the Press." "I think we have to be much more aggressive and much more unified in the effort to take on ISIS."
Panetta said he wants to see a more unified effort, led by the United States, and that France should invoke Article V of the NATO charter to get all NATO nations involved.
"Everybody's kind of doing their own thing on different targets," Panetta said.
America also needs to increase its efforts in Syria, he said, including increasing the tempo of airstrikes, organizing and arming ground forces of Sunnis and Kurds to take back ISIS territory and increasing Special Forces and intelligence advisers to guide and accompany forces.
"It's been a year. They're still in Mosul. They're still in Ramadi. They're still in Raqqah," Panetta said. "Those are the areas we have to go after in order to be able to be able to defeat ISIS ultimately."
The unifying force Panetta seeks would not, however, include Russia and Iran, both active against ISIS in the region.
"Russia, obviously it would be nice to have them as part of that effort but, frankly, I don't trust them in this effort at this time and I certainly don't trust Iran to be part of that effort as well," he said.
"I think that the resources applied to that mission, frankly, have not been sufficient to confront that," Panetta said Sunday on "Meet the Press." "I think we have to be much more aggressive and much more unified in the effort to take on ISIS."
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"Everybody's kind of doing their own thing on different targets," Panetta said.
"It's been a year. They're still in Mosul. They're still in Ramadi. They're still in Raqqah," Panetta said. "Those are the areas we have to go after in order to be able to be able to defeat ISIS ultimately."
"Russia, obviously it would be nice to have them as part of that effort but, frankly, I don't trust them in this effort at this time and I certainly don't trust Iran to be part of that effort as well," he said.
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