Gates plays down suggestions that Obama’s opposition to Iraq surge was political
By Zachary A. Goldfarb and Aaron Blake, WashPost, Published: January 13
Former defense secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday substantially softened suggestions in his new tell-all memoir that President Obama may have opposed the U.S. troop increase in Iraq in 2007 for political reasons.
“What I say in the book was that the president conceded a lot of opposition to the surge had been political,” Gates said on NBC’s “Today” show during a promotional tour for his book, “Duty,” which will go on sale Tuesday. “He never said that his opposition had been political. And, in fact, his opposition was consistent with his opposition to the war all along.”
President George W. Bush sent more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq in 2007 as part of a controversial strategy to reduce violence in the country, which the United States had invaded four years earlier. Obama, who had always opposed the war, criticized the surge as a presidential candidate, as did Hillary Rodham Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination. Many analysts credit the surge with helping to stabilize Iraq.
In his book, Gates writes that Clinton, who as a senator had voted to authorize the war in 2003, acknowledged that her opposition to the surge had been because of her primary campaign against Obama. He added, “The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political.”
(More here.)
Former defense secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday substantially softened suggestions in his new tell-all memoir that President Obama may have opposed the U.S. troop increase in Iraq in 2007 for political reasons.
“What I say in the book was that the president conceded a lot of opposition to the surge had been political,” Gates said on NBC’s “Today” show during a promotional tour for his book, “Duty,” which will go on sale Tuesday. “He never said that his opposition had been political. And, in fact, his opposition was consistent with his opposition to the war all along.”
President George W. Bush sent more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq in 2007 as part of a controversial strategy to reduce violence in the country, which the United States had invaded four years earlier. Obama, who had always opposed the war, criticized the surge as a presidential candidate, as did Hillary Rodham Clinton, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination. Many analysts credit the surge with helping to stabilize Iraq.
In his book, Gates writes that Clinton, who as a senator had voted to authorize the war in 2003, acknowledged that her opposition to the surge had been because of her primary campaign against Obama. He added, “The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political.”
(More here.)
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