Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2014 13:20:05 +0200
Panetta: '30-year war' and a leadership test for Obama
By Susan Page
Published: October 8, 2014
CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. — Americans should be braced for a long battle against
the brutal terrorist group Islamic State that will test U.S. resolve — and
the leadership of the commander in chief, says Leon Panetta, who headed the
CIA and then the Pentagon as Al Qaeda was weakened and Osama bin Laden
killed.
"I think we're looking at kind of a 30-year war," he says, one that will
have to extend beyond Islamic State to include emerging threats in Nigeria,
Somalia, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere.
In his first interview about his new book, Worthy Fights: A Memoir of
Leadership in War and Peace, Panetta argues that decisions made by President
Obama over the past three years have made that battle more difficult — an
explosive assessment by a respected policymaker of the president he served.
Even before it's published Tuesday by Penguin Press, the 512-page book has
provoked rebukes at the State Department and by Vice President Biden. But
Panetta says he was determined to write a book that was "honest," including
his high regard for the president on some fronts and his deep concern about
his leadership on others.
In an interview at his home with Capital Download, USA TODAY's video
newsmaker series, Panetta says Obama erred:
* By not pushing the Iraqi government harder to allow a residual U.S.
force to remain when troops withdrew in 2011, a deal he says could have been
negotiated with more effort. That "created a vacuum in terms of the ability
of that country to better protect itself, and it's out of that vacuum that
ISIS began to breed." Islamic State also is known as ISIS and ISIL.
* By rejecting the advice of top aides — including Panetta and
then-secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — to begin arming Syrian
rebels in 2012. If the U.S. had done so, "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 (Syrian President Bashar) Assad."
* By warning Assad not to use chemical weapons against his own people,
then failing to act when that "red line" was crossed in 2013. Before
ordering airstrikes, Obama said he wanted to seek congressional
authorization, which predictably didn't happen.
The reversal cost the United States credibility then and is complicating
efforts to enlist international allies now to join a coalition against the
Islamic State, Panetta says. "There's a little question mark to, is the
United States going to stick this out? Is the United States going to be
there when we need them?"
Showing leadership in the fight against ISIS is an opportunity "to repair
the damage," he says. He says it's also a chance for Obama to get a fresh
start after having "lost his way."
On Friday, the terrorist group released a video that showed the beheading of
a fourth Westerner, British aid worker Alan Henning, and threatened to
execute American hostage Abdul-Rahman (formerly Peter) Kassig next.
Multiple memoirs
Panetta's behind-the-scenes account of events during Obama's first term,
including the internal debate over helping Syrian rebels, is consistent with
those in memoirs published this year by Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates,
whom Panetta succeeded as Defense secretary.
But Panetta's portrait of Obama is more sharply drawn and explicitly
critical.
He praises the president for "his intelligence, his convictions, and his
determination to do what was best for the country." He notes that Obama has
faced bitter opposition, especially from congressional Republicans. He
credits him with scoring significant progress in fighting terrorism and
righting the economy.
In the book's final chapter, however, he writes that Obama's "most
conspicuous weakness" is "a frustrating reticence to engage his opponents
and rally support for his cause." Too often, he "relies on the logic of a
law professor rather than the passion of a leader." On occasion, he "avoids
the battle, complains, and misses opportunities."
In the interview, Panetta says he thinks Obama "gets so discouraged by the
process" that he sometimes stops fighting.
An example: The budget deal that included automatic spending cuts known as
sequestration. Even though nearly everyone agreed privately that they were
bad policy, Panetta says he found himself a lonely figure actively opposing
them by lobbying Congress and making speeches warning that the Pentagon cuts
would harm national security.
The book was the target of a veiled rebuke Thursday by Biden. "I'm finding
that former administration officials, as soon as they leave write books,
which I think is inappropriate," Biden told students at Harvard. "At least
give the guy a chance to get out of office."
The vice president disputed whether it would have made a difference if U.S.
aid had been given earlier to Syrian rebels, and State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki denied that a deal to allow a residual force in Iraq
could have been reached in the face of resistance by then-prime minister
Nouri al-Maliki.
It is surely no surprise to Panetta that his assessment is drawing White
House ire. He provides fodder for the blistering partisan critiques of
Obama's leadership by Republicans, and he is considerably more candid about
his misgivings than is typical in memoirs by former officials about the
presidents they served, especially while they are still in office.
"Look, I've been a guy who's always been honest," Panetta says. "I've been
honest in politics, honest with the people that I deal with. I've been a
straight talker. Some people like it; some people don't like it. But I
wasn't going to write a book that kind of didn't express what I thought was
the case."
Panetta also argues that there is time for Obama to change tactics and
recover — and that it is imperative he do so.
Congressional leaders, Democratic and Republican, share the blame for the
dysfunctional state of affairs in Washington, he says, but he adds they
might well respond to stronger and more engaged presidential leadership.
"He's going to have to jump in the ring and fight it out for the next two
years," Panetta says. "My hope is that the president, recognizing that we
are at a kind of critical point in his administration, will take the bit in
his teeth and will say, 'We have got to solve these problems."
'The American Story'
Panetta's résumé gives his words weight. He has held top jobs in Congress
and the executive branch, dealing with both domestic and national security
issues, and emerged with his reputation for competence and good humor
intact.
"In many ways, my story is the American story," he says when asked why he
wrote the memoir. "I'm the son of Italian immigrants, and they really
believed that by coming to this country they could give their children a
better life, and the reality is, I kind of lived that life."
At first a moderate Republican, he worked in the Nixon administration before
being pushed out after aggressively enforcing civil rights laws. He changed
parties, was elected to nine terms in the House from California as a
Democrat and served as chairman of the House Budget Committee. Clinton
appointed him Budget director, then moved him to White House chief of staff
to impose order in what had been a chaotic operation. After the 2008
election, Obama tapped him as CIA director, then named him to head the
Pentagon.
At the end of Obama's first term, Panetta headed home to California, where
he and his wife, Sylvia, have founded the Panetta Institute for Public
Policy, based at California State University-Monterey Bay — an institution
he helped establish in his congressional district when Fort Ord closed.
Now 76, he lives in the comfortable, casual house his father built in 1948,
on a 12-acre ranch dotted with the walnut and elm trees planted then. In one
corner of the living room is the Baldwin grand piano his parents gave him
for his 12th birthday. (His musical prowess raised his mother's hopes that
he would become a concert pianist, though his father at one point advised
dentistry as a career.) Framed family photos are everywhere.
His 12-year-old golden retriever, Bravo, trails him indoors and out.
Sitting in the living room, Panetta briefly assesses the legacies of the
three presidents he has served.
For Richard Nixon, history will "probably be a little kinder to him later
on," given his achievements in opening relations with China, protecting the
environment and other issues. "But the problem is that once a president
resigns because of scandal, I think that'll always darken his view in
history."
For Bill Clinton, history will remember that he "always kept fighting back"
to get things done, even while battling impeachment. "Whether it was
Democrats or Republicans, you know, he found a way to be able to do some
things, to be able to accomplish some things that were important."
He makes a similar observation about Hillary Clinton, saying she would be a
"great" president. "One thing about the Clintons is, they want to get it
done," he says, in words that draw an implicit contrast with Obama. "When it
comes to being president of the United States, it's one thing to talk a good
game. It's another thing to deliver, to make things happen."
And Barack Obama's legacy?
"We are at a point where I think the jury is still out," Panetta says. "For
the first four years, and the time I spent there, I thought he was a strong
leader on security issues. ... But these last two years I think he kind of
lost his way. You know, it's been a mixed message, a little ambivalence in
trying to approach these issues and try to clarify what the role of this
country is all about.
"He may have found himself again with regards to this ISIS crisis. I hope
that's the case. And if he's willing to roll up his sleeves and engage with
Congress in taking on some of these other issues, as I said I think he can
establish a very strong legacy as president. I think these next 2 1/2 years
will tell us an awful lot about what history has to say about the Obama
administration."
<http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.307085.1412718858%21/image/image.jpg_g
en/derivatives/landscape_804/image.jpg>
http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.307085.1412718858%21/image/image.jpg_ge
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Leon Panetta holds a final news briefing as defense secretary on Feb. 13,
2013, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. In an interview about his new book
"Worthy Fights" to be published Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014, Panetta said the
United States should brace itself for a type of 30-year war against
militants like the Islamic State.
Glenn Fawcett/Defense Department
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