New Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta committed an error of such huge magnitude that his entire career is now in serious jeopardy.
Breaking with a tradition that has sustained Obama cabinet members for nearly three years, Panetta had the audacity to stray into territory no other Obama minion has dared wander.
His gaffe?
Perhaps unwittingly, but still fatally, Leon Panetta told the truth to American troops in Iraq!
As reported at the reference, in part:
Newly appointed US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told American troops in Baghdad on Monday that 9/11 was the reason they were in Iraq, before he was quickly corrected by his spokesman.People who have been paying attention know that President Obama and hard-core liberals have always claimed that the Iraq war was the “dumb” conflict, precipitated by George W. Bush as a part of his “blood-for-oil” scheme or as payback for Saddam Hussein’s attempt to snuff Bush-41, W.’s daddy.
"The reason you guys are here is because of 9/11. The US got attacked and 3,000 human beings got killed because of Al-Qaeda," Panetta told about 150 soldiers at the Camp Victory US base.
"We've been fighting as a result of that," he said.
The administration of former US President George W. Bush had hastily linked Saddam Hussein, the ousted Iraqi dictator, to the 9/11 attacks.
That was one of the justifications for the 2003 US-led invasion, but the argument has since been widely dismissed.
Doug Wilson, Panetta's spokesman, quickly jumped in after his boss, who just took office on July 1, made the statement.
"I don't think he's getting into the argument of 2002-2003," as the reason for the Iraq invasion, Wilson he told reporters, adding that his boss was "a plain-spoken secretary."
"He has made clear that the major threat to this country is coming from Al-Qaeda and terrorist groups and he has also made clear that wherever we are in the world today, that (Al-Qaeda) is a principle reason for a military presence," Wilson said.
The new defence secretary also committed a faux pas in Afghanistan on Saturday, telling reporters the United States intends to keep 70,000 troops there until 2014.”
Rather than a kick in the butt, Panetta deserves a pat on the back for delivering the sort of “Change” that has been missing from the Obama team since January 20, 2009.
You go, LP!
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/panetta-makes-9-11-gaffe-iraq-153134925.html
