In the period of the president’s maximum political peril, the summer of 2012, then CIA Director David Petraeus presented him with a plan for arming the Syrian rebel forces fighting to topple Bashar al-Assad and his regime. In addition to Petraeus, the plan was supported by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. Barack Obama rejected their advice and insisted that the United States would provide only non-lethal aid. Director Petraeus resigned on Election Day, shortly after the exit polls were known. None of the other players groused about the decision or created any sense of division or disarray within the national security team.
Obama not only stood up to the CIA and the top brass at the Pentagon, he did it without the cover of Clinton or Panetta. He kept us out of a war the rest of the Establishment wanted to fight; he did it without arousing disloyalty, and he did it in the heat of a presidential campaign.
Even John McCain is gobsmacked.
At the tail end of a line of questioning about Benghazi, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Panetta and Dempsey whether they had supported a plan “that we provide weapons to the resistance in Syria.” The plan, he said, was floated in the summer by then-CIA Director David H. Petraeus and endorsed by another heavyweight in the administration at the time, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“We do,” Panetta replied.
“You did support that?” McCain asked again.
“We did,” added Dempsey, who was sitting next to Panetta. Neither elaborated on their positions.
McCain appeared taken aback by the answers. A few hours later, he issued a statement saying he was “very pleased” to learn of the Pentagon’s stance but criticized President Obama for blocking arms shipments to Syrian rebels.
“What this means is that the president overruled the senior leaders of his own national security team,” said McCain, who has long advocated for U.S. intervention in Syria.
Obviously it matters that Obama beat McCain, but it matters that he beat Clinton, too. I mean, if you care about peace, anyway.
