President Barack Obama has enough on his plate, and does not need open displays of disloyalty from fellow Democratic Presidents and a former Secretary of Defense!
At a time of midterm elections coming up, these criticisms of Obama by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and former CIA head and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta are totally uncalled for, in a public way!
Leon Panetta is just trying to make money on his book by trashing the man who gave him the top two jobs in national security, but one must also remember that he was once a Republican, and his criticisms of Obama on the Middle East are not going to help the situation, so he can be considered a traitor, as he could have waited until Obama left office before writing his book. In that sense, he is the same as another former Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, who is a Republican, and served in the Pentagon under both Obama and George W. Bush.
If these two men felt so strongly, they should have done the right thing and resigned immediately, when they felt they could not support what Obama was doing in the Middle East years ago, but instead, they stay on, and then leave, and write books for profit at an inappropriate time!
And Jimmy Carter, who was not exactly hawkish in foreign policy decades ago, is wrong to criticize Obama, as based on his record in office in the late 1970s and in 1980, he was not very dovish rather than the recent conversion to being a hawk, as he suddenly appears to have become in his old age!
And Bill Clinton? Well, he is trying to help his wife’s predicted campaign for the Presidency, but he tends to talk too much anyway, as he loves the sound of his voice, and loves attention! Clinton made plenty of mistakes as President in foreign policy, and should not, publicly be speaking out at this time, which is so delicate, and only helps the Republican Party.
If the Democrats lose the US Senate next momth, Panetta, Carter, and Clinton should be held responsible for undermining their party at a time they should have kept their mouths shut, or told Obama privately, how they felt!
And notice, how even George W. Bush, has had the decency to keep his mouth shut, and refuse to attack his successor! He has more class than Panetta, Carter or Clinton on this matter!
After hearing about news like this, I side with some of the more rational criticism.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/12/world/meast/isis-threat/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
As much as I hate it, I think we’re going to have to have troops in there.
As far as the Ebola situation is concerned, I think that a travel ban needs to be issued.