Pentagon contradicts Obama, says they’ve been “very clear” about ISIS threat in Iraq

Looks like official statements from the Pentagon differ from statements from Obama about this ISIS outfit.

Obama says "under estimated".

Pentagon says "we knew all along".

Just what we need.

More conflicting reports from officials.

Can't they *ever* get anything straight ?

On Saturday, President Obama said the intelligence community underestimated the threat by ISIS which is why he did not act until now:

There is no doubt that their advance, their movement over the last several months has been more rapid than the intelligence estimates and I think the expectations of policymakers both in and outside of Iraq.

Aside from the fact that advances by ISIS has been known to anyone who’s had access to YouTube or Twitter, the Pentagon, when asked if they were caught off guard by ISIS today, tells a completely different story. They responded that the US did know about the threat posed by ISIS all along:

“We have been very clear about the threat posed by ISIS. We have been very consistent about that threat in the region and in Iraq.”

Pentagon contradicts Obama, says they’ve been “very clear” about ISIS threat in Iraq all along

Of course they knew what was going on, they just chose to not really do anything about it at the time. I can't imagine why not but thats how it went down, now they are doing the finger pointing games for PR points.

a reply to: xuenchen

What's the big thing, Obama is a liar and covering up his incompetence.

He tried to wishful think ISIL out of importance

a reply to: Brotherman

Bullshrimp. The Pentagon was aware of and advised The President of the situation, the decision to act or not was Obama's, he dropped the ball.
The Pentagon has no need to play this for PR points,they don't front for a political org. that's about to take a big hit in the upcoming elections.

originally posted by: Brotherman
Of course they knew what was going on, they just chose to not really do anything about it at the time. I can't imagine why not but thats how it went down, now they are doing the finger pointing games for PR points.

The thing about it is only Obama can give orders to do something about it. He did not. He was briefed by the Pentagon and other agencies. He sat on his hands. Now he's trying to run from that. No matter how we got there, it was his ball of wax. Now he wants to try and change the story. He's a miserable failure as POTUS. Inaction gets people killed too!

Since Obama tells lies so often, and so badly, he has given up trying to make them good because of how that fails for him just like everything else he does fails. It is the things he hasn't been caught doing yet that people should be really worried about.

Wasn't he sent here to save the us?

I can't believe I believed the brochure.
Damn lies.

a reply to: Bilk22

To be clear, when I said "they" I was talking about both the pentagon and the potus, and now they are finger pointing, there is only one reason to finger point and that is for the public relations. I have no doubt that the pentagon and DOD knew what was going on and have no doubt that the potus was briefed however the collective inaction to do much of anything has me on a pickle I am not privy to why. I'm not a big fan of this administration like alot of others. At anytime a marine unit on ACM can be called and deployed anytime of day to anywhere in the world in mere hours, I am surprised this action wasn't taken by the POTUS as the POTUS can call on the Marines to do that without having to do things normally with congress and all that he can literally pick up the phone and call the Marines.

a reply to: xuenchen

Obama admits he was told but it was "bad Intel", you know the thing the Dem's beat Bush up about and said it would never happen again when they are in control.

If this clown did not lie or blame what "HE" does on Bush he would have nothing to say.

Maybe if Obama went to his daily briefings and listened to those advisers it would be different. He probably didn't know and that was his fault. After all, I think everyone has known for months about this problem. And Obama said again, like he has in other situations, "I didn't know anything about it until I read it in the paper"!

Come on, if he wasn't still running around giving speeches like he was still campaigning and going on vacations, and going to his Security briefings every day instead of sending his appointed representative to go to them, then at least he wouldn't look totally incompetent because he would have had a plan ready to implement if something went wrong.

The Obama administration supported ISIS when they were in Syria in oppositions to Bashar Assad's regime. Now they are conquering lands with many American weapons given to them in Syria. It is part of what Benghazi was about. They were trying to get certain weapons back from terrorists he supported in Libya to reroute to ISIS (fighting against Assad in Syria).

Anyway, the Administrations total incompetence has contributed much to the situation in Iraq and the middle east. I still don't see how people can defend this community organizer for all of the failures in policy and not having a clear concise policy in so many areas. I could go on for hours about blunder after blunder from this Administration but, I will leave it at that since I don't want to derail a good thread that may educate some people and some will blindly defend this Administrations inexperienced, ineffective, and incompetent policies and abilities. And the lies that this administration blurts out to try to cover their inadequacies is stunning.

anyone drawing parallels between this and the fall of Saigon?

>long, expensive, unpopular war to secure/create a puppet state in a strategic region,
>US forces finally withdraw,
>the corrupt and unstable government of the country that was created (Iraq, South-Vietnam) is ultimately conquered/falls

originally posted by: Brotherman
a reply to: Bilk22

To be clear, when I said "they" I was talking about both the pentagon and the potus, and now they are finger pointing, there is only one reason to finger point and that is for the public relations. I have no doubt that the pentagon and DOD knew what was going on and have no doubt that the potus was briefed however the collective inaction to do much of anything has me on a pickle I am not privy to why. I'm not a big fan of this administration like alot of others. At anytime a marine unit on ACM can be called and deployed anytime of day to anywhere in the world in mere hours, I am surprised this action wasn't taken by the POTUS as the POTUS can call on the Marines to do that without having to do things normally with congress and all that he can literally pick up the phone and call the Marines.

The Pentagon doesn't need to influence "public perception". So "public relations" is out the window with regard to the Pentagon. Obama on the other hand does need to influence "public perception" as he wants to get Dems elected on the mid terms, and more selfishly, preserve his legacy, not that there's much to preserve.

I think someone at the Pentagon spoke up because they've pretty much had it. They're not elected. They're appointed and come up through the ranks.

originally posted by: NonsensicalUserName
anyone drawing parallels between this and the fall of Saigon?

>long, expensive, unpopular war to secure/create a puppet state in a strategic region,
>US forces finally withdraw,
>the corrupt and unstable government of the country that was created (Iraq, South-Vietnam) is ultimately conquered/falls

Interesting view.

Who will Iraq "fall" to ?

originally posted by: hillbilly4rent
Wasn't he sent here to save the us?

I can't believe I believed the brochure.
Damn lies.

This is the very same way that Hitler campaigned, and he has been using the same methods promoting all of his communist-like agendas, "hope and change" and worthless little slogans like that. What is funnier is that he has done these things like how they are listed in a communist takeover handbook, but many folks don't care, and they still don't. Hitler had this same effect on people.

a reply to: xuenchen

We knew back in 2004 of ISI, which turned into ISIS/ISIL/IS/murdering scum. Wait, they were murdering scum back in '04 as well. Obama knew, but like your typical city dweller, he thought that country folks were all hicks...even in other countries.

What a dolt.

More bs from the"openess"and"transparency"administration I see.Why anyone believes a word from the white house is beyond me at this point.

a reply to: xuenchen

It doesn't matter anymore who says what. Plans are afoot. Lol

originally posted by: NoCorruptionAllowed

originally posted by: hillbilly4rent
Wasn't he sent here to save the us?

I can't believe I believed the brochure.
Damn lies.

This is the very same way that Hitler campaigned, and he has been using the same methods promoting all of his communist-like agendas, "hope and change" and worthless little slogans like that. What is funnier is that he has done these things like how they are listed in a communist takeover handbook, but many folks don't care, and they still don't. Hitler had this same effect on people.

And the thing is...he had the stones to actually put it out there during his campaigns.

He did say that he wanted to "Fundementaly change America" and I think he has. And it is not for the better at all. I mean, we were pretty screwed up before, but this guy seems to think that he can put out the fire by pouring gas on it.

a reply to: Brotherman

back in 2012, when the defense department budget was being seriously cut; Panetta said

But even as our large-scale military campaigns recede, the United States still faces complex and growing array of security challenges across the globe. And unlike past drawdowns when oftentimes the threats that the country was facing went away, the fact is that there remain a number of challenges that we have to confront, challenges that call for reshaping of America's defense priorities: focusing on the continuing threat of violent extremism, which is still there and still to be dealt with;

This was at a press conference where the president was wanting to make it into a feel good we are fine without money in the defense budget thing. And while don't get me wrong Panetta was trying to be positive, I saw him as much less positive than the president for sure... and much more honest about matters.

The president was in this press conference acting much more confident and positive than the vibe I got from Panetta... honestly. SO yeah, in looking back...

[Obama said:] That is our solemn obligation. And over the past three years, that's what we've done. We've continued to make historic investments in our military, our troops and their capabilities, our military families and our veterans. And thanks to their extraordinary service, we've ended our war in Iraq. We've decimated al-Qaida's leadership. We've delivered justice to Osama bin Laden and we put that terrorist network on the path to defeat. We've made important progress in Afghanistan, and we've begun the transition so Afghans can assume more responsibility for their own security. We joined allies and partners to protect the Libyan people as they ended the regime of Muammar Gadhafi.

I'm going to say the Pentagon was likely very honest with the president about the situation, and acting upon orders and within the budget they had to act upon, for everything else. In other words, the President knew...

www.defense.gov...

we knew from history that removing Saddam would create the vacuum which would see the rise of a worse than Saddam. However, what we learn from history is that we never learn a thing.

a reply to: xuenchen

I'm pretty sure anyone with an internet connection knew this was going to happen. However in regard to all his earlier precedent setting denials and excuses it should be no surprise Obama would try to shift blame, again.



The guy simply cannot take responsibility for anything.