Congress has authorized a measure to train Syrian rebels in the fight against the Islamic State group. Still, there are plenty of critics who disagree with how President Barack Obama has handled the upheaval in Iraq and Syria.
Many, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wonder if the president should have left troops in Iraq after the water ended. McCain repeated this point earlier this month during an appearance on CNN. McCain and former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney were going head-to-head on whether the troop pullout was the right approach. Carney said the Iraqi government played a role in that decision. That’s when McCain claimed:
"You know, Mr. Carney, you are again saying facts that are patently false. The fact is, because (Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.) and I, and (former Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.) were in Baghdad. (The Iraqis) wanted a residual force. The president has never made a statement, during that or after, that he wanted a residual force left behind."
PolitiFact rated the claim for its truthfulness, and reporter Joshua Gillin said the claim rates MOSTLY TRUE. According to Gillin, public statements back up Sen. McCain.
“There (were) plenty of statements by Obama and people in his adminstration saying that there was going to be this force that would stick around until 2011, after the main pullout in 2010, but there was nothing about people staying afterward,” Gillin said.
President Obama spent much of his campaign promising to end the war in Iraq. But the 2011 deadline actually came about during President George W. Bush’s administration.
Military commanders pushed for a residual force of up to 24,000 to do counterterrorism work and train security forces. But behind closed doors, Obama’s administration wasn’t open to a force that size. Publicly, the president continually promised to withdraw all military forces from the country by 2011. Because the president made no public comments about wanting to leave any number of troops behind in Iraq, the claim rates MOSTLY TRUE.
SOURCES: U.S. MILITARY FORCES IN POST-WAR IRAQ?
- PolitiFact's rating
- CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, Sept. 10, 2014
- PolitiFact, "Obama wanted to keep 10,000 troops in Iraq, ABC's Raddatz claims," Aug. 24, 2014
- PolitiFact, "Last of the "combat" troops leave Iraq; peacekeepers stay behind," Aug. 20, 2010
- Washington Post, "A Chance for Consensus on Iraq," Dec. 21, 2008
- Washington Post, "Obama wants to keep 3,000-5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq into 2012," Sept. 7, 2011
- Washington Post, "Refereeing the John McCain-Jay Carney spat over Iraq," Sept. 11, 2014
- New York Times, "In U.S. Exit From Iraq, Failed Efforts and Challenges," Sept. 22, 2012
- White House, "Responsibly Ending the War in Iraq," Feb. 27, 2009
- White House, Status of Forces Agreement, 2008
- White House, "Remarks by the President on the Situation in Iraq," June 19, 2014
- White House, press briefing, Aug. 4, 2011
- American Rhetoric, "A New Beginning: Speech at Cairo University," June 4, 2009
- American Rhetoric, "Address to the Nation on the End of Operation Iraqi Freedom," Aug, 31, 2010
- American Rhetoric, "Address to the American Legion Conference," Aug. 30, 2011
- American Rhetoric, "Speech on Ending the War in Iraq Responsibly," Oct. 21, 2011
- Change.Gov, The Obama-Biden Plan - Iraq, Nov. 2008
- Email interview, Caitlin Hayden, NSC spokeswoman, Sept. 11, 2014