I think it is disappointing to see a decision to withdraw these 51 troops from Iraq ahead of schedule, because it does send the wrong signal to the terrorists. There is no negotiation with terrorists. There is no separate peace with terrorists.
Scott McClellan: “I think it is disappointing to see a decision to withdraw these 51 troops from Iraq ahead of schedule, because it does…”
Editor's note · Context
McClellan criticizes the Philippines' decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, emphasizing the stance against negotiating with terrorists.
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You have a lot of good people that come there for the right reasons, to make a difference, but they get caught up in this permanent campaign culture, where it's all about manipulating the narrative to their advantage.
This is a White House that doesn't like to look back. The president doesn't like to spend time reflecting.
I think he believes that. He's convinced himself to believe that, but I don't think it's true.
We should have embraced a high level of openness and forthrightness, in addition to that, and then the expectations wouldn't have gotten so out of whack, and we wouldn't have been in the problem we were -- we came to later when the…