Ted Poe: “The President ``avoids the battle, complains, and misses opportunities.'' Those were the words of Leon Panetta…”

“The President ``avoids the battle, complains, and misses opportunities.'' Those were the words of Leon Panetta, President Obama's former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director, in 2011. At the time, Panetta, along with military commanders and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recommended that the United States leave 24,000 troops in Iraq to prevent that country from falling apart and becoming chaotic. According to Panetta, the administration was ``so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve American influence and our interests.'' So the President ignored the advice of his own Secretary of Defense and top commanders and pulled troops out of Iraq in 2011. The timing, just before the 2012 Presidential election, to me, appeared to be based on the politics of political convenience, not our own national interests. In any event, what is taking place today in 2015? Enter the Islamic State, ISIS. ISIS took advantage of the power vacuum left by America's absence. So today ISIS is stronger than ever, spreading its reign of terror throughout the region. ISIS practices religious genocide against people that don't agree with it. They have redefined the term ``barbarian'' to an all new low. They rape, pillage, loot, behead, and burn those in this ISIS war against the world's people.…”