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Kerry should be on a plane to Baghdad, ex-ambassador says
The Hill ^ | June 17, 2014 | By Rebecca Shabad

Posted on 06/17/2014 6:57:23 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Secretary of State John Kerry “should be on a plane right now for Baghdad,” former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said Tuesday.

Crocker served as ambassador to Iraq under President George W. Bush from 2007 until 2009, and ambassador to Afghanistan under President Obama until July 2012. The Obama administration should have had more high-level diplomatic engagement with Iraq, he argued Tuesday, and emphasized the U.S. must now respond with urgency.

“We are hard-wired into their political system. We helped create it. We can’t walk away from it,” Crocker said.

“I would have preferred since 2011 to see us more deeply and intensively engaged at the highest levels of government. I don’t think it’s too late, but we better move now.

(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: bho44; bhoforeignpolicy; iraq; kerry; leadingfrombehind; lurch; postwariraq; soskerry
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Imagine a world where Obama at least sought out advice from people like this instead of the underaged political toadies he has on his security team.


21 posted on 06/17/2014 7:27:08 AM PDT by keat
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To: skinkinthegrass

King Obongobongo would never stand for that.


22 posted on 06/17/2014 7:27:23 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
He's probably end up in Cambodia.
23 posted on 06/17/2014 7:32:02 AM PDT by McGruff (ISIS Terror Leader Was Released By Obama from Camp Bucca in 2009)
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To: Mastador1

Nah, Zipper-Boy Clinton “took care of” the ‘Hole in the Head Gang’ back then.

My thinking was that Vietnam Turncoat Kerry would fit right in with the new Iran-Controlled ‘Blunder in Bagdad.’


24 posted on 06/17/2014 7:36:37 AM PDT by Graewoulf (Democrats' Obamacare Socialist Health Insur. Tax violates U.S. Constitution AND Anti-Trust Law.)
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To: Graewoulf

Oh I was just kidding, that would never happen to Kerry, you have to actually know something to be a risk so Kerry is probably the safest person in the cabinet.


25 posted on 06/17/2014 7:39:25 AM PDT by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

But.... he already served in Vietnam!


26 posted on 06/17/2014 7:41:09 AM PDT by defconw (LUTFA!)
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To: Mastador1

Maybe, but he could “keep an eye on” the Iranian centrifuges for, shall we say, “a change in the global climate.”


27 posted on 06/17/2014 7:42:38 AM PDT by Graewoulf (Democrats' Obamacare Socialist Health Insur. Tax violates U.S. Constitution AND Anti-Trust Law.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

To do what? Report for duty? That’s a joke.


28 posted on 06/17/2014 8:18:54 AM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose o f a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Georgia Girl 2; Oldeconomybuyer
Here is a factoid some will find interesting about Ryan Crocker when he was ambassador to Iraq.

Crocker and Zebari were the first to sign the US/Iraq Status of Forces Agreement on Nov 17, 2008, after which the Iraqi Parliament(Nov 27) and the Presidency Council(Dec 4) approved it and George Bush signed it in Dec of 2008, one of his last acts as president. The SOFA required all US forces leave Iraq by Dec 31, 2011.

As the article points out, Crocker also served as Obama's ambassador to Afghanistan.

So Obama ended up with the same team in Afghanistan that George Bush had in Iraq: General Petraeus, General Allen, and Ryan Crocker.

Wikipedia Page on the Iraq/US SOFA

29 posted on 06/17/2014 11:29:11 AM PDT by Ben Ficklin
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