Media reports about the memoirs of former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates have detailed how Mr. Gates came to doubt President Obama’s support for the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan, and how both President Obama and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton politically undermined the surge in Iraq. Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America (CVA), issued the following statement in response:
“Revelations in media accounts of Mr. Gates’ memoir that President Obama was not wholeheartedly committed to his own strategy in Afghanistan—and willfully undermined the surge in Iraq as a candidate—may be surprising to some. But as a military veteran committed to success on both war fronts, I can honestly say I’m not surprised at all. “These reports only confirm what many of us have suspected about this president all along—that his supposed commitment to winning in Afghanistan was nothing more than convenient political talk to be cast aside when he was finished campaigning. Likewise, and equally disheartening to hear, is that his opposition to the surge in Iraq—and the opposition of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton—in 2007 and 2008 was based on political gain, and not on the best outcome for the troops and our country. These revelations, especially for those who have served and sacrificed, are maddening. “President Obama’s interest in ending wars, rather than winning wars, has left us with a rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq, and we can expect the same in Afghanistan as soon as the last of our troops leave that country. President Obama will of course seek to blame others for these failures, but the reality is that his unwillingness to do what is necessary to finish wars properly means leaving behind deteriorating situations on both war fronts. For those of us who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, that fact represents the ultimate betrayal by our political leadership.”