President Barack Obama (L) announces a shake up with his national security team by nominating CIA Director Leon Panetta (2nd L) as Secretary of Defense and U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus (C) to replace Panetta, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, April 28, 2011. Obama also announced Ryan Crocker (R) as his nomination to be the new Ambassador to Afghanistan and U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen (2nd R) to be the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. REUTERS/Jason Reed
NBC News: Obama Nixed CIA Plan That Could Have Stopped ISIS: Officials
The CIA in 2012 proposed a detailed covert action plan designed to remove Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but President Obama declined to approve it, current and former U.S. officials tell NBC News.
It's long been known that then-CIA Director David Petraeus recommended a program to secretly arm and train moderate Syrian rebels in 2012 to pressure Assad. But a book to be published Tuesday by a former CIA operative goes further, revealing that senior CIA officials were pushing a multi-tiered plan to engineer the dictator's ouster. Former American officials involved in the discussions confirmed that to NBC News.
In an exclusive television interview with NBC News, the former officer, Doug Laux, describes spending a year in the Middle East meeting with Syrian rebels and intelligence officers from various partner countries. Laux, who spoke some Arabic, was the eyes and ears on the ground for the CIA's Syria task force, he says.
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WNU Editor: The CIA (or at least some parts of it) are blaming President Obama. The White House is blaming the Pentagon .... White House Now Blaming War General’s 2014 Islamic State Assessment For Why No One Took The Group Seriously. Bottom line .... everyone is blaming everyone else on why the situation is the Middle East is where it is at right now.