Past criticism of President Biden’s foreign policy failures by former Obama administration officials has resurfaced in the wake of the attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan that tragically claimed the lives of three U.S. soldiers over the weekend.
That official, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, first expressed displeasure with Biden’s foreign policy positions in his 2014 memoir, “Mission: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” saying that Biden was He writes that he believes what the former senator said. And the then-vice president “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue for the past 40 years.”
Gates doubled down on those claims when asked about his book in a 2021 interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, saying, “I think he’s quite wrong.” He also pointed out that Biden opposes “all of Ronald Reagan’s military plans to counter the Soviet Union,” as well as their differences over the first Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan.
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Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)
Gates also said he believes Biden made a mistake in handling the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that year.
Gates, first appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2006, was the only Cabinet member to remain in the post after President Obama took office in 2009. Gates resigned from his position in June 2011. Prior to his appointment, Gates served as Secretary. He was a CIA employee and served as former President George H.W. Bush’s vice presidential national security adviser.
The Pentagon on Monday identified the three U.S. soldiers killed in an Iranian-backed militia attack as Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia. Special Kennedy Landon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia. and Spc. Breonna Alexandria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia.
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LR: Sergeant William Rivers, Special Corp. Breonna Moffett and Spc. Kennedy Sanders. (Fox News)
All were assigned to the 926th Engineer Brigade, 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, Fort Moore, Georgia.
The attack has led critics to slam Biden, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who called on the president to strike “harshly” at Iran in retaliation.
“When the Biden administration says ‘don’t do it,’ the Iranians say ‘do it.’ The Biden administration’s rhetoric falls on deaf ears in Iran. Their policy of deterrence against Iran is failing miserably. “There have been over 100 attacks on our military. Iran is not being deterred,” Graham said in a statement.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.S., speaks with reporters about aid to Ukraine at the Capitol on Wednesday, March 10, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File))
The soldier’s death marked a significant escalation in violence in the ongoing attack on US forces in the region. The Biden administration said these attacks were carried out by Iran-backed militias in Syria and Iraq that attacked American targets in retaliation for the United States’ support for Israel in its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, which began on October 7. It was blamed on
According to the Pentagon, there have been 165 attacks since Oct. 17 in Iraq, Syria, and now Jordan. Of these, 66 were in Iraq, 98 in Syria and one in Jordan.
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The Pentagon said more than 40 people were injured in a weekend attack on a small desert facility known as Tower 22 in Jordan. At least eight people were medically evacuated, with the most seriously injured member in serious but stable condition.
Since October 17th, an additional 80 US military personnel have been injured.
FOX News’ Bradford Betts contributed to this report.
