Former CIA Director and retired four-star U.S. Army general David Petraeus said the country is not where they “should be in the fight against the Islamic State [ISIS/ISIL]”
“It is obvious — given the attack in Paris, given the attacks in Lebanon, given the Sinai aircraft bombing and a host of other attacks, not to mention those in Iraq and Syria — we are not where we should be in the fight against the Islamic State,” he stated while in Michigan.
He is being honored at a Dutch-American Heritage Day event in Hudsonville where he will speak “about his military career and his Dutch heritage.” He shared his thoughts about the Paris terrorist attack, which ISIS took responsibility for, with the media before the event.
“I don’t know that you can say it is or is not bigger than 9/11,” he said. “It certainly is in the minds of many Frenchmen, I’m sure, and perhaps many Europeans.”
Petraeus agreed with President Barack Obama that expanding the Syria campaign and adding troops on the ground would be a mistake. But he also said more needs to be done:
Is the mission we have assigned to the military and to other elements of this campaign, is this sufficiently brought, is this appropriate? Do we have the right campaign to achieve that mission? Do we have the right organizational architecture — I’m talking about headquarters and forces and various capabilities — have we resourced it all adequately? I think as we examine this, in many cases we’re going to conclude that the answer to some of these questions is either no or at least in part no.
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