Sunday, August 24, 2014

Missed opportunity?


Now they tell us.

PolitiFact's pundit-checking operation, PunditFact, reveals on Aug. 24, 2014 that the Obama administration originally planned to leave 10,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as part of a status of forces agreement.

Let's imagine an alternative universe in which PolitiFact could have done this fact check during a presidential election after President Obama appeared to deny he wanted a status of forces agreement that would have kept troops in Iraq.  Via NPR:
MR. ROMNEY: Excuse me. It's a geopolitical foe. And I said in the same — in the same paragraph, I said, and Iran is the greatest national security threat we face. Russia does continue to battle us in the U.N. time and time again. I have clear eyes on this. I'm not going to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to Russia or Mr. Putin, and I'm certainly not going to say to him, I'll give you more flexibility after the election. After the election he'll get more backbone.
Number two, with regards to Iraq, you and I agreed, I believe, that there should have been a status of forces agreement. Did you —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: That's not true.

MR. ROMNEY: Oh, you didn't — you didn't want a status of forces agreement?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: No, but what I — what I would not have done is left 10,000 troops in Iraq that would tie us down. That certainly would not help us in the Middle East.

Just another in a long line of missed opportunities for PolitiFact.

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