Former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director Leon Panetta is questioning whether President Donald Trump was appropriately prepared on a strategy of retaliation against Iran — and doubted his “last minute” decision to cancel a strike was ever “thoroughly discussed.”
In remarks Friday, Panetta said he was relieved a military strike didn’t take place.
“I’m thankful he didn’t do it,” he said of Trump’s pullback. “But I wish they had been prepared for that decision rather than making it the last minute.”
Yet Panetta chastised the administration for even letting the matter get to that point.
“In most White Houses, that would be a decision that would be thoroughly discussed. I’m not sure that ’s the case with this one.”
It wasn’t the first Panetta criticized Trump for the call.
"Frankly, if you're going to make a strike, at least in my experience, you ought to proceed with the strike, as opposed to suddenly having your planes in the air and having to pull them back," Panetta told NBC’s “Today” on Friday. "That could result in even greater miscalculations."
Instead, he recommended that the United States strengthen its presence in the region and carry on further further diplomatic negotiations .
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