WASHINGTON DC—Former Vice President Dick Cheney, blamed on Monday the Obama administration for turning its back on Iraq, saying the complete withdrawal of US troops had left a vacuum that was filled by the Islamic State (ISIS).
“I think the spread of ISIS was the direct result of the vacuum that was created when the Obama administration withdrew all our forces from Iraq,” said Cheney in an interview with CBS news.
“We turned our backs on Iraq. We had Iraq in good shape by the time we left office. Even Obama said as much,” he added.
Baghdad and Washington signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in 2008 that stipulated a complete withdrawal of US troops by the end of 2011.
“There was no stay-behind agreement, no advisers left in Iraq, and the vacuum that was created is what led, ultimately, to the rise in ISIS,” Cheney explained.
The US agreed to leave a limited number of soldiers in Iraq beyond 2011 to train and advice Iraqi forces, but Baghdad’s refusal to give immunity to members of the US armed forces compelled Washington to pull out all troops.
The former Republican Vice President argued that Iraqi security forces were getting on the right track when they were abandoned by the US.
