PressTV: Kerry blasts Cheney for criticizing Obama

Kerry blasts Cheney for criticizing Obama

…  by PressTV

–  First published  May 31, 2014  –

US Secretary of State John Kerry has attacked former vice president Dick Cheney for criticizing President Barack Obama’s foreign policy.

In an interview with PBS, Kerry said Cheney is wrong about calling Obama’s withdrawal plan from Afghanistan “stupid” and “unwise.”

“I’m not surprised to hear from Dick Cheney something that’s obviously, number one, negative, and number two, wrong,” Kerry said.

“Dick Cheney was completely wrong about Iraq, and we are still struggling with the aftermath of what Dick Cheney and his crew thought was the right policy to go in and start a war of choice for the wrong reasons.”

The top US diplomat also defended the Obama administration’s policy for Afghanistan.

Obama announced on Tuesday that Washington’s combat mission in Afghanistan will end later this year, but some 9,800 troops will remain in the country by 2016.

“The president set a timetable. He said that we will transfer security responsibility to the Afghans by such and such a date. That was last year and this year, predominately, we’ve done it,” Kerry said.

“They had a very successful election, and they provided the security, and they did the planning, and they did the execution. That is exactly what the president is now trying to do with respect to the final steps,” Kerry said.

Critics say the deadline is a means by which Obama can promote his legacy and get credit for ending, not only the war in Iraq, but also the US conflict in Afghanistan.

Editing:  Erica P. Wissinger

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