Epstein Secrets

r Benjamin Netanyahu played his expected role in this choreography, criticizing the negotiators for agreeing to another round of talks on May 23 in Baghdad without getting concessions in return. "My initial impression is that Iran has been given a freebie," Netanyahu said. "It has got five weeks to con

ange. "We all are on the same side here, trying to make the country safe." At the center of the debate was Obama's newly appointed CIA chief, Gen. David Petraeus. Petraeus sided with the White House, recognizing the need to strike a balance between maintaining a strong relationship with Pakistan and aggressi

ces and seems o= the verge of ordering the American military to intervene once more in Ira=. While ruling out ground troops to save the beleaguered Baghdad government from insurgents, Mr. Obama is cons=dering a range of options, including airstrikes by drones and piloted airc=aft. The possible return=t

n rebels was made against the advice of his top national secur=ty officials at that time, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, CIA Director David Petraeus, Joint Chi=fs Chairman Martin Dempsey, and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. His las=-minute decision in August 2013 not to strike Syria after its

gest problem in Kabul is traffic. Out in the provinces, even in Kandahar, you see traffic jams there. Kabul is a more liveable city by far than the Baghdad I left in 2009." And not only for Americans: Afghan school enrollment has EFTA00586785 15 risen from 1 million to 8 million — and from 0 to 2.5

one of the great protagonists of the post-9/11 era, serving more than half of the last 10 years in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Along with Gen. David Petraeus, he rescued the United States from catastrophe in Iraq four years ago; now he is trying to repeat the feat in Kabul. He finds himself repeating man

had a "fundamental misunderstanding" of the role the military should play in postwar Iraq. Gen. Franks retired in mid-2003. with perfect timing. Baghdad had fallen, and he left the mess from that "fundamental misunderstand- ing" for someone else to dean up. The Army is supposed to publish unclassi

oad." As for planning, the report emphasized the impor- tance of helping the civilian popula- tion — the strategy finally adopted last year by Gen. David Petraeus. Of course, lack of planning by the White House and Pentagon was evident both before and after the 2005 Rand report — evident to everybody but t