US could have stopped the rise of ISIS if we’d stayed in Iraq longer, claims retiring Army chief
- General Ray Odierno said it was 'frustrating' to see Iraq security fall apart after all the 'hard work' America put into stablilizing the country
- Added: 'If we'd stayed a little bit more engaged it might have prevented it'
- Claimed the US was the 'honest broker' between key players in Iraq - and when the US left, that role disappeared too
The US Army's top officer has claimed that the rise of ISIS could have been prevented if American forces had stayed ‘more engaged’ in Iraq.
Ray
Odierno, chief of staff for the US Army, made the comments as he
prepared to retire after almost 40 years as a soldier - including four
years in Iraq, more than any other general.
He
was a key figure in the implementation of the Security Agreement
between the US and fledgling Iraqi government for the withdrawal of
American forces, starting in 2008.
General Ray Odierno, pictured in 2013, will retire next month. He spent more time in Iraq than any other general
Odierno in his Army uniform and with Barack Obama when the President visited Baghdad in 2009
But speaking to Fox News, the 60-year-old said it was disheartening to see how ISIS had taken over towns and cities in the country.
‘It’s
frustrating to watch it. I think a lot of hard work went into that and
we thought we had it going in exactly the right direction’, he said.
‘But now we watch it fall apart, it’s frustrating.
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‘I think maybe if we had stayed a little bit more engaged, I think maybe it might have prevented it.
‘I’ve
always believed that the United States played the role of honest broker
between all the groups, and when we pulled ourselves out we lost that
role as honest broker.’
During
his service, Odierno was credited with ensuring close cooperation
between the US and Iraq authorities, which included training Iraqi
forces and facilitating provincial and parliamentary elections.
In
the interview he warned against cuts to the US Army, which he said
could affect America’s ability to defer conflict and protect its
interests abroad.
Odierno, pictured in March this year, said he thought the loss of US influence had an affect on peace in Iraq
The aftermath of Tuesday's car bomb
attack outside a clothes shop in New Baghdad, which killed 14 people and
injured 30 others. No one has yet claimed responsibility but ISIS is
thought to have been behind it
Violence continues to plague Iraq, as the government struggles to deal with the threat of ISIS.
On Tuesday a car bomb detonated in front of a busy clothing store in New Baghdad killed 14 people and wounded 30.
No
one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, however, the Islamic
State group has been targeting Shiites across the country as it seeks
to destabilize the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
The
Iraq War claimed the lives of more than 4,400 US soldiers. The
withdrawal of US troops from the country was completed in December 2011.
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