--- title: Obama's Foreign Policy Team Caught Totally Clueless on Iraq Insurgency description: Obama's foreign policy team was caught totally clueless about the insurgency in Iraq. canonical: https://time.com/2865814/obama-foreign-policy-iraq/ author: Walter Mead article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-12T18:39:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:35.059Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Obama's Foreign Policy Team Caught Totally Clueless on Iraq og:description: Obama's foreign policy team was caught totally clueless about the insurgency in Iraq. og:url: https://time.com/2865814/obama-foreign-policy-iraq/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ffa5c10168015f1/6986975c361760782890c96e/450496174.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Clashes in Mosul og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama's Foreign Policy Team Caught Totally Clueless on Iraq twitter:description: Obama's foreign policy team was caught totally clueless about the insurgency in Iraq. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ffa5c10168015f1/6986975c361760782890c96e/450496174.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # On Iraq, It Is Amazing What This White House Does Not Know > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group [Watch (HLS stream): Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ja43HCOR.m3u8) (2:03)  _Published 2014-06-12. Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group_ by [Walter Mead](https://time.com/author/walter-russell-mead/) ## Walter Mead Jun 12, 2014 6:39 PM UTC  People fled Mosul, seized by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after the clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIL, start to live in Hazer camp built at the borderline of Mosul by United Nations and Kurdish Regional Government, on June 12, 2014 in Arbil, Iraq. People fled Mosul, seized by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after the clashes between Iraqi security forces and ISIL, start to live in Hazer camp built at the borderline of Mosul by United Nations and Kurdish Regional Government, on June 12, 2014 in Arbil, Iraq. Anadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Walter Mead](https://time.com/author/walter-russell-mead/) ## Walter Mead Jun 12, 2014 6:39 PM UTC There is a big harvest of bad news from the country formerly known as Iraq this June 12\. The country’s armed forces have collapsed in the north and ISIS fighters are streaming south from Mosul. A vicious band of terrorists and thugs whose leaders were too bloodthirsty and unscrupulous for al-Qaeda now controls a significant swath of territory from the middle of Syria through the center of Iraq. The Kurds meanwhile have seized the moment to take Kirkuk, and they are unlikely to leave it voluntarily. A dramatically weakened government in Baghdad will now be more dependent than ever on Iran, and Jordan is now exposed to attacks from radicals along its long and poorly guarded eastern frontier. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in terror for their lives, and gruesome executions and attacks are already being reported from the cities that have fallen to the terrorists. The foreign fighters with them, including, apparently, many Westerners, are acquiring expertise that will make them significantly more dangerous when they return to their home countries. All over the world, radical jihadis now feel the wind in their sails; aimless young men will be more easily recruited into these networks, funders will be inspired to increase their support, and those already wrapped up in the movement will be “inspired” by this victory to make greater efforts in the cause. Meanwhile, huge stocks of weapons and hoards of cash have fallen into the hands of the victors; ISIS is now the richest as well as the most successful terror group in the world. It is unlikely that these victories will make its leaders more moderate in their aims or gentler in their methods. Yet none of that, grim as it is, is the worst news in the papers today. The worst news about Iraq comes from Washington, where we learn in the pages of the _Wall Street Journal_ that senior White House officials acknowledge that [these events have surprised them](http://online.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-drama-catches-u-s-off-guard-1402529874?mod=WSJ%5Fhpp%5FLEFTTopStories). They apparently had no idea that the Iraqi army was a hollow shell, that ISIS was planning something, and that the sectarian war was about to take a dramatic lurch for the worse. It is amazing what this White House does not know. It did not know that Putin was planning to take over Ukraine; indeed, it thought that its policy of a reset with Russia was paying off and that Russia was becoming a partner for peace. It did not know that Saudi Arabia was preparing to help the Egyptian army oust a democratically elected government the United States was determined to support. One wonders what else the wizards now running American foreign policy don’t know. Do they understand what Iran’s Supreme Leader is thinking? Do they know what Beijing thinks of their intelligence and resolution, and what plans it may be forming in response? One is not sure whether this morning’s harvest of news from Iraq is what President Obama would call a “single” or a “double” in what he describes as his dogged attempt to make the world a better and safer place by avoiding “stupid stuff.” For a generation of policy wonks who believe that foreign policy can essentially be boiled down to the rule “don’t invade Iraq,” it is crystal clear what America should do in response to these latest Iraq catastrophes: Blame George W. Bush and stand aside. Bush certainly deserves some blame here, both for the mess in the Middle East and for the impact on a generation of American policy thinkers whose strategic instincts have been thrown off kilter by their emotional reactions to his poorly judged and poorly executed Middle East policies. But no time machines exist that can take us back to 2003, and the problems of today demand something more than reflexive rejection of the policies of a man now living quietly in Texas. One can only hope that the Obama White House will at long last step out of George Bush’s shadow and begin to see clearly, plan carefully, and act wisely in a region that remains vital to American and world security. _Walter Russell Mead is a professor of foreign policy and humanities at Bard College and the editor at large at the_ _American Interest_ _. A version of this article originally appeared in the_ [_American Interest_](http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/06/12/the-worst-news-from-iraq/)_. The views expressed are solely his own._ ## Transcript Closing in on Baghdad, a terror group more radical than Al Qaeda enters Tikrit. Less than two hours drive south, is Baghdad. They're on a roll from the North, hours earlier storming the important oil town Beijing. And before that Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. The power, water and phone lines have been cut in parts of Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad where the Al Qaeda splinter group Isis, has seized the important transportation and administration hub. [ FOREIGN ]. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al- Maliki calling it a humanitarian crisis and asking Parliament to declare a state of emergency, calling on men to volunteer to fight. The speaker of Iraq's Parliament, urging the US to play a role in supporting Iraq against the terrorist attack and asking for urgent relief for the displaced by the international community. [ FOREIGN ]. The voice of a refugee in this video, pleading God help us, as half a million Iraqis have already fled the city. We're certainly in touch with Iraqi leadership as much as possible, but ultimately this is this is for the Iraqi security forces. And the Iraqi government to deal with. The fight proving too much for the U. S. trained Iraqi soldiers. Some reportedly discarding their uniforms, abandoning their military armed vehicles and weapons. Iraq's foreign minister is urging Iraq's it's politicians to unite. Bridge sectarian divisions that underpin Isis' battlefield gains. 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