“For all those who fought and died for Iraqi freedom, it is a slap in the face to see the flag of al-Qaeda flying over the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. The blame for this sad state of affairs falls directly on the shoulders of President Obama, who completely walked away from Iraq without negotiating a workable status of forces agreement that would have maintained some U.S. troop presence in that country to preserve our hard-fought gains and the freedoms of the Iraqi citizens. No, Obama was more concerned with pandering to the anti-war base instead of showing true leadership. Instead of negotiating a workable agreement with our Iraqi partners, he determined to simply pull out entirely. This has hurt our families and warriors who fought so hard, lost so many, and the wounded are left wondering was it worth it? And the citizens of those cities are again in the crosshairs. Simply put, Obama wanted out because he didn’t like the pressure of having to explain, like a true leader would, why we had to follow through.” - Gary Stubblefield, Chairman of Special Operations for America