Former Defense Department official Michele Flournoy, who is considered to be on a shortlist to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, attacked Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential campaign for recognizing that the decision to withdraw troops from Iraq in 2011 was a "tragic" mistake.
"Governor Romney called the ending of the Iraq War and the bringing of our troops home ‘tragic,’ which is really hard to understand," Flournoy recited for an Obama campaign video in October 2012. "He wanted to keep our troops there longer, tens of thousands of them."
In light of revelations from former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta—who blamed Iraq’s current chaos on the administration’s hasty decision to withdraw U.S. troops—and a range of other criticisms from former administration officials, Flournoy does not appear to be the "new direction" the White House is seeking for the last two years of the Obama presidency.