Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates revealed that President Barack Obama disregarded the near unanimous advice of the national security team and decided to depose then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak because he wanted to be on the “the right side of history.”

In a sneak preview of a much longer Fox News special set to be released Friday, Gates recalled one of the most egregious incidents, in which Obama decided to follow the advice of three national security junior backbenchers, rather than an entire team of experts.

“The entire national security team recommended unanimously handling Mubarak differently than we did,” Gates said in a Fox News interview. “And the president took the advice of three junior backbenchers in terms of how to treat Mubarak — one of them saying, ‘Mr. President, you have to be on the right side of history.’”

“And I would be sitting there at the table, saying, ‘Yeah, if we could just figure that out we’d be a long way ahead,’” Gates added.

The removal of Hosni Mubarak has turned out to be one of the most egregious foreign policy disasters of the Obama administration.

For nearly 30 years, the United States had supported Mubarak with military aid, only to suddenly turn on him in the wake of Arab Spring protests and the prospect of liberal democracy sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa. Mubarak’s secular, authoritarian regime gave way to Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islam. Since then, Egypt has been in turmoil. Morsi immediately picked a fight with the judiciary and further gave himself more power, quickly drenching the aspirations of Obama’s national security advisors in cold water.

In 2013, just a year after Morsi had been democratically elected, crowds in Tahrir Square were again calling for him to step down. This led to a coup by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, which the Obama administration refused to acknowledge. U.S. officials then proceeded to partially freeze military aid and call for democratic elections, prompting outrage from Sisi. The Obama administration has since softened its stance towards Sisi’s government. Amnesty International has noted that under Sisi’s reign, human rights have been crushed and disregarded.

Egypt is still to this day struggling to crack down on radical elements and insurgent movements.

When Pres. Obama took office, he inherited a professional, world-class, battle-toughened military. Seven years later, many experts see the U.S. armed forces as a tattered and demoralized organization. In a special ‘Fox News Reporting — Rising Threats — Shrinking Military,’ Bret Baier investigates what Pres. Obama has done with — and to — the military. Don’t miss it Friday at 10p ET on Fox News Channel.

Posted by Fox News on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

 

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