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Hillary say husband’s admin deserves a BIG part of credit for US military success in Iraq.....
Hillary Blasts Bush on Fallujah Attacks
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted the Bush administration on Thursday for sending too few troops and not enough military equipment to Iraq, saying the of lack of U.S. resources contributed to the attacks in Fallujah that killed four U.S. workers on Tuesday.
Okay
"It was heartbreaking and horrible to see the desecration of the four men who were killed in Fallujah," Clinton told Democratic Party radio host Al Franken.
Yes, it was
Calling Fallujah "one of the epicenters of Saddam Hussein’s support," Sen. Clinton said, "Clearly we have to increase our response and make it more effective."
Yea, I can agree with that and thank God, we got the Marines there (seems a few of them, tho, don’t really like you and your husband.... )
She then reminded: "Of course I’ve been saying for more than a year that we didn’t send in enough troops in the beginning. I think the administration wanted to do both Afghanistan and Iraq with as few troops and as limited a commitment as possible. I think it was a mistake."
Where would they go, and with what objectives? Each unit's assigned an area of operations and a mission. Lining the entire U.S. military up shoulder to shoulder to tromp through Iraq from south to north is impractical, as well as stoopid. Practical constraints do exist in the real world, though not in the imagination of cheap politicians.
Clinton said that Bush had made a critical error by not eliminating al Qaeda before attacking Iraq.
Hummmmmm.... eliminate a network, while we allow Saddam to finance them, to harbor them. Thinkin’.... that might have been hard to do, even for that military that her husband created
"I believe that whether or not you agree with the action in Iraq, the timing of it diverted resources and equipment like the Predators and many of our Special Ops and intelligence personnel from Afghanistan prior to getting the job done there with respect to completely eliminating the al Qaeda presence in Afghanistan."
Except that as a strategic move it made sense and still makes sense...
The former first lady also had words of praise for Bush terrorism policy critic Richard Clarke, saying he did a good job in exposing "our shortcomings as a nation."
Our shortcomings as a nation are very dear to the hearts of a certain type of politician...
"Mr. Clarke has, I think, come across very credibly and knowledgeably about what he saw as our shortcomings as a nation, which is a totally fair assessment because we had never been up against an enemy like this before - and what we should be doing to protect ourselves."
Hummmmmmmmm -- and while he was in control, let’s see, we had embassies bombed, the Cole, etc..............
Mrs. Clinton noted that Clarke’s complaints about the Iraq war mirrored her own, saying, "he has made a very important point about the diversion of time, attention and resources and commitment from Afghanistan, which he argues has undermined the overall war against terror. He has to be taken very seriously." While critical of the Bush war policy, she said her husband’s administration deserved a big part of the credit for U.S. military success in Iraq. "So much that had proved successful had been developed during the Clinton administration, tried out in Bosnia and Kosovo, and lessons learned in places like Haiti and Somalia," she told Franken. "And I’m very proud of the very positive record that the Clinton administration had in helping to prepare the military for the future."
She's referring to the combined arms concept, I believe, not that she understands what that is. The lessons learned came from Grenada (communications and intel integration), Panama, and Gulf War I. Bosnia and Kosovo contributed as well, of course: don't rely on the Europeans, continue addressing maintenance problems (remember the Apaches that didn't work?), and don't limit objectives — pretty negative lessons, I'd say. Somalia seems to have provided a "lesson" for Fallujah. Haiti, as far as I can see, provided nothing, not even for the Haitians.
Lessons learned in Somalia? She says this, just after the happenings in Fallujah? I only dream that tomorrow I wake up, and it’s November 3rd... and I remember Sept 11.
Posted by: Sherry 2004-04-02
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=29551