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| Iraq |
| Pentagon Aide Says Clinton Helps Enemy |
| 2007-07-21 |
| WASHINGTON, July 19 (AP) — A Pentagon official has told Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton that questions she has raised about how the United States would withdraw from Iraq feed enemy propaganda. The stinging wording of the message, from Under Secretary of Defense Eric S. Edelman, was unusual, particularly because it was directed at a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mr. Edelman’s July 16 message, in response to questions Mrs. Clinton raised in May, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. “Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq,” he wrote, “reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia.” A Clinton spokesman, Philippe Reines, said the senator would respond to Mr. Edelman’s boss, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. Mr. Reines said military leaders should offer a withdrawal plan rather than “a political plan to attack those who question them." Political types need to come up with constructive advice rather than trying to score points by "bringing the troops home" and leaving a mess to deal with later! While Mrs. Clinton has pushed the Pentagon for information about withdrawal plans, so have others lawmakers, including Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. Better to finish the job now than have mass chaos to fix later |
| Posted by:Wxman |
| #8 What I got from Clinton's comments was the she wanted the Pentagon to plan for failure and she said it open press which is montitored by our enemies. I call that aiding by any definition. Procopius2k, You left out a little enterprise is what used to be known as Southeast Asia. While Eisenhower sent advisors, Kennedy sent combat troops which made our eventual full involvent unavoidable. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-07-21 17:56 |
| #7 Asking a Senator to stop bloviating is a lost cause, methinks. |
| Posted by: Glaviling Ghibelline9377 2007-07-21 15:22 |
| #6 I agree Verlaine. There has been too much silence from the administration and not enough silencing of critics. Clinton had a damage control response team to deal with the fallout from his peccadillos. The carping critics are constant and partisan--they don't do anything for the good of the country. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-21 12:16 |
| #5 From 9/11 onwards, this sort of b****-slapping should have been a typical response to the incompetent and dishonorable "critics" - yes this includes Lugar, though his incoherent and silly position is more pathetic than offensive - not just from sub-cabinet and cabinet officials but from congressional surrogates and allies. It should have been directed at these folks, at the media when appropriate. It should have combined enough (merited) vituperative zing to guarantee attention and concise info and conceptual content to refute and educate. As the entire "critique" of the war to date never rises above "whaah, it's hard, I wanna quit mommy" (I refer to the "critique" that is ever mouthed by public figures, not the much more substantive comments by nobodies or isolated columnists like Peters, et al), it would not have been hard to keep a portion of the public thinking straight about the whole thing. The case in point is very trivial. The much more important, and outrageous, distortions of the past several years (pre-war intel, Geneva Conventions, "distraction" from Afghanistan, "no exit strategy", etc.) would look very different to the average "news" consumer if they had, even once, heard an intelligent framing of the actual issues, relevant history, and applicable concepts. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-07-21 12:01 |
| #4 This is at least the third article I've seen on the same memo by Undersecretary Edelman, all from AP. I'm glad, because this is a point that needs attention beyond warblogs like this one. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-07-21 11:35 |
| #3 but...but..Liberalhawk says she's right up there with Joe L in supporting our troops. Pretty obviously that was the pose-of-the-day to try and gain credibility. She shed that skin like a snake the minute she had to turn left to appease the Donk primary nuts. Disgusting person. Pure ambition and need for power. God forbid she (and her First Husband!) ever gets in charge |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-07-21 11:07 |
| #2 Better to finish the job now than have mass chaos to fix later Unfinished business left by Democrats for Republicans: Korea [where's the withdraw plan?] Haiti Kosovo and we won't include the little festering bite, Somalia. [like that didn't encourage AQ] Pot:Kettle. Kettle:Pot. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-07-21 10:37 |
| #1 Follow up headline. "Pentagon Aide is Correct in that Hillary Clinton Joins Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in Aiding the Enemy by Spouting Off." |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-21 10:01 |