| BIG FOREIGN POLICY LIES
IRAQ
Hillary made the following statement to defend what she called a 'reasoned judgment' to support the Iraq War -- by asserting that Saddam Hussein had a record of blocking inspectors so they couldn't find his weapons of mass destruction.
She Said: ". . . We bombed them [Iraq] for days in 1998 because Saddam Hussein threw out inspectors."
The Truth: "Just prior to the Clinton administration's several days of bombing Iraq in December, 1998, the U.N.'s UNSCOM weapons inspectors left Iraq . . .because [my emphasis] the Clinton administration made it clear that the U.S. government was about to start bombing." www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleld=1641
NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement has been very controversial, given the huge loss of jobs in many parts of the country.
Hillary's Campaign charged Obama ". . .falsely claimed that Hillary said that NAFTA was a 'boon' to the economy: . . .Obama is resting his argument on a single paraphrase from an article written twelve years ago . . ."
The Truth is best explained below:
o On November 1, 1996, UPI reported that on a trip to Brownsville, Texas, Clinton "touted the president's support for the North American Free Trade Agreement, saying it would reap widespread benefits in the region."
o The AP followed up the next day reporting that Hillary Clinton said "the president would continue to support economic growth in South Texas through initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement."
o The Buffalo News reports that back in 1998, Clinton attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and praised corporations for mounting 'a very effective business effort in the U.S. on behalf of NAFTA'.
o In her memoir, Clinton wrote that Senator Dole . . . "couldn't hand incumbent Bill Clinton any more legislative victories, particularly after Bill's successes on the budget, the Brady bill and NAFTA."
o While Hillary expressed outrage at NAFTA while campaigning in economically challenged Ohio, Mark Penn, her chief campaign strategist, simultaneously heads a firm that is pushing to expand NAFTA to South America.
www.credoaction.com/sirota/2008/02/hillary_clinton_pretends_she_n_1.html
35 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
Hillary frequently mentions 35 Years of Experience and claims she'd be ready on Day 1; but some of her claims represent a serious "stretching" of the actual facts.
MORE FOREIGN POLICY DISTORTIONS
In an article entitled, "Clinton's experience claim under scrutiny," the Chicago Tribune suggests that while she may have influenced foreign policy, evidence is scant that she played a pivotal role. Some examples are included below.
www.chicagotribute.com/news/chi-experiencemar07,0,51719.story
NORTHERN IRELAND
o Clinton claimed that she "helped to bring peace" to Northern Ireland.
But her involvement there was primarily to encourage activism among women's groups. "Having a first lady tea in Belfast is not equivalent to bringing peace to Northern Ireland." [Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, The Monster Mash (March 9, 2008)]
Negotiators from the parties that helped broker the Good Friday Agreement told The Daily Telegraph that her role was peripheral and that she played no part in the grueling political talks over the years. Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner described her recent statements as "the sort of thing people put on their canvassing leaflets" during elections. "She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience . . . but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principle player."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...
KOSOVO
o Clinton claimed she negotiated with Macedonia to open up its border to refugees from Kosovo.
However, the Macedonian government opened its border to refugees the day before Clinton arrived [my emphasis] to meet with government leaders - on a one-day visit accompanied by the entertainers Sheryl Crow and Sinbad, and her daughter Chelsea.
CHINA
o Clinton touted "standing up" to the Chinese government on women's rights.
Her speech at the United Nation's women's conference in Beijing has been described as inspiring to many women - but she has dismissed Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention as "just a speech." How is this different? It certainly didn't demonstrate global preparedness.
EARLY YEARS
o A Yale educated lawyer, Hillary became the first female partner (in 1979) in the Rose Law Firm of Little Rock Arkansas. Certainly, she is smart enough to have achieved this distinction. However, it undoubtedly helped that Bill Clinton had been elected Governor of Arkansas in 1978. At the Rose firm, Hillary rarely did trial work, but was considered a "rainmaker" at the firm for bringing in clients.
ELECTIVE OFFICE
o Clinton has less than 8 years of experience in elective office - fewer than Barack Obama, who spent 8 years in the Illinois state legislature before being elected to the US Senate - yet she dismisses Obama's credentials as insufficiently substantive.
MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE
Some excerpts:
o " . . .even as Mrs. Clinton revived her fortunes last week . . . the questions lingered about how she managed her campaign, with the internal sniping and second-guessing undermining her well-cultivated image as a steady-at-the-wheel chief executive surrounded by a phalanx of loyal and efficient aides."
o "She hasn't managed anything as complex as this before; that's the problem with senators," said James A. Thurber, a professor of government at American University who is an expert on presidential management. "She wasn't as decisive as she should have been. And it's a legitimate question to ask: Under great pressure from two different factions, can she make some hard decisions and move ahead?"
o "Mrs. Clinton showed a tendency toward an insular management style, relying on a coterie of aides who have worked for her for years . . . Again and again, the senator was portrayed as a manager who valued loyalty and familiarity over experience and expertise."
o "For all her years on the public stage, Mrs. Clinton has never come close to assembling and running an enterprise like the 700-person $170 million-and-counting campaign organization that she has created."
www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/us/politics/10clinton.html?scp=2&sq=Adam+Nagourney&st=nyt
HATEMONGERING AND INNUENDO
Politics is a nasty business; so toughness certainly is a requirement for the job of President. Yet most Americans are tired of the Karl Rove/Grover Norquist style of campaign management. Yet Hillary and Mark Penn have taken pages right out of the playbooks of those who attacked her and Bill Clinton.
Consider her recent reply to Steve Croft on "60 Minutes," in answer to his question about whether she believed that Senator Obama is a Muslim: "There is nothing to base that on - as far as I know." So she denies the lie while also suggesting, not so subtly, that it actually might be true. . . On Hillary's behalf, Bill Clinton played the race card in South Carolina by comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson. Hillary's campaign followed up with a bit of racist fear mongering in her 3 a.m. telephone ad featuring sleeping children.
Howard Wolfson compared Obama to Ken Starr for suggesting that Hillary release her tax returns - a reasonable enough request; yet she has not complied. Nor have the Clintons been willing to share donor lists related to the Clinton library in Little Rock, although apparently the Saudis (among others) have been very generous contributors. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
And Geraldine Ferraro suggests that Obama's candidacy (like her own for Vice President so many years ago), represents just a sop to blacks. Hillary should have resoundingly disavowed these remarks; her mild distancing simply doesn't hack it. Obama wasn't "chosen" to be Number Two, as Ferraro was. He has competed for the role of Number One - and is doing very well against a powerful army of antagonists.
CONCLUSION
She lies, distorts and conceals. Her attacks usually are not about the issues, but are hateful and demeaning - both to her and to her opponent. Hillary Clinton may be smart and knowledgeable about many issues. But like Bush (who can't claim those same positives), she nevertheless has proven herself to be seriously flawed: a liar. Can the country stand another four years in which accountability, transparency and decency remain absent? |
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