Foreign Policy: Will This Get Fair Play? [UPDATED x2]
By SusanUnPC on February 25, 2008 at 7:18 PM in Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Foreign Affairs, Hillary Clinton, Pakistan
ALERT! 6 pm PST — Clinton about to speak on C-Span — the foreign policy address from this morning! Togo West is introducing her!
UPDATE x2: In his comment, Andy reminds us that Sen. Obama has failed to convene a single hearing of the European Affairs subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, of which he has been chair since 2005. Obama has also not visited ANY of the European countries, let alone NATO (which his subcommittee is also in charge of). In fact, when I researched this in December, I could not find his chairmanship mentioned anywhere on his official Senate Web site, however he touts it in his bio at his campaign site. Here at NoQuarter, we have written innumerable articles about Obama’s lack of qualifications and failure to do his U.S. Senate job. You can review those disturbing articles here.
Former ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote about it here: “The Real Hillary I Know — and the Unreal Obama.” Larry Johnson even sponsored a contest: “Be Obama’s European Tour Guide Contest.” I wrote many articles, including “Obama’s Blunders Tell Me He’s a Naive Neophyte.”
I keep thinking about those early December CBS Evening News candidate interviews I mentioned. Each was asked which country scares them the most. Sen. Clinton correctly responded, “Pakistan” (CBS video). Sen. Obama said “Iran,” (CBS video).
It hit me that Obama has drunk the Bush/Cheney/Neo-con “Kool-Aid” exaggerating the threat of Iran — like he bought GOP talking points on Social Security — and hasn’t thought out real global concerns. Partly, it’s that he hasn’t traveled much; Steve Clemons is still trying to get an accurate statement from Obama on his travel history. Nor has he done the hard work: He hasn’t held a single hearing as chair of the Foreign Relations’ subcommittee on European Affairs (which includes NATO and therefore Afghanistan, which Obama loves to bring up as neglected due to Iraq, but which he hasn’t done any “executive decision making” about. …
Read all.
UPDATE: “General Taguba Endorses Hillary Today” — Ret. Army Major General Antonio Taguba “is among 27 flag-rank military officers and more than 2000 veterans who have endorsed Senator Clinton to be our nation’s next Commander-in-Chief.” As you know, he “led the Army’s investigation into prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib in 2004.” In General Taguba’s endorsement, he stated:
“Senator Clinton’s unequivocal opposition to the use of torture under any circumstances, and her willingness to take a stand for what she believes in is exactly the sort of courage and moral strength that we need in our leaders. I know that, as President, Senator Clinton will hold America to the high moral standards that have made us a leader among nations.” READ MORE.
The Reuters headline on this pivotal speech [EXCERPTS and LINK below] for which Gen. Taguba, along with many other generals, officers, and military personnel, was present today at George Mason University? “Clinton accuses Obama of inexperience abroad.” A friend commented: “She didn’t accuse him. She acknowledged his lack of experience. Someone in one of the videos mentioned whenever Obama points out a lacking of Hill the press says he ‘jabs’ her. If Hill does it she ‘attacks’ him. Now she’s ‘accusing’ by pointing out the obvious? Words certainly do matter.”
Here’s how ABC covered the speech (with video, left side of page) — with the above photo on top of the page:
Clinton Blasts Obama’s Foreign Policy Readiness
Democratic Contender Implies Obama Is Impulsive, Indecisive Like Bush
By JAKE TAPPER and ELOISE HARPER
Hoping to regain some momentum from perhaps her strongest political asset, her perceived experience, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., delivered a foreign policy speech in Washington, D.C., this afternoon that assailed rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as unwise, inexperienced, impulsive and indecisive in short, a risk to the nation.
Clinton said that Obama “wavers from seeming to believe that mediation and meetings without preconditions can solve some of the world’s most intractable problems to advocating rash unilateral military action without cooperation among allies in the most sensitive region of the world.”
With a half-dozen retired generals standing behind her, Clinton said she was the only candidate who could restore a U.S. foreign policy that had the right combination of diplomacy and military might.
A sign on the podium proclaimed her election “Strengthening America.” … READ ALL.
Let us know if her speech gets the play it deserves, as well as the proper description.
Hillary Rodham Clinton — Remarks on Foreign Policy at George Washington University:
With me, this is not theoretical. This is very much who I am, what I have done, and what I will do. The American people don’t have to guess whether I understand the issues or whether I would need a foreign policy instruction manual to guide me through a crisis or whether I’d have to rely on advisers to introduce me to global affairs.
I’m lucky to have had a pretty good inside view, over eight years in the White House and now over seven years in the Senate, of what the president goes through day in and day out dealing with all of these challenges. Obviously the work that I have done on human rights, democracy, international development gives me a deep appreciation of the importance of winning the hearts and minds of those in societies whether or not they are for us today. I believe that we can seed democracy and create new strong alliances overseas.
And I also know from my years serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee that our military power is absolutely essential but it cannot be viewed as the solution to every international problem. Yes, we must use force when necessary but as a last resort, not a first resort.
Read all: Remarks on Foreign Policy at George Washington University.



















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