| Hil hails troops in Baghdad, raps Prez | |||
"It's a positive for the commander-in-chief to visit troops in the field," Clinton said, yet "the troops [also] seemed to appreciate seeing myself" and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) on their joint trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. Clinton and Reed, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, quickly turned from faintly praising Bush for his surprise Thanksgiving drop-in at Baghdad's airport to ripping his handling of the Iraq war and the transition to democracy. In a conference call from the region, Clinton, who voted in the Senate for the Iraq war resolution, charged that Bush failed to commit enough troops for the invasion and the increasingly bloody occupation effort. "The Pentagon tried to make do with as few troops as possible, as light a footprint as they could get away with," Clinton said. "Now, we're playing catchup." She added that the government's Iraq policy was mishandled by Bush administration officials who have been "obsessed with [deposed Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein for more than a decade." "Unfortunately, I don't think they fully appreciated the conditions we would encounter," Clinton said. Reed, who voted against the war resolution, renewed his call for more troops to be committed to Iraq and for more troops to be recruited for the war against terror groups in the future. "There's no question in my mind we need a larger Army," said Reed, a West Point graduate and former paratrooper. The two senators, who stayed in Kuwait last night but will visit U.S. troops in the Iraqi oil town of Kirkuk today, also questioned the Bush administration plan to hold elections for a new Iraqi government by June. Clinton said the support of the majority Shiite community in Iraq was "still a big if. The obstacles and problems are much greater than the administration usually admits to." The former First Lady said the morale of the troops she met from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division was high, but they were concerned about how their mission was perceived back home. She said she told the troops "Americans are proud" of them, "but many
question the administration's policies."
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Harder
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 8:35 PM
To: The Sandbox Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Sndbox] She's such a bundle of joy
Hmmm... I don't see why it would be Hillary's place to go there...
I listened to some of the stuff she had to say though and it all
sounded good.... Newsmax is a spin machine...
On Saturday, November 29, 2003, at 07:27 PM, Charles wrote:
1. Hillary's trip has been well publicized for over a month. The more cynical among us could say that was why Bush decided to make the trip, but of course no one up there in DC does anything for a political purpose.<image.tiff>
2. Do you really require an answer? The newsies would rather drink the kool-aid than say anything negative about Shrillary.
3. It's an editorial comment by the newsmax.com folks based on the facts in an article in the NY Daily News found here: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/141058p-125078c.html
Charles Mims
http://www.the-sandbox.org
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tim Harder
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2003 8:18 PM
To: The Sandbox Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Sndbox] She's such a bundle of joy
Questions:
1. Tell me why again Hillary went to the mid east....????
2. How come on the news Hillary seemed to be bringing the same message
that GW brought...?/????
3. Who the hell wrote this article?
On Saturday, November 29, 2003, at 06:23 PM, Charles wrote:
Hillary to Troops: Support for War Fading
In a demoralizing message to U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq, visiting New York Sen. Hillary Clinton told them that Americans back home are growing increasingly skeptical of President Bush's decision to send them into battle.
Describing two meetings with G.I.s over turkey dinners in Baghdad, Sen. Clinton told reporters later that soldiers wanted to know "how the people at home feel about what we are doing."
Clinton said she told the troops, "Americans are wholeheartedly proud of what you are doing but there are many questions at home about the (Bush) administration's policies."
She also suggested that the U.S. could eventually lose the war in Iraq, contending, "We have to exert all of our efforts militarily, but the outcome is not assured."
Despite her sour pronouncements, the former first lady insisted that the soldiers were just as glad to see her as they were President Bush, whose surprise visit less than 24-hours earlier was greeted with standing ovations.
"It's a positive for the commander-in-chief to visit troops in the field," Clinton told reporters, adding, "the troops [also] seemed to appreciate seeing myself."
Speaking from a secure location just over the Kuwaiti border, Mrs. Clinton launched one verbal salvo after another at the White House, arguing that Bush officials had been "obsessed" with getting Saddam Hussein and saying the perception blinded them to the difficulties of deposing his regime.
"The Pentagon tried to make do with as few troops as possible, as light a footprint as they could get away with," Clinton said. "Now, we're playing catchup . . . Unfortunately, I don't think they fully appreciated the conditions we would encounter."
The top Democrat also reprised her charge that the White House is being less than candid when it comes to apprising the American people of the costs of the war.
"The obstacles and problems here are much greater than the administration usually admits to," she said, adding, "Everybody has to be honest."
Charles Mims
http://www.the-sandbox.org
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