Clinton hits back at Pentagon official

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

Clinton hits back at Pentagon official
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back Friday at a Pentagon aide who charged that her questions about Iraq withdrawal planning have the effect of helping the enemy — calling the accusation a spurious dodge of a serious issue.

...

Clinton responded Friday in a letter to Edelman's boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asking if he agreed with Edelman's charge. The New York senator said Edelman had ducked her questions and "instead made spurious arguments to avoid addressing contingency planning."

"Undersecretary Edelman has his priorities backward," Clinton wrote, calling his claim "outrageous and dangerous."

She repeated her request for a briefing — classified if necessary — on the issue of end-of-war planning.

The senator's spokesman Philippe Reines said: "We sent a serious letter to the Secretary of Defense, and unacceptably got a political response back."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070720/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_iraq

[BadGimp]

1. Give Em Hell Hill!!

[Grandrose]

2. Way to go Hillary!

Like your moxie and class!:applause: :kick:

[knowledgeispwr]

3. Good.

Clinton isn't even my favorite candidate, but she's doing the right thing by responding forcefully. Keep it up!

[MrPrax]

4. Another Day, Another Letter...

I got a letter from the government
The other day
I opened and read it
It said they were suckers
They wanted me for their army or whatever
Picture me given' a damn - I said never
Here is a land that never gave a damn
About a brother like me and myself

Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos - Public Enemy

[rcdean]

5. This is a deliberate neocon effort to boost Hillary's chances.

They think it would be impossible for Hill to get a majority of the vote in 2008 given that her negatives are up just under 50%.

This little farce was designed by the neocons to get her some cred among anti-war Dems--like me--who have been upset with Hill's (and Bill's) insufficiently ardent criticism of the war, in the hopes of boosting her chances for the nomination.

Edelman knew exactly what he was doing.

[closeupready]

6. You can't be serious.

:D

[rcdean]

9. Sure am.

Don't you think they consider the politics of such high profile moves? Why else are the putting Hillary in the spotlight?

Think about it.

[closeupready]

10. Unlikely. She's already frontrunner by far. No need to boost her chances.

And if Hill has no chance to win in the general, why would Edelman care one way or the other about boosting her chances at winning the primary?? Doesn't make sense.

[rcdean]

40. Please read what I wrote.

I didn't say "Hill has no chance to win in the general."

I said THEY THINK Hill is the easiest to beat. Why would they think that? Have you checked her negatives? They are up between 40% and 50%. That's the percent of people in polls who say now they would never vote for her.

She will almost certainly be the nominee. I truly hope she can find a way to overcome those unprecedented negatives.

[dickbearton]

25. Sure am...

Paranoid. Think about it. Any candidate can ask that question.
Rcdean you sound paranoid. Hillary asked that question and she
got that answer from the Bush neocon appointees in Gates
office. Get real. Hillary is not my first choice, but that is
the right thing to do and if the other candidates, with the
exception of Kucinich, don't start flushing the neocons; out
she will be my first choice.

[rcdean]

38. Paranoid? Perhaps you should read objectively.

I did not in any way criticize Hill for her letter. If anything, my post was implicitly pointed out her support of the Iraq invasion and her unwillingness to retract it.

My point--if you will only get down from your emotions long enough to understand it--is that the neocons must believe she is the candidate they want to run against (probably because of her factually very high negatives), because otherwise these savvy bastards would never, ever have set her up to be the white knight dragon slayer in this situation. They have handed her a gift: the ability to reinvent her image on the Iraq issue; the one thing that has hurt her thus far with liberals.

Good grief, even Olberman made the identical point tonight.

[rodeodance]

12. its gonna backfire (IF true)-cause HIL is showing she has ovaries!!

[rcdean]

39. But in their minds, that's what they want.

They want her to come off as the tough guy here so she can project an image more likely to get her the nomination. They want her as the nominee. They think they can beat her.

I don't say they're right. But I do say they think she is the candidate they want to run against, or they would never have been so politically ignorant as to set her up to be a hero.

She will be able to milk this for weeks.

I'm hoping she can somehow get past her very high negative polling numbers and win in '08. She will almost certainly be the nominee.

The way it can truly backfire on them is if Hill gets the nomination and beats the crap out of the repug nominee in '08.

One good thing has come out of this. At least she shows that doesn't roll over and play dead like they guy we ran last time.

[Bongo Prophet]

44. Maybe they want that, maybe not. Neither of us know, I'd guess.

But your THEORY (conjecture) is worth considering. Hmmm.

The response she got was right in character with the BFEE style of accusation "emboldenin' the terrists" that they do to ALL challenges to their process. Indeed, have used this since 9/11, ad nauseum. Sounds familiar, huh!
Does that mean they are always calculating this defensive threat? Could be!
And if so, this is part of a more general counter-attack that they use so often that it's likely on a damn macro key in their word processors. :eyes:

Hmm. She also wants to "come off as a tough guy" so they are conspiring together (aHAH!) to the same ends. Clever bastards!
(Milk it for weeks? Sir, consider your metaphor! ):blush:

I would say vegas odds on her nomination would be good, as are the odds this will backfire on them. But I will not insist on things I don't really know. That would be silly.

ONe good thing out of this? She shot right back, learning the lessons from decades of RW shit. Well played, no matter the motives of the GOP. She slammed it right back to Edelman's BOSS. Hooah!

Hmm. Did she have an ASSIST on that great play? Damn right!
As to that insult to "they guy last time" - well, he was the first to step up and defend her.
And now they are working together to legislate some redeployment planning, thus moving the ball forward toward another important goal of redeployment. (GOOOOAL!!)

A final irony here --
Too few dems shot back at the RW attacks in 04 - leaving Kerry mostly on his own. And now, many blame HIM SOLELY for that. It was pretty pitiful backup, just like the tepid support Gore got -and yet when another dem is attacked Kerry jumped right into the fray. He showed immediate solidarity, and that shows BY EXAMPLE how we dems should act in the future, in my opinion.
One would think that honorable team spirit would be a good model going forward.
Along with being in the forefront of many other issues, especially on redeployment, net neutrality, etc, ONE WOULD THINK that it would get a great amount of RESPECT for that guy...

But, strangely, so many naive voters fall for EXACTLY what the CLEVER GOP smearpushers WANT them to think about "They guy last time"!!!!

Isn't it funny how that RW propaganda sticks to the unsophisticated voter?

You are right, they ARE CLEVER!
:evilgrin:

[rinsd]

30. Just when I think I have seen it all in terms of Hillary hating on DU, you go and surprise me.

Yeah the Pentagon has sought to boost Hillary Clinton's chances in the primary.

Ya know the primary where she has a huge warchest and is winning national heat polls as well as nearly every state.

Its all to get Hillary street cred with you, the lunatic.

[rcdean]

35. Utterly clueless.

I say there is no way that politically savvy operatives in this administration would deliberately boost Hill unless they--in their minds--think she's the most beatable. I say that makes some sense since her negatives are in the stratosphere. Those are facts.

You take it to mean I hate Hillary! I am simply pointing out the political realities of the situation. If you can't stand the truth, don't read it.

[Bongo Prophet]

49. No need to insult those who disagree with your opinion. Oh, excuse me, "Truth"

My opinion:

It might well be right that "they" think HRC is MOST beatable.
Or 2nd most.
GOP might not mind going against Obama either, for obvious reasons we won't go into here.
Her negatives are high, I too have read...but... how do you measure "stratosphere" as a FACT?

How do you measure "the administration" having a single opinion of HRC as "the MOST beatable"?

Do you have votes or were in a meeting or something?
You must, as you are claiming FACT and squaring off with people who have a differing OPINION.

See, I essentially agree with your OPINION that GOP sees great value in having HRC on the ticket top...

But for such a deep theorist who can insult others for not seeing it all so clearly, I am shocked you did not mention the MAIN reason they want her. (And now, my very own "The TRUTH!!)

The GOP wants her more for the downticket numbers they will get from "Hitlery" running.
This may or may not work on HER presidency, but down ticket, saving their asses to be total whiny shits for all her reign?
Hell, yeah!

FACT!
Not really, just an opinion.
Evvybody gots one.
Some have several.
Anybody that disagrees with me is a poopoohead.

:pals:

[wyldwolf]

32. self delete

[wyldwolf]

33. There is a reason people in the real world don't take the leftwing seriously

You just provided a classic example of it.

[rcdean]

37. How mature of you.

An argument without an argument.

The reason many people don't take the "leftwing" seriously is because so many are divorced from reality, and incapable of objectivity without getting your panties in a bunch. You are a classic example of that.

I am a lefty who follows the JFK example: be an idealist without illusions.

[wyldwolf]

41. nah, the grown-up thing was that conspiracy theory you pushed...

By the way, I'm not a member of the leftwing, so the first sentence of your reply doesn't apply to me. But it describes you perfectly. The "theory" on Clinton is divorced from reality, isn't objective, and your panties are in bunch because I called you on it.

JFK had no illusions. You, my friend, obviously do.

[rcdean]

43. I am not your friend.

And you are not mine.

[wyldwolf]

45. pout pout whine whine

[rcdean]

53. You are probably a hellion during recess.

What grade are you in, by the way?

[wyldwolf]

54. A couple of grades ahead of you. How do you like them romper stompers?

[rcdean]

55. Go ahead. Have the last word. I've got things to do.

Bye bye.

[ShortnFiery]

47. Spot on rcdean! It's not even an polished disinformation effort. nt

[leftchick]

7. she is probably trying to figure out how many troops to leave there

for securing the oil, oops I mean to "train Iraqis and Fight al-qaida". :eyes:

[rodeodance]

13. QUESTION:---Have other Dem candidates said they would pull ALL troops? (except

Denny k)???

[leftchick]

20. uh

that is the point! The majority of the presidential choices choose to have troops in Iraq for fucking ever. Except Gravel, Paul and Kucinich.

Why most Democrats and the media choose to ignore that little old fact is beyond me. Except for the fact that War is Great for Business.

:eyes:

[dickbearton]

26. Mixed up...

You seem to be getting Hillary mixed up with the Criminal
Bush. Try to unmix yourself; and yes we do need oil.

[leftchick]

28. apparently you are mixed up

her foreign policy is almost exactly like the neocons plan.

[Sapere aude]

8. There is no end of war planning

[rodeodance]

11. here are few past posts ----from the PENT

YAHOO----------take that you little minds!

Fri Jul-20-07 12:01 PM
Original message
Couldn't help but note the irony of Kerry's quick defense of Clinton yesterday.
Edited on Fri Jul-20-07 12:23 PM by blm

WASHINGTON D.C. -– Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) issued the following statement today, in response to a letter from the Pentagon that criticized Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY) for asking whether the military had planned for an eventual redeployment of troops out of Iraq.

"This Administration reminds us every day that they will say anything, do anything, and twist any truth to avoid accountability. Their latest assault on Sen. Clinton comes from a tired partisan playbook and it’s a disgrace," Senator Kerry said.

"They ought to be planning to save lives -– not plotting to save face. One of the great tragedies of the war in Iraq has been a total lack of planning by the Administration. Failure to plan for protecting troops with the right equipment, failure to plan for treating specialized injuries and failure to anticipate the bloody civil war.

"I think it is entirely appropriate for the Pentagon to show how it is planning for the eventual redeployment of troops out of Iraq. We have a right and responsibility to know that our troops will return home in an orderly and safe manner and every reason to be skeptical given the reckless way our troops were put in harm’s way.

"Senator Clinton was right to ask the Pentagon for answers and the Administration’s smear tactics in response are wrong but not surprising."



Always the statesman. ALWAYS there whenever another Democrat is under attack by the RW forces.

What a marked difference from the selfishness and poor characters displayed by other politicians:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1k0nUWEQg
>
> Forum Name Latest Breaking News
> Topic subject Pentagon rebukes Clinton on Iraq ("reinforces enemy propaganda")
> Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2923380#2923380
> 2923380, Pentagon rebukes Clinton on Iraq ("reinforces enemy propaganda")
> Posted by Barrett808 on Thu Jul-19-07 01:21 PM
>
> Source: Associated Press
>
> Pentagon rebukes Clinton on Iraq
> By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer
>
> WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has issued a stinging rebuke to Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, arguing that she is boosting enemy propaganda by asking how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq.
>
> Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman wrote a biting reply to questions Clinton raised in May, urging the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
>
> A copy of Edelman's response, dated July 16, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
>
> "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq 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," Edelman wrote.
>
> He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."
>
>
> Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070719/ap_on_el_pr/clinton_iraq
>
>

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rodeodance]

17. IF she is our nominee, I hope you could see your vote as a vote for the Democratic

Party-----(hold your nose if you have too)--------the Sepreme Court will be up for grabs as will the committee chairs.

[shaniqua6392]

19. I agree with you there.

What does someone mean when they say they could NEVER vote for her?? Are they going to stay home on election day if she is the candidate up against a Repuke? I sure hope these people will get out and vote if she is the nominee or they will have to put up with another Republican Prez in the White House. I will vote for whatever Dem wins the nomination. Even if I have to "hold my nose". LOL! That was funny. :applause:

[Bongo Prophet]

42. In the general, the nominee gets my vote. Period.

During the primaries, my only vociferous advocacy is to the truth, and I will not smear ANY candidate.
After the convention the candidate will get my support.
When OUR candidate gets in the WH, I will both support against smears/lies and yet still lobby vigorously in carrot/stick fashion for the direction I want to advocate in our new DEM admin.

Ain't I just a role model? :hi:

[dickbearton]

27. Waffling...

She waffles and I suppose you don't. As for war planning; it's
called real politics. Act like you now what's going on in the
real world.

[badgervan]

34. All Politicians Waffle

... you have to look at the how and why. I'll happily vote for any dem over any repub in the Big One coming up in November, 2008. All of this anti-this dem and anti-that dem only helps the repubs. The dems who caved in to bush's ill-fated Iraq adventure did so based on doctored and cherry-picked intel - cheney being behind so much of the dishonesty and immorality of this administration. bush is just the front guy, dangerous in his stubborness and refusal to admit mistakes or change course. Impeachment for both of these weasels is well deserved. I'm no big Hilary fan, but compared to this crew, she is Churchill, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson and Washington combined.

[maddezmom]

29. if you're talking about the other thread, nothing was deleted

the 2 threads were combined as the later was a duplicate. :)

[rinsd]

31. Get off the cross, we need the wood

:eyes:

[rodeodance]

15. Clinton punches back in Pentagon Iraq row (AFP headline)

Clinton punches back in Pentagon Iraq row

by Stephen Collinson 1 hour, 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton Friday hit out at "offensive" and "dangerous" claims by a top defense official that her questions about Iraq troop withdrawals aided US enemies.



Senator Clinton also unveiled legislation with fellow Democratic Senator John Kerry requiring the Pentagon to report to Congress on the state of contingency planning for an eventual redeployment of 160,000 troops from Iraq.

Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman had rebuked Clinton in unusually strong terms in a letter about her questions on how and if the US military was working out how it could extricate US soldiers and supplies from Iraq.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq," Edelman wrote, adding such talk "unnerves" US allies there.

[rodeodance]

16. Crocker told a hearing he knew of no such contingency planning.

Senators on Thursday demanded the Pentagon work out how to conduct an eventual withdrawal of 160,000 US forces in Iraq, after US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker told a hearing he knew of no such contingency planning.

[Harry Monroe]

18. I don't have much love for Senator Clinton...

...and do not support her for reasons not germane to this thread. But I am glad to see she is fighting back. What now, we are not supposed to question the Iraqi withdrawal plan (not that there is one, mind you)? We have a right to know if and when the troops are coming home (if ever). Bravo for Senator Clinton to question it and not stick her head in the sand over it. And I congratulate her for showing a spine. If she is the Democratic nominee, she'll need it once the Republican slime machine cranks up. I'm glad she is standing up, unlike pansy Kerry in '04.

[blm]

23. Kerry did fight back - that's why he was the nominee in the first place - media

chose to not cover his speeches against swifts and Bush's hiding behind them.

And he fought Bush constantly on Tora Bora, invasion of Iraq when inspections were proving it wasn't needed, on Rumsfeld's firing, Abu Ghraib, how to fight terrorism through law enforcement, and energy policy, it was CONSTANT. Media edited much of it out or wouldn't cover it at all.

The Research Forum here has a compilation of data just on the swifts alone, that you might be interested in perusing.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_oet&address=358x2555

[Bongo Prophet]

52. The right wing just LOVES you calling Kerry a pansy. nice work.

Listen, Kerry just stood up for Hillary and the DEM position of forcing accountability (to the extent that CAN be done) from the DOD vis a vis redeployment planning. They stood up together and are now working together despite their differences historically.

That shows what GROWNUPS can do.
taking old gripes and mouthing Ann Coulteresque slurs (pansy, pansy, tee hee hee) is BULLSHIT.

If you ARE old enough to vote,
I really hope you ponder on that a bit and make the right choice.

[Cant trust em]

21. My favorite part was...

"We sent a serious letter to the Secretary of Defense, and unacceptably got a political response back." Republicans talk like the Dems are the only ones using political tactics in discussing the war.

[Exiled in America]

22. Very. Nicely. Handled. Honestly acknowledged by this clinton-opposer.

[Hekate]

24. Ha! Told ya she'd hit back! Give 'em hell, Hillary!

Obama, take notes!

Hekate

[ShortnFiery]

51. Maybe they'll toast you and all the other gullible souls at their next "ruling elite" social?

:eyes:

[Seabiscuit]

36. Hitting back immediately has always been a Hillary strong point. n/t

[ShortnFiery]

46. Don't get excited. IMO, it's all a waltz portrayed to us "little people" as adversarial.

They're all within the investor classes, making a killing off of the deployment of all those pretty weapons systems.

It's a "smoke and mirrors" show that's suppose to give the people the "warm fuzzies" that our politicians actually give a damn about anything other than their careers and fattening the Military Industrial Complex in order to feed their investment portfolios. :(

And a 1, 2 ... 1, 2, 3, 4. :eyes: :thumbsdown:

[Maribelle]

48. That smoke you see ...

is all over Pentagon faces. Some folks call it soot. Something has backfired all over them and has done considerable harm to the quality of their skin, especially of their faces.

[ShortnFiery]

50. Wow! Not true. They are all on the same team - it's just that you don't note "the play." nt

[Phrogman]

56. Bravo, Bravo, Encore!....I just love cheesy political theater!

Watching Hillo is better than watching professional wrestling...

[stressfulreality]

57. what the pentagon said is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS...

i'm glad she stood up against what they said.