Spat between Sen. Clinton, DoD official good for no one
By Robert Dorr
Is it wrong for a Pentagon official to be disrespectful toward a member of Congress?
If you’re in the military, should you care?
The answer to both questions is yes.
Until Defense Secretary Robert Gates stepped in to defuse the situation, tensions flared between Undersecretary of Defense Eric S. Edelman and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
...
No matter what you think of the war or of Clinton, Edelman’s response was unusually harsh. Senators hold their jobs because people voted for them. Appointees such as Edelman, who weren’t elected by anyone (and in the case of Edelman, received a recess appointment and wasn’t confirmed by the Senate), should be responsive to lawmakers’ concerns. They have the means to respond to a senator in classified form if necessary.
Clinton’s question is fair. Our real enemy — Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network, which is headquartered in Pakistan, not in Iraq — already knows most Americans want our Iraq adventure to end.
Clearly, a mistake was made in the Pentagon when Edelman’s reply was drafted.
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Edelman, Clinton said, was “impugning the patriotism of any of us who raise serious questions.”
Clinton has taken a measured approach to change in Iraq. Her request for information doesn’t mean she supports an immediate pullout. Clinton’s detractors are passionate, but even they cannot deny that Clinton has more experience than many public figures.
Gates is a forceful but reasonable leader. I like him. He is adept in the ways of Washington and a model of civility. Belatedly, Gates took the dispute away from Edelman.
In this Washington scrape, Clinton was right, Edelman was wrong and Gates was a voice of reason. Now, it’s time to move on. Bigwigs in our capital need to shift their focus to the troops’ concerns.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/community/opinion/marine_opinion_dorrspat_070813/
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