Take THAT, Hillary!
The Pentagon has told Sen. Hillary Clinton that her pointed questions about how the United States plans to get out of Iraq "boost enemy propaganda."
In response to the defeatist presuppositions of her questions, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman wrote the New York Senator on July 16 that "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."
John Kerry- who admittedly knows a thing or two about misrepresenting the positions and record of his opponents while refusing to be accountable for his own- whined about it, accusing Undersecretary Edelman of doing precisely what Kerry himself specializes in.
As one who, in my day, urged the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam, I understand that opponents of a war have a perfect right to advocate their position. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that remarks like Sen. Clinton's reinforce the very propaganda to which Edelman refers. I do not regret opposing the Vietnam War. But unlike Sen. Kerry (and, judging from the response of her campaign spokesman, Sen. Clinton) I take full responsibility for the fact that- necessary and inevitable as I continue to believe our withdrawal from Vietnam was- it played a major role in enabling precisely the kind of propaganda to which Edelman refers.
One would wish that Sen. Kerry and Sen. Clinton, as well as the others who oppose this war, would take similar responsibility for the consequences of their own positions.
In response to the defeatist presuppositions of her questions, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman wrote the New York Senator on July 16 that "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."
John Kerry- who admittedly knows a thing or two about misrepresenting the positions and record of his opponents while refusing to be accountable for his own- whined about it, accusing Undersecretary Edelman of doing precisely what Kerry himself specializes in.
As one who, in my day, urged the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam, I understand that opponents of a war have a perfect right to advocate their position. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that remarks like Sen. Clinton's reinforce the very propaganda to which Edelman refers. I do not regret opposing the Vietnam War. But unlike Sen. Kerry (and, judging from the response of her campaign spokesman, Sen. Clinton) I take full responsibility for the fact that- necessary and inevitable as I continue to believe our withdrawal from Vietnam was- it played a major role in enabling precisely the kind of propaganda to which Edelman refers.
One would wish that Sen. Kerry and Sen. Clinton, as well as the others who oppose this war, would take similar responsibility for the consequences of their own positions.
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