Sen. Clinton rips Rumsfeld over Iraq decisions

[sabra]

http://www.silive.com/newsflash/metro/index.ssf?/base/n...

Sen. Clinton rips Rumsfeld over Iraq decisions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton excoriated Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a Senate hearing Thursday, saying he is presiding over a "failed policy" in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Under your leadership there have been numerous errors in judgment that have led us to where we are," the New York Democrat said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "We have a full-fledged insurgency and full-blown sectarian conflict in Iraq."

...

The defense secretary seemed briefly stunned by the intensity of her attack, exclaiming, "My goodness," before launching into a point-by-point defense.

He rejected some of her specific criticisms as simply wrong and said the war against terror will be a drawn-out process.

"Are there setbacks? Yes," said Rumsfeld. "Is this problem going to get solved in the near term? I think it's going to take some time."

[LisaM]

1. "Am I loony? You bet!"

I can't bear his habit of asking, then answering, questions.

[Bretttido]

4. Oh you beat me to it Lisa!

[rodeodance]

2. you go gal!! Rummy prob. calls you a B....

[Bretttido]

3. He always goes back to asking himself questions...

Am I the best general in US history? Yes!
Do I lick chimpy when no ones looking? It depends.
Do I WANT to lick chimpy when no ones looking? Absolutely!
Next question!

[flordehinojos]

6. does rumsfeld like to philosophize?

[MrCoffee]

5. "My goodness"

He must have been shocked to discover that Senate Armed Services is slowly starting to pull their heads out of the sand. Poor Rummycakes, getting blindsided like that.

[leveymg]

7. Too little, too late, Hil.

You should have joined Murtha as an early, outspoken critic of the Iraq War. Now, you just seem like another opportunistic pol.

May your Senate tenure last for decades to come.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

11. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Murtha didn't start out a critic of the war.

Didn't he even vote to authorize and has admitted that he regrets that now?

[leveymg]

19. Murtha expressed grave doubts about the plan for war in 2002

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=50...

*In September, 2002, Murtha voiced grave doubts about President George W. Bush's plans for war, complaining that he has not built a proper coalition and estimating the war will cost taxpayers at least $50 billion. He nonetheless voted later to authorize the war With Iraq.

*In May 2004, Murtha joined fellow Democrats in criticizing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for his role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. But he stopped short of calling for Rumsfeld to resign, as other Democrats do.

*In the fall of 2005, he led a House effort to pass the so-called McCain Amendment, a measure that would expressly prohibit "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of terror suspects.

SNIP

(I)n 2004, when Murtha first began to question the conduct of the war, Republicans in the House harshly criticized him. Then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay called Murtha's remarks a "calculated, craven political stunt." Unbowed, Murtha fired back at the former pest exterminator: "When I was in Vietnam, you were killing bugs."

Not the earliest Dem to come out against the war, but he was there for Kerry on the issue. That can't really be said of Hil, still, to this day.

[karynnj]

25. "When I was in Vietnam, you were killing bugs."

That is excellent - I am so glad you posted it - I had never seen it. Murtha supported Kerry quite well in 2004.

[leftchick]

8. you see in warmonger hillary's eyes

if we had had the right leader of the pentagon and the right decisions had been made we would have won the war in Iraq!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

14. Well, we probably would have

If we had sent in enough troops in the first place and if we were using the ones still stationed there to build infrastructure for the country (rather than simply guarding the Ministry of Oil and letting everyone else blow each other up) and properly and adequately train their security forces, the war probably would have been a success.

[cliss]

17. Great point.

Let's not forget Sen. Clinton's viewpoint. She is most definitely a war monger.

Too bad the whole damn thing is a mess. She will go down with this ship. THAT's what she is upset about, not the terrible cost in lives.

[reprobate]

9. Is the opposition from the grass roots starting to have an effect on

Hillary? Certainly sounds like it.

[SutaUvaca]

10. Yes, too little to late.

I voted for Hil twice when Bill was running for the WH. Can't do it now. She really really does appear so opportunistic, so I have trouble trusting where she'll go next. And IMO any elected official who can't support immediate withdrawal from BushCo wars cannot get my support.

Still, any one who can give Dumsfeld a bit of mental whiplash, even for a moment, gets a Hooray! from me. So, thanks Ma'am, for briefly stunning the Minister of War.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

15. How and where did you vote for Hillary in '92 and '96?

She wasn't running for anything.

[gratuitous]

12. Sen. Clinton's rehab continues

But it's good that she's at last holding Mr. Rumsfeld's feet to the fire. She, along with others of her Senate colleagues might actually get this incompetent out of the blood-soaked position he's currently in. Our troops deserve better, and our country deserves better than "my goodness."

"My goodness" is appropriate for an unexpected belch at a dinner party. We're talking about thousands of lives lost, thousands more irretrievably broken, billions of dollars wasted and our national honor severely compromised for years to come. That's worth at the very least a "fuck me."

[GAPeace]

13. Hawk vs Hawk

Isn't that the best debate ever.

[The Stranger]

16. Like Leibercon, it is too late for Hilary.

Too bad, so sad.

[hedgehog]

18. New Yorkers - remember you have a choice September 12!

Jonathan Tasini is running against Hillary in the primary. He's anti-war and wants to have everyone covered by Medicare. He's not a Johnny one-note but has been fighting the good fight for a while.

[goodhue]

20. Indeed, Jonathan Tasini is the real deal

http://www.tasinifornewyork.org /

[Riverman]

21. SEE Discussion on Lieberman getting religion - Any connection?

Back peddling in unison in response to new polls about the opposition to the war and Lamonts' 13point lead with a week to the primary! Clintons and Lieberman deserve each other. I'd bet Bill Clinton forced Gore to put Lieberman on his ticket!

[karynnj]

26. I doubt Clinton had much to do with that

The story always was that he chose Lieberman to make as clear a difference between himself and Clinton in terms of personal life. What's amazing is that having done that they didn't make a bigger issue of Bush's irresponsible years (until he was 40.)

[MiniMe]

22. Do I make up my own questions and then answer them? You bet!

[BigDDem]

23. Will some DU'ers bash Hillary no matter what?

Yes.
Are the Hillary obsessed rational people? No.

[CBHagman]

24. I caught part of that.

SNIP! That's the way to deal with the unrepentant old dog.