Clinton's Experience Is Debated

Washington Post: While Not A Foreign Crisis Player, She Carried U.S. Message

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Peter Baker and Karen DeYoung.

---

On March 22, 1999, Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived at the Itihadiya Palace in Egypt for what her schedule said was a "courtesy call with President Mubarak." Aides blocked out 9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. Then she embarked on visits to a mosque, museum, clinic, bazaar, youth center, groundwater project, university and the Temple of Luxor.

Almost exactly nine years later to the day, Clinton's trip to Egypt offers a case study of her foreign policy role during her husband's presidency. While traveling across North Africa, she devoted little time to heads of state and negotiated no agreements, but instead met community leaders, explored local issues and culture, hit major tourist sites and gave speeches on women's rights and other topics important to her.

Whether that has made her "tested and ready" to be president from the first day, as she now claims, is a burning issue on the campaign trail. Clinton's camp has depicted her as a virtual secretary of state, circling the globe to bring peace to troubled lands and open borders for refugees. Sen. Barack Obama's camp has presented her as a glorified USO officer, entertaining troops and having tea with crown princesses. More than 11,000 pages of her schedules released this week, along with interviews with former diplomats and administration officials, present a more mixed picture.

"Representing the United States around the world is a serious piece of business," said a former senior State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid alienating friends in both campaigns. "She wasn't representing the United States as secretary of state, chairman of the Joint Chiefs or U.S. trade representative. But she was representing the United States, and she did have specific assignments."

Clinton was given the mission of speaking out for women's rights at a conference in Beijing. She was sent to meet with refugees in forbidding places. She was dispatched to extend friendship to parts of the world where the president did not have time to go. But the former senior official expressed irritation at both sides for mischaracterizing her role. "They made a mistake to exaggerate it," he said of Clinton's aides, "and I think it's a mistake to underappreciate it."

While Clinton's advertisements have boasted that she is best prepared for a 3 a.m. crisis phone call, the schedules contain no evidence that Clinton was at the table during major national security decisions. They do not list her as attending National Security Council meetings or joining briefings in the Situation Room. She did not have a national security clearance. And the documents make clear that at moments of major crisis, Clinton was often busy with her own agenda.

What remains uncertain is how she might have influenced events in less visible ways. The schedules do not record whom she called on the telephone, what spontaneous conversations she may have had in the West Wing during the day, or what positions she conveyed through her top aide at daily senior staff meetings. And they certainly do not disclose what she may have advised her husband in the privacy of their living quarters.

"The schedules are jut that," her campaign said in a statement. "They cannot and do not speak to the substance of her meetings with staff, advisers, administration officials, citizens, activists, foreign leaders and others with whom she worked on policy issues. That should be no surprise -- it's not what they were created to do."

Clinton herself, in citing her experience as first lady as evidence of her preparation for the presidency, has distilled a complicated record into sound bites dissected by critics. She has claimed that she "helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland" and "negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo." She described a harrowing flight into war-torn Bosnia and said she advised her husband to intervene to stop the Rwanda genocide.

All of those claims have been called overstated. While she traveled to Northern Ireland and met with its leaders, she was not a direct participant in peace talks. The borders she talked about were opened the day before her visit, although she pressed to keep them that way. She took her daughter, singer Sheryl Crow and comedian Sinbad with her to a USO show in Bosnia on the flight in question. And no one who served in the Clinton administration has publicly recalled that she weighed in on Rwanda.

Some of her husband's top foreign policy officials, including former national security adviser Anthony Lake and former assistant secretary of state Susan E. Rice, now work for Obama, and the Rwanda claim in particular has infuriated them.

Gregory B. Craig, a friend of Clinton's from Yale Law School who served as a top State Department official and now also advises Obama, wrote a damning appraisal of her record last week. "There is no reason to believe . . . that she was a key player in foreign policy at any time during the Clinton administration," he wrote. "She did not do any heavy-lifting with foreign governments. . . . She never managed a foreign policy crisis."

Yet she lived through those episodes with a vantage point few get. "I would not say she was sitting there planning cruise missile attacks," said former White House press secretary Michael McCurry, who supports her candidacy. "But you're there and you see and you understand the requirements of leadership. . . . Having lived through it even as a spouse, you absorb a lot."

And while it does not equate to brokering deals, her travel through 82 countries certainly exposed her to more of the world and its leaders than did cutting ribbons as a state senator in Chicago. She was considered one of the administration's top surrogates and she devoted enormous energy to particular interests, such as women's issues, education, health care and international development.

When she took trips abroad, the first lady's office checked in with the NSC to see what sorts of messages she could carry, former officials said. She was a quick study. "What you need . . . is the nuance about the politics of the situation, what is the psychology of the people you're going to meet and that sort of thing," said former deputy national security adviser Mara E. Rudman, who advises her now.

The Northern Ireland episode captures the complexity. Several major players have said she was hardly instumental in forging peace in 1998. But James B. Steinberg, then deputy national security adviser, said she was part of multifaceted strategy that included reaching out to women's leaders in Northern Ireland to help end the decades-old conflict. "She wasn't the only one," he said. "But I think her role and the obvious personal stake . . . were significant. You can't parse out each contribution."

[beebopareebo]

A violinist auditioning for a major orchestra does so behind a curtain. If you pull down a "curtain" and hide the races, sexes, and last names of these two candidates, and listen to the "sound" of their resumes, and their platforms it is clear that one is a concert master and one would be asked to come back and audition after some time had passed to develop a more mature and developed sound. That is clearly where we are. Senator Clinton is that concert master. Senator Obama -- as a one term Senator with limited experience and credentials -- should come back to the voters with something more than speeches and books.

This is just the opinion of someone who buys a ticket.

[kmccliment]

OBAMA HAS NO CLUE WHAT THE CAUCASEAN COMMUNITY THINKS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY. MAYBE THIS IS PARTLY BECAUSE HE REALLY DIDNT GROW UP AS A NORMAL WHITE KID. HE WAS FROM A PRETTY WELL TO DO FAMILY. ALSO IF HE THROW HIS GMOTHER UNDER THE BUS LIKE THAT YOU DON''T THINK HE WOULD DO THE SAME TO THE U.S. HE WONT EVEN WEAR A LAPEL PIN, COVER HIS HEART OR SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. THIS IS PART OF THE JOB, PART OF THE "UNIFORM" IF YOU CANT WEAR PATRIOTISM THE WAY THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WEAR IT THEN YOU DONT "QUALIFY" FOR THE JOB. GO APPLY WORK AS AN USHER AT REV. WRIGHTS CHURCH.

[kmccliment]

mepeter,

AND WHAT DO WE HAVE BEHIND OBAMA''S DOOR #1. WHY ITS REV.J WRIGHT.... YIPPPEEE!!! WITH FRIENDS LIKE THAT THE ENTIRE CAUCASEAN COMMUNITY IN THE US WILL BE FORCED TO GIVE UP THEIR WORDLY POSSESSIONS AND TURN THEM OVER TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY. THIS IS DUE TO THE FACT ONLY THEY ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE EEVVVEERRR BEEN DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

[kmccliment]

Obama wants to throw stones at Hillary about her foreign affairs. So, my questio is simply. What the Hell has he done? What has he done internationally that would be something that is to be said wow, now that was a worthwhile trip.

[hailskins84]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOsGo_HWP-c&feature=related

[hailskins84]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8_odhuWfTk

[hailskins84]

This video is has just started to circulate of the the Hillary lie. http://youtube.com/watch?v=E8_odhuWfTk

[jjoseph1945]

When I began to follow the campaign closely, I was inclined toward Edwards and did not began to look into the records and platforms of Obama and Clinton until he dropped out of the race. Now I find myself increasingly inclined toward Clinton. Why? Because Obama has no significant experience compared to Clinton; he has done next to nothing during his decade or so in politics while she has been active on the national and international level since 1993, and on the state level before then. His campaign has also kept up a steady drumbeat of accusations against the Clintons that often amount to personal attacks at the same time that he has postured as the only one who can bring America together even though he has privileged his black identity over his white identity and seems not to understand whites at all, even though he was raised "white." As the grandson of immigrants, I found his remarks about "white immigrants" both calculated and condescending, and as someone who was raised to respect his elders, I found his disparaging remarks about his grandmother and his use of her to excuse his relationship with the Reverend Wright almost as sad as his explanation that he only meant she was a "typical white woman." The man who would be king has some work to do.

[torch2008]

Anybody who bothers to do actual research - aside from relying on the biased reporting in popular newspapers - can find overwhelming amounts of information on Hillary''s experience. There are photos, interviews, books, voting records, recorded speeches, and so much more from her days as a political activist at Wellseley and beyond.
In fact, there''s so much information it''s hard to present it all easily at one time. You can''t pack Hillary''s successful and powerful life into a few soundbites.

What''s funny is how all of this hoopla of questioning Hillary''s experience draws important focus away from a truth that is WITHOUT question: Barack has NO experience with foreign policy. In fact, aside from his time in early childhood in Indonesia, Barack has hardly travelled at all. He''s hardly accomplished anything legislatively, and what he has is weak beyond words. The hype over the 26 "laws" he passed during the year he decided to run for the Senate has caused and uproar in the Illinois legislature because basically he was given credit, as a political manuever, for promoting and passing leglslation he never had anything to do with.

The point: Whatever Hillary''s experience in foreign policy (which is considerable), it FAR exceeds anything Barack has even dreamed of doing.

Hillary in ''08!

[sjbj2322]

I think it rather narrow-minded to assume that Hillary did not object to NAFTA but was hindered by her status as First Lady in voicing objections. Afterall, she was functioning as an agent of an administration that was endorsing it. How many cabinet members, aids, whatever, would be around for five minutes if they publicly objected to a position being taken by the current administration they served under. Its not like she was Colin Powell who could resign his seat when the truth of the lies being perpetuated to justify the War came to light. Moreover, I am sick and tired of comments that her efforts to gain the support of women or addressing issues pertaining to women around the world are somehow less significant than other issues relating to human rights. If you can''t accept the significance of that, then you have no right to infer that there remains issues race relations that still need to be confronted and resolved. Remember folks....even in America, black men were given the right to vote before women in general, and internationally women continue to suffer from archaic and barbaric laws and traditions.

[gerrim]

Well, I haven''t heard all of what Hillary claims that she did in the foreign policy realm. So I cannot comment on whether she exxagerated or not. But it is obvious to me that being First Lady for eight years she gained a wealth of foreign policy experience and wprked both before and behind the scenes. Furthermore,just because Anthony Lake didn''t hear that Hillary may have advocated intervention in Rwanda does not necessarily mean that it didn''t happen.

The other day on NPR (Morning Edition interview with John Innskeep.)I heard Barack say that he had five years of foreign policy experience. How can that be when he has been senator for just three years?? Certainly, he can''t be claiming foreign policy experience as an Illinois State Senator?? Now, that it really a stretch forget Hillary.

[tbweb]

Sen. Clinton can''t tell the truth about the details of her experience because she will embarrass her husband former Pres. Bill Clinton. If you recall former Pres. Bill Clinton has said on occasion that Hillary is one of the smartest people he knows and he consults with her often. Translated, this could mean that when Bill made important decisions he consulted with Hillary and got her advice, also, everyone thinks Bill is the smarter of the two but in fact it may actually be Hillary! Hillary can''t come out and say I made the decisions for this and that while Bill was President because its too embarrassing, but she probably did on occasion and does have experience she can''t claim! Bill is a better public speaker but Hillary may in fact be the real brains, whatever, they are both smart! But back to the lie, yep, Sen. Clinton got caught red handed lying about her NAFTA position, but the real surprise may come with the release of her Tax Returns and the disclosures in them may be the other shoe dropping and end her campaign!

[mepeter]

The full story behind Rev. Jeremiah Wright%u2019s 9/11 sermon

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/meet-the-white-man-who-_n_92793.html

THIS IS A MUST SEE VIEDO FOR ALL AMERICANS.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TRINITYCHGO

[mepeter]

INTERESTING FRIENDS OF HILLARY CLINTON

http://prorev.com/hillaryfriends.htm

FRIEND NR. 1-SANDY BERGER -Berger plead guilty

FRIEND NR. 2 -JOSE CABRERA -drug smuggler, 19-year federal prison

FRIEND NR. 3 -JOHNNY CHUNG -convicted & Jailed

FRIEND NR. 4 -FRANK GIUSTRA -Clinton $31.3 million donation

FRIEND NR. 5 -VINA GUPTA -found guilty in Jail

FRIEND NR. 6 -JOHN HUANG was sentenced for campaign finance violations.

FRIEND NR. 7 -NORMAN HSU pleaded grand theft, three years prison

FRIEND NR. 8 -WEBSTER HUBBELL -15-count indictment

FRIEND NR. 9 -ABDUL REHMAN JINNAH -charged with illegal campaign contributions and conspiracy,

FRIEND NR. 10 -RUPERT MURDOCH http://forums.myspace.com/t/3672094.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthreadhttp://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/2006/05/rupert-murdoch-backs-hillary-clinton.html

FRIEND NR. 11 -JOSEPH PELLICANO -FBI arrested on federal weapons charges.

FRIEND NR. 12 -PETER PAUL -thrice-convicted felon. Accuses.

FRIEND NR. 13 -KEITH RANIERE -A pyramid-scheme operator

FRIEND NR. 14 -SAMUEL RIVERA = arrested in an F.B.I. corruption sting in New Jersey

FRIEND NR. 15 --GARY WINNICK helped Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe make $18 million out of a $100,000 investment. Also gave $1 million to the Clinton Library.

FRIEND NR. 16 -JIM & SUSAN MCDOUGAL convicted of eighteen felony counts of fraud and conspiracy charges

[mepeter]

ALL YOU BLOG HEADS

I believe that all of us, owe a duty to the public and must stand for the truth.

Please do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes of your time to see and hear the FULL SERMONS of Obama''s Pastor and then let your conscious speak. As a Christian this is your moral duty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw
Re: God *** America



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ
Re: The chickens have come to roost

I read articles on a regular bases Yes! in Politics (people, newspapers etc.) often differ in opinions. This is natural human trait.

BUT to manipulate and give out false news and info is very distressing especially when it concerns the Religion.

I am a non-christian but it does bother me when Christians bash other Christians with false accusations. May God bless you and open up your heart. If you have to say something -- do it but do it without a prejudiced mind.

[mepeter]

ALL YOU BLOG HEADS

I believe that all of us, owe a duty to the public and must stand for the truth.

Please do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes of your time to see and hear the FULL SERMONS of Obama''s Pastor and then let your conscious speak. As a Christian this is your moral duty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvMbeVQj6Lw Re: God *** America



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOdlnzkeoyQ Re: The chickens have come to roost



I read articles on a regular bases Yes! in Politics (people, newspapers etc.) often differ in opinions. This is natural human trait.

BUT to manipulate and give out false news and info is very distressing especially when it concerns the Religion.



I am a non-christian but it does bother me when Christians bash other Christians with false accusations. May God bless you and open up your heart. If you have to say something -- do it but do it without a prejudiced mind.

[chuegevera]

the claims are exactly the same as those that Bush used to invade Irak.

I just try to bring out the truth when I feel what''''s been written differs from factual evidence that I have.

Posted by libra127
----------------------


Clinton claims to have "negotiated open borders" in Macedonia to fleeing Kosovar refugees. But the Macedonian border opened a full day before she arrived, and her meetings with Macedonian officials were too brief to allow for much serious negotiating.

Clinton''s activities "helped bring peace to Northern Ireland." Irish officials are divided as to how helpful Clinton''s actions were, and key players agree that she was not directly involved in any actual negotiations.

Clinton has repeatedly referenced her "dangerous" trip to Bosnia. She fails to mention, however, that the Bosnian war had officially ended three months before her visit %u2013 or that she made the trip with her 16-year-old daughter and two entertainers.

Both Bill and Hillary Clinton claim that Hillary privately championed the use of U.S. troops to stop the genocide in Rwanda. That conversation left no public record, however, as U.S. policy was explicitly to stay out of Rwanda, and officials say that the use of U.S. troops was never considered.

Clinton''s tough speech on human rights delivered to a Beijing audience is as advertised, though Clinton herself has been dismissive of speeches that aren''t backed by solutions
-------------------
Just a few of her documented claims.

[libra127]

a revision:

I just try to bring out the truth when I feel what''s been written differs from factual evidence that I have.

[libra127]

She has "imbellished" her foriegn policy credentials and experience far, far beyond what the record and evidence indicates.

Posted by hadenough43 at 12:39 AM : Mar 22, 2008

I think you exaggerate. I''ve seen several people comment that she''s claimed she''s solved major foreign policy crises single-handedly, and then they proceed to discredit her as a liar. I think her claims have been more limited and modest than people who dislike her for whatever reason are willing to acknowledge. Some people have claimed that she''s said she had "national security clearance" and isn''t that laughable. I''ve never heard her claim anything of the sort. I don''t get the sense that she is unaware of her limitations, but that is hard for anyone not close to her to access.

If you don''t want to vote for her, that''s your right and I don''t really care. I just try to bring out the truth when I feel it differs from factual information I have.

I''m not a Libra. I chose that name because it means "free". I''m a scientist and it didn''t occur to me to think of the zodiac.