Too Much Turkey.
Hillary seems to be bitter that her Thanksgiving trip to Iraq and Afghanistan was completely upstaged by President Bush's surprise visit to the troops. Soon after her return from the Middle East, she suggested that President Bush's plans for reducing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq is timed to boost his reelection bid. "Clearly, the quick move for some kind of sovereignty, in whatever form, by July...suggests to me there is a political imperative at work to declare victory, or at least point to some kind of interim victory, before the November elections." Sen. Clinton went on to say that, although she hopes that the war in Iraq isn't being used for partisan political points by the administration, "My suspicion is that indeed it is. This should be way beyond politics."
The White House almost completely ignored Mrs. Clinton's comments, with White House spokesman Kenneth Lisaius saying only that "It is the political season for some," Hillary's criticism didn't stop there, though, as she urged the administration to seek UN involvement to give more legitimacy to rebuilding efforts there, and also said the administration did not have the "right mix of troops" to get the job done. Said military expert Hillary: "We need more MPs [military police], we need more intelligence, we need more civil affairs, we need a bigger presence [in Iraq]."
She added that Osama Bin Laden is a dangerously "mythic presence" and a "recruiting tool" so long as he remains at large.
Impressed With Bush Visit?
Hillary apparently wasn't completely soured on the President's trip to Iraq, which pushed her Thanksgiving vacation to the back pages of the nation's newspapers. She had some faint praise for the President's trip, saying that "I do think that a quick trip like that certainly can leave some impressions. I know that the President at least met with the Governing Council members." She also said that the stealth visit "sends a message that these men and women are doing a job that is important to our country" and that "Any time that our troops are in a conflict situation the commander in chief's presence makes a big difference." Hillary's kind words probably reflected a reluctance to criticize the President's move, which was wildly popular with the troops in Iraq and with most Americans at home, But she still couldn't resist a few digs: "It is not a substitute for a plan about how we are going to not only enhance security [but]...eventually to create more legitimacy to move toward self-governance for the Iraqis."
Vice President Clinton?
Democrat presidential candidate Wesley Clark said he has been considering asking Hillary to be his running mate in 2004. "She is very smart...I like Hillary. I've known her a long time," Gen. Clark told MSNBC.
Later, while out on the campaign trail, he reiterated that he has not ruled Mrs. Clinton out as his running mate if he wins the Democratic nomination. "I think she wants George Bush out of the White House because it's best for the country," said Clark, implying that Hillary would agree to be Second Banana if that was the only way to defeat President Bush. For her part, Hillary seemingly refused to rule out joining the Democrat ticket as Vice President and said only that she did not expect any of the presidential candidates to ask her. "That is not going to happen," she told ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "That is so far beyond the realm of the possible." But the former Clintonisto noted that his old boss's wife did not say "No. It could happen." Only a week before Gen. Clark set off this speculation, the official press organ of Saudi Arabia reported that Sen. Clinton's trip to the Middle East proves that she is planning to run on the national ticket in 2004, preferably, said ArabNews.com, as Gen. Clark's running mate. "Given that [President] Bush still seems ahead among pollsters, Mrs. Clinton would be taking little political risk if Clark were defeated in the presidential election," their editorial noted. "And if Clark won, Hillary could turn the vice presidential role into "a much more high-profile and active arm of the executive," which would then "provide her with a platform to launch her own run at the White House in 2008, if Clark chose to stand down, or 2012, when he would have to leave office." The Arab News source also reported that "there may be many in the Middle East who would have great hopes" if a Democrat defeated President Bush next year. Well, duh...
