In Oregon, Clinton Makes False Claim About Her Iraq Record Vs. Obama's

ABC News ^ | April 06, 2008 | Jake Tapper

[COUNTrecount]

In Eugene, Oregon, Saturday. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, attempted to change the measure by which anyone might assess who criticized the Iraq war first, her or Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, by saying those keeping records should start in January 2005, when Obama joined the Senate. (A measure that conveniently avoids her October 2002 vote to authorize use of force against Iraq at a time that Obama was speaking out against the war.) She claimed that using that measure she criticized the war in Iraq before Obama did.

But Clinton's claim was false.

Clinton on Saturday told Oregonians, "when Senator Obama came to the Senate he and I have voted exactly the same except for one vote. And that happens to be the facts. We both voted against early deadlines. I actually starting criticizing the war in Iraq before he did."

It's an odd way to measure opposition to the war -- comparing who gave the first criticism of the war in Iraq starting in January 2005, ignoring Obama's opposition to the war throughout 2003 and 2004.

But even if one were to employ this "Start Counting in January 2005" measurement, Clinton did not criticize the war in Iraq first.

Scrambling to support their boss's claim, Clinton campaign officials pointed to a paper statement Clinton issued on January 26, 2005, explaining her vote to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State.

"The Administration and Defense Department's Iraq policy has been, by any reasonable measure, riddled with errors, misstatements and misjudgments," the January 2005 Clinton statement said. "From the beginning of the Iraqi war, we were inadequately prepared for the aftermath of the invasion with too few troops and an inadequate plan to stabilize Iraq."

But Obama offered criticisms of the war in Iraq eight days before that, directly to Rice, in his very first meeting as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 18.

Obama pushed Rice on her answers to previous questioners regarding the effectiveness of Iraqi troops, and he criticized the administration for conveying a never-ending commitment to a US troop presence in Iraq.

"I am concerned about this notion that was pursued by Senator Biden and others that we've made significant progress in training troops," Obama told Rice "Because it seems to me that in your response to Senator Alexander that we will not be able to get our troops out absent the Iraqi forces being able to secure their own country, or at least this administration would not be willing to define success in the absence of such security. I never got quite a clear answer to Senator Biden's question as to how many troops -- Iraqi troops -- don't just have a uniform and aren't just drawing a paycheck, but are effective enough and committed enough that we would willingly have our own troops fighting side-by- side with them. The number of 120,000 you gave, I suspect, does not meet those fairly stringent criteria that Senator Biden was alluding to. I just want to make sure, on the record, that you give me some sense of where we're at now."

Obama concluded his brief q & a by saying "if our measure is bring our troops home and success is measured by whether Iraqis can secure their own circumstances, and if our best troops in the world are having trouble controlling the situation with 150,000 or so, it sounds like we've got a long way to go. And I think part of what the American people are going to need is some certainty, not an absolute timetable, but a little more certainty than is being provided, because right now, it appears to be an entirely open-ended commitment."

**

The misrepresentation of the record is symbolic of the re-writing of history Clinton has attempted on her record regarding the war in Iraq.

Because the larger context is more important. And Clinton's written criticism of the war in a press statement in January 2005 received little attention compared to the press surrounding her trip to Iraq the next month, in February 2005.

Upon returning she argued that setting a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops would aid the enemy. “I don’t think it’s useful to set a deadline because I think it sends a signal to the terrorists and the insurgents that they just have to wait us out,” she said.

Describing her trip to Iraq, she said, "It’s regrettable that the security needs have increased so much. On the other hand, I think you can look at the country as a whole and see that there are many parts of Iraq that are functioning quite well."

She also interpreted a series of suicide bomb attacks as an indication that the insurgency was failing.

“The concerted effort to disrupt the elections was an abject failure," she said. "Not one polling place was shut down or overrun. The fact that you have these suicide bombers now, wreaking such hatred and violence while people pray, is to me, an indication of their failure.”

In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press on February 20, 2005, Clinton said that withdrawing some troops or setting a date for withdrawal would be a "mistake."

"I don't believe we should tie our hands or the hands of the new Iraqi government," Clinton said. "We don't want to send a signal to the insurgents, to the terrorists that we are going to be out of here at some, you know, date certain."

"We have just finished meeting with the current prime minister, the deputy prime minister and the finance minister, and in our meetings, we posed the question to each of them as to whether they believed that we should set a firm deadline for the withdrawal of American troops," Clinton said. "To a person, and they are of different political parties in this election, but each of them said that would be a big mistake, that we needed to make clear that there is a transition now going on to the Iraqi government. When it is formed, which we hope will be shortly, it will assume responsibility for much of the security, with the assistance and cooperation of the coalition forces, primarily U.S. forces."

Clinton said that "what the American people need to know is, number one, we are very proud of our young men and women who are here," and second, "there can be no doubt that it is not in America's interests for the Iraqi government, the experiment in freedom and democracy, to fail. So I hope that Americans understand that and that we will have as united a front as is possible in our country at this time to keep our troops safe, make sure they have everything they need and try to support this new Iraqi government."

She soon told New York Daily News editors and reporters that it was important for Democrats to combat the idea that they're soft on national security issues like Iraq.

"If you can't persuade a majority of people that you're going to be strong and tough where we need to protect America and our [national] interests, you can't cross the [electoral] threshold," she said.

**

That same month, while Clinton was talking up the need for Democrats to project strength, and claiming a withdrawal deadline be sending a signal to the terrorists, Obama was meeting with his constituents, sounding quite skeptical about the war and reiterating his opposition to the decision to go to war to begin with.

The Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph reported that during a town hall meeting, asked about the Iraq war, "Obama said poor planning by the Bush administration has left Iraq woefully incapable of handling its own security. He expressed hope that more intensive training will be provided for Iraqi forces, saying such measures could allow most American troops to return home next year. While Obama said the recent Iraqi election is an encouraging sign for democracy, he questioned Bush’s rationale for the Iraq invasion. ’I didn’t see the weapons of mass destruction at the time, I didn’t think there was an imminent threat from Saddam Hussein.'"

Clinton made this latest questionable claim the same day that she came under fire for repeatedly telling a story that turned out not to be true about a poor pregnant woman losing her baby and her own life after being denied hospital treatment because she couldn't afford a $100 fee. The New York Times discovered that the woman in question was never denied treatment, and that she did have insurance. “We implore the Clinton campaign to immediately desist from repeating this story,” said a representative of the hospital.

The Clinton campaign said that the senator had been told the story by a sheriff's deputy, and had not been able to fully check its accuracy. "We did try but were not able to fully vet it,” Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee said. “If the hospital claims it did not happen that way, we respect that."

This latest incident also comes less than two weeks after Clinton had to back off a description of a plane landing during a 1996 trip to Bosnia that she had claimed was under sniper fire. Video evidence surfaced proving that claim false and Clinton admitted that she "misspoke."

- jpt

[COUNTrecount]

Posting Hillary!'s misremembered missspeaks is becoming a full time job.

[The Great RJ]

Hillary’s tall tales are becoming chum for the MSM sharks.

[zimfam007]

[Old Retired Army Guy]

Do Democrats really care about who criticized the war first? If that is what matters to them, they are on a really failed trail.

[Rome2000]

Is this presented as news story or an editorial?

[SandRat]

Seems to have become a daily occurrence,.. Hillery goes Pinocchio again.

[nyyankeefan]

In Oregon, Clinton Makes False Claim About Her Iraq Record Vs. Obama’s....

but who said it at 3:00am on the phone????

[Conspiracy Guy]

You must be exhausted.

I guess we need a CIC who is well versed in misspeaking. Hillary is the queen of misspokeness.

[surrey]

Boy, Jake Tapper has really been on her case lately. If I recall, he was a Clinton a** kisser when Bill was CIC.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Hey! Obama had good reason to oppose deposing Saddam. (It appears.)

If Obama got his money from Tony Rezko who got 3.5 million dollars from Nahdmi Auchi.. well, that could explain why Obama didn't want Saddam deposed -- at least not in the manner that happened.

(Maybe the Clinton's were angry that they weren't getting a cut so Saddam had to go? They certainly knew Rezko.)

[Samwise]

Hillery goes Pinocchio again.

LOL

As freepers know, Democrats lie faster than we can correct them. Poor Hillary though, this must really be confusing her. She is sooooooo used to the media ignoring her lies and covering her tracks.

[Rome2000]

Jake Tapper wouldn't know a real news story if it hit him right between the eyes with a 2x4

NOW APPEARS OBAMA’S COMMUNIST MUSLIM COUSIN IS PM OF KENYA (USES HIS STREET THUGS TO GAIN POWER)

Cabinet: Kibaki meets ministers

Story by NATION Team

Publication Date: 2008/04/01

Cabinet ministers have said they are ready to work with ODM leader Raila Odinga to implement the power-sharing deal signed in February, sources close to the meeting have revealed.

President Kibaki chairs a Cabinet meeting at his Harambee House office in Nairobi on Monday. Photo/PPS In the first formal Cabinet meeting since President Kibaki and the Prime Minister-designate signed the deal to end post-election violence, the ministers also agreed on the need to speed up the resettlement of displaced families.

They also challenged the police to beef up security and crack down on those threatening the refugees who are willing to return to their farms.

However, the 15 ministers said President Kibaki should not share executive authority with any other office. The President can consult on who should be in government but the final say on who should occupy which position should be left to him, sources privy to the talks said.

Determine size

Sources said the ministers wanted the President to determine the size and structure of the Cabinet and insisted that he should not be dictated to.

The team said it was ready to work with Mr Odinga, the Prime Minister-designate, but claimed that he was “a man under siege”.

According to the sources, the ministers said Mr Odinga was “a different man” when he consulted with the President but often appeared to be a changed person after consulting his party.

However, Mr Odinga’s spokesman, Mr Salim Lone, said in an interview with the Nation that the party was ready to meet the Government coalition to resolve the impasse over the Cabinet.

He said ODM had a clear perspective on what the accord signed between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga entailed.

The accord was signed on February 28, to end post-election violence in which over 1,200 people were killed after a dispute over the presidential election results.

The deal also provided for sharing of power between the President’s party, PNU and ODM.

And while addressing the Africa economic minister’s conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, Mr Benjamin Mkapa said the power- sharing deal signed by President Kibaki and Mr Odinga provided the framework for peace.

The former Tanzanian president was a member of the team of eminent Africans that negotiated the deal.

“I don’t think there is a Cabinet crisis since they are already agreed on the framework,” said Mr Mkapa.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Obama's Pal uses "Rape as a Weapon"

More brutal and gory details of the man Obama unequivocally supports. Obama is so busted. This is more than bad judgment,  this is scary. A Jacksonian who has done yeoman's work in substantiating Odinga's  nefarious Arab ties and his hand in the ongoing violence that has all of Kenya in its barbaric clutches. Inconceivable horror. Gang raping little girls and boys as many as ten times. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Obama has backed Odinga unequivocally going so far as telling big media (_{out of} TIME Magazine's Joe Klein here),

"Obama has had near-daily conversations with the U.S. Ambassador in Kenya or with opposition leader Raila Odinga. As of late this afternoon, before his rally in Rochester, N.H., Obama was trying to reach Kenyan President Kibaki."

And he still hasn't reached him I bet. More on Odinga and Obama's phone conversations here.

This is beyond bad judgment. This is just bad and this story is not going to go away no matter how desperately in love Obamedia is with the Christ child. Big media does not control information anymore. And Obama is culpable. Here I am -- an individual blogger getting all this terrible information on Odinga and the man running for POTUS is in the dark? Think about it.

Obama's bias for his fellow Luo was so blatant that a Kenya government spokesman denounced Obama during his visit as Raila's "stooge."

A Jacksonian sent me this stunning comment (with links)  on his post The other source of change in Kenyan politics made by one of his readers, mobysnny:

It's not getting reported in the media that the looting and burning of businesses in Kisumu was targeted to both Kikuyus and Kenyan Indians. The economy of Kenya is controlled by these two groups because they are Entrepreneurial. But Kenyan Indians rarely get involved in Kenyan politics, they do not vote by choice, yet the Luos in Kisumu do not like them, that's why their stores were getting burnt too.

Obama's boy.

I mentioned in my other comment about Luo supporters of Odinga abroad were telling each other to contact TV stations and spread about the violence in Kenya. Here is one sent by a Luo to Jerusalem Post.

I was shocked by the lies this man decided to tell the post. That is the reason we are seeing all this stories making Odinga and his supporters look like angels even as they kill people.

Can you believe these Luos abroad were telling their supporters in Kenya that William Ruto and Raila Odinga had been arrested immediately after the election results. Which was total lies. It was meant to incite ODM supporters in Kenya mainly Luos and Kalenjin (Ruto is a Kalenjin). That's another reason we were seeing the violence getting worse.

Supporters of Raila Odinga (BARAK OBAMAS COUSIN!!), the leading presidential challenger, rallied in Kibera, a slum near Nairobi.(According to the NY Times, this is a "rally")

Mr. Odinga’s (BARAK OBAMAS FIRST COUSIN, WHO HE CAMPAIGNED IN KENYA FOR)followers tried to march from Kibera to Nairobi.

A supporter of the presidential challenger Raila Odinga (OBAMAS FIRST COUSIN, WHO HE CAMPAIGNED FOR IN KENYA IN 2006) in Kibera, a sprawling slum near the capital, Nairobi.

Odinga supporters riot in December 2007(ODINGA IS BARAK OBMAMS FIRST COUSIN, OBAMA CAMPAIGNED FOR HIM IN KENYA IN 2006)

Malik Obama, older brother to Barack Obama, holds an undated picture of Barak, left, and himself, middle, and an unidentified friend in his shop in eastern Kenya. (Karel Prinsloo, AP)

Gateway Pundit

Where Hope Finally Made a Comeback.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Obama's Militant Muslim Brother Abongo Is Luo Activist

...

In this Obama Family photo are: (bottom row, from left) half-sister Auma, her mother Kezia Obama, Obama's step-grandmother Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama and unknown; (top row, from left) unknown, Barack Obama, half-brother Abongo (Roy) Obama, and three unknowns. (Sun Times)

Barack Obama stands behind Kezia (stepmother) in a Kenyan family shot. Included in the photo is brother Abongo "Roy" Obama who is a Luo activist and a militant Muslim who argues that the black man must "liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture."

"Abongo's new lifestyle has left him lean and clear-eyed, and at the wedding, he looked so dignified in his black African gown with white trim and matching cap that so me of our guests mistook him for my father," Obama wrote in Dreams From My Father.

Barack Obama's cousin Raila Odinga is accused of ethnic cleansing and is currently battling for power in Kenya.

Barack has stated his support for Luo Opposition Leader in Kenya RaRaila Odinga (who signed a Shariah pact with Muslims and claims to be Obama's cousin) and is married to Ida Odinga. They have four children - two sons and two daughters. His oldest son, Fidel, is named after Fidel Castro.


Malik Obama, older brother to Barack Obama, holds an undated picture of Barak, left, and himself, middle, and an unidentified friend in his shop in eastern Kenya. (Karel Prinsloo, AP)

Related... Dan Riehl has the strange new Obama ad about all of the "Muslims rounded up" without the benefit of an attorney.

Via Instapundit,

posted by Gateway Pundit at 3/01/2008 10:21:00 PM

THIS IS FROM THE SOB'S WEBSITE

"Barack Obama Is Not and Has Never Been a Muslim.

Obama never prayed in a mosque.

He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ.

OK, SO NOW THE SOB IS GOING TO TELL THE BIG LIE AND GET AWAY WITH IT?

HELL NO.

HE NEEDS TO BE FORCED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION ON WHETHER HE HAS EVER PRAYED IN A MOSQUE.

Was Obama Ever a Muslim?

"I've always been a Christian," said Obama, focusing on his own personal lack of practice of Islam as a child to deny any connection to Islam. But Muslims do not see practice as key. For them, that he was born to a line of Muslim males makes him born a Muslim. Further, all children born with an Arabic name based on the H-S-N trilateral root (Hussein, Hassan, and others) can be assumed to be Muslim, so they will understand Obama's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, to proclaim him a born Muslim.

More: family and friends considered him as a child to be Muslim. In "Obama Debunks Claim About Islamic School," Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press wrote on January 24, 2007, that Obama's mother, divorced from Obama's father, married a man from Indonesia named Lolo Soetoro, and the family relocated to the country from 1967-71.

At first, Obama attended the Catholic school, Fransiskus Assisis, where documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim, the religion of his stepfather. The document required that each student choose one of five state-sanctioned religions when registering – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant.

Asked about this, Obama communications director Robert Gibbs responded by indicating to Pickler that he wasn't sure why the document had Obama listed as a Muslim. "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim."

Two months later, Paul Watson of the Los Angeles Times (available online in a Baltimore Sun reprint) reported that the Obama campaign had retreated from that absolute statement and instead issued a more nuanced one: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim." The Times looked into the matter further and learned more about his Indonesian interlude:

His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both schools he attended. That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.

The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. "We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Zulfin Adi. … Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only "for big communal events," not every Friday.

Recalling Obama's time in Indonesia, the Times account contains quotes that Obama "went to the mosque," and that he "was Muslim."

Summarized, available evidence suggests Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father. At some point, he converted to Christianity. It appears false to state, as Obama does, "I've always been a Christian" and "I've never practiced Islam." The campaign appears to be either ignorant or fabricating when it states that "Obama never prayed in a mosque."-Daniel Pipes

OBAMA WAS BORN MUSLIM AND PRAYED TO MECCA AS A BOY

[PGalt]

I think that is her two-millionth (2,000,000) lie. That moves her into 5th place in the rankings of all time liars in world history. She is only 1 of 2 Americans in the top 100. Her husband is the other.

[illiac]

She’ll probably argue that she was in 5th place first......

[PGalt]

Thanks for the update. “Power sharing”...isn’t that what the Dem - rats/collectivists/socialist/thugs in Congress wanted when they were in the minority? Isn’t that what Islam wants when Sharia law is put forth as a parallel legal system in a western democracy(republic)?

Ominous parallels.

[upchuck]

Boy, Jake Tapper has really been on her case lately. If I recall, he was a Clinton a** kisser when Bill was CIC.

You're right (no pun intended :). But that's because Jake wants Barry as the next POTUS.

[Nathan Zachary]

Whats really amazing is that democrats are trying to win the whitehouse by boasting who was first in undermining our efforts in Iraq, who was first giving aid and comfort to the enemy, who was first destroying our credibility in the international community, who was first bashing our own nation, first to try spring murderous terrorists from prison with American taxpayers money, first to call our troops murderous baby killers etc etc.

Shamefull. Just shamefull.

[vietvet67]

Her comments in 05 about troop withdrawals would make a good McCain campaign commercial..

[Oldexpat]

And now in the US..we face riots if Obama loses to Clinton and if we have a cliff hanger like 02..or if Obama loses we face riots.
And which party is the party of peace?

[uncbob]

In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press on February 20, 2005, Clinton said ETC ETC ETC

What she said at that interview was excellent --problem is she changes every week depending on what the left wing wackos want to hear

[Malesherbes]

BO is lying through his teeth every day but the MSM doesn’t notice because they’re having so much fun with Hillary’s whoppers.

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* !

[AwesomePossum]

One of the most important things to consider, IMHO, is the many, many, many times Hillary has changed her mind on Iraq. It's like watching a tennis game. She's for kicking butt, no, wait, she's for getting out now, no, wait, she's for more funding, no, wait, she's for less funding, no, wait, she's for no funding, no, wait, there must be a timetable, no, wait, there should be no timetable, no, wait, Saddam was building WMDs, no, wait, there is no evidence of building WMDs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, on and on and on, etc., etc., etc...............

Troops under her command would be even more depressed and demoralized than troops were under the command of her brutal and white collar criminal husband.........

The main thing that disqualifies her as to even being considered for CIC, IMHO, is the fact that she voted against funding the Troops, while said Troops were/are engaged in war, a war she at various times has supported...........

I thin' she's borderline schizoid...........

:}

[fella]

As soon as Osama drops a house on her the sooner we can all go out in the street to sing and dance.