Washington (AFP) - Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton blamed the rise of Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria on failures of US policy under President Barack Obama, in an interview published Sunday.
Posted on 08/11/2014 5:25:19 AM PDT by McGruff
White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes is now publicly responding to criticism from Hillary Clinton of Barack Obama's foreign policy. "On the broad thrust of our foreign policy, she was fully on board," Rhodes tells Politico.
Hillary Clinton did a recent interview where she was seen to have been bashing elements of Obama's foreign policy.
President Obama has long ridiculed the idea that the U.S., early in the Syrian civil war, could have shaped the forces fighting the Assad regime, thereby stopping al Qaeda-inspired groups—like the one rampaging across Syria and Iraq today—from seizing control of the rebellion. In an interview in February, the president told me that “when you have a professional army ... fighting against a farmer, a carpenter, an engineer who started out as protesters and suddenly now see themselves in the midst of a civil conflict—the notion that we could have, in a clean way that didn’t commit U.S. military forces, changed the equation on the ground there was never true.”
Well, his former secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, isn’t buying it. In an interview with me earlier this week, she used her sharpest language yet to describe the "failure" that resulted from the decision to keep the U.S. on the sidelines during the first phase of the Syrian uprising.
Of course, Clinton had many kind words for the “incredibly intelligent” and “thoughtful” Obama, and she expressed sympathy and understanding for the devilishly complicated challenges he faces. But she also suggested that she finds his approach to foreign policy overly cautious, and she made the case that America needs a leader who believes that the country, despite its various missteps, is an indispensable force for good. At one point, I mentioned the slogan President Obama recently coined to describe his foreign-policy doctrine: “Don’t do stupid shit” (an expression often rendered as “Don’t do stupid stuff” in less-than-private encounters).
This is what Clinton said about Obama’s slogan: “Great nations need organizing principles, and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.”
Rhodes tells Politico that Clinton and Obama are close, and that they try not to surprise each other.
“We have been able to have a no-surprises culture, and that is rooted in the fact that we have very deep personal relationships,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser. “She is going to do what she is going to do, and she is going to say what she is going to say, but generally the lines of communication are such that there are no surprises on the big issues that come up.” ...
The Clinton camp also shared a draft of her book with Rhodes before the publication.
“The goal wasn’t to give anyone a veto,” said one associate familiar with the book-writing process. “It was to have a no-surprises policy.”
“It would have been strange if she wrote a book in which she agreed with every single thing we did,” Politico reported Rhodes as saying. “On the broad thrust of our foreign policy, she was fully on board. There are also going to be places where she is going to have differences.”
If you look at Hillary’s legs (something I care not to do), they appear to have severe edema. That is a sign of uncontrolled hypertension or the alternative is she is fat beyond belief which is also a health issue.
Yes I know she is a liar but as with King Putt, if the MSM does not point this out, how much affect does it have to know she is lying? Kind of like the old question: if a tree falls in the forest and no one is present, does it make a sound?
King Putt now says he did not order any withdrawal from Iraq. Crickets from the press. Next up, purge of all internet documents and videos which indicate such. As the election draws closer, Hitlery will say, and no one will point out otherwise, things were OK when she left, Kerry screwed it up. The press will parrot that commentary and King Putt will have his scape goat too.
And the circus parade continues along with the country playing the roll of trying to clean up after it goes by.
I’m trying to decide if this is a bad joke, a nightmare or both. The current “leader” class is disgusting.
hehehehehehe
This is a tough one...two notorious liars..who to believe?
Its interesting - what we are seeing with Hillary! right now - the missteps, gaffes, the bumbling & grasping at straws - is what would happen to any leftist candidate without the filter provided by the marxist press.
Obviously, she is racist.
Isn’t this an awkward time for Obama to get into a purse fight with Hillary? Did she cross a red line or something?
While he might actually be able to battle the witch to a draw in such a slapfest, fighting with an old woman is hardly going to impress Putin, ISIS, China, Hamas, and the rest of the evildoers.
It looked to me as though the WH may back Elizabeth Warren.
if Republican win big this fall, the media hive will strongly rally to Hillary’s “distancing” strategy from King Putt
It took years, but I finally know what it means.
“Stupid is as stupid does.” - A stupid person will do stupid things.
It took years, but I finally know what it means.
“Stupid is as stupid does.” - A stupid person will do stupid things.
Hillary is setting herself up for the election, she is setting the stage for when/if she is elected, she can blame everything on her predecessor, just like Baryy has done. It’s a DemocRAT thing.
I’m gonna go with FAT.
Allegedly, the MB was involved in the attack on Benghazi. Hmmmm....
Dems distancing themselves from their self proclaimed “Messiah.” Thinking back to 6 years ago, it’s fun and satisfying to see this unfold.
I consider this to be an interesting development. For starters, Hillary bumbled and stumbled horribly in her practice campaign with the release of Hard Choices and now the Obama WH is favoring Elizabeth Warren. The only problem with Warren getting the nod is that an Obama endorsement at this point is toxic in a Presidential race and maybe even a Dem primary. I don't expect Obama to not interject himself in the next race, due to his large ego and God complex, and I think this is great news for 2016 because he is kryptonite to the Dems.
Obama is not even Junior Varsity. What a putz.
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