Albright laments rash 'exuberance' over Iraq

FinancialTimes ^ | Last Updated: September 26 2002 20:37 | James Harding in Washington

[tomball]

Madeleine Albright, the US secretary of state under Bill Clinton, on Thursday accused some members of the Bush administration of an "irrational exuberance for this conflict" with Iraq.

Speaking before the Senate committee on foreign relations, Ms Albright said: "It is not an American trait to want war.

"And it is not a sign of sound leadership to understate the risks of war or to offer constantly shifting rationales - as this administration has - for undertaking such a venture," Ms Albright said.

Her comments followed a speech earlier this week by Al Gore, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2000, who criticised the Bush administration for its handling of the war on terror and warned against a unilateral assault on Iraq.

Taken together, the criticism offers a rallying call for what has so far been generally muted Democrat opposition to Mr Bush's approach to Iraq.

The president on Thursday met 17 members of the US House of Representatives to encourage support for a tough resolution from Congress authorising the use of force to oust Saddam Hussein.

Ms Albright on Thursday urged Congress to give Mr Bush that authority, but she also called for a more restrictive resolution.

She noted that the language presented by the White House would authorise the use of force unrelated to any specific countries, threats, American interests or periods of time.

Ms Albright warned against pursuing Iraq when the "more urgent threat" remains al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

"This is not the time or place for short attention spans," she said.

She also warned that the US could face a "no-win choice" in the post-Saddam Hussein era.

"A prolonged US military occupation of the country that served as the cultural capital of Islam during that civilisation's Golden Age. . . would hand a new organising tool to anti-American terrorists worldwide."

On the other hand, a quick withdrawal could plunge the country into factionalism and civil war.

"It is naive to think that a peaceful and democratic Iraq will automatically emerge from the ashes of our invasion," Ms Albright said.

Also appearing before the Senate foreign relations committee was Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state.

Mr Kissinger also urged Congress to give the president the authority to use military force, but he raised concerns about the Bush administration's commitment to the principle of pre-emptive military action.

"It cannot be either the American national interest or the world's interest to develop principles that grant every nation an unfettered right of pre-emption against its own definition of threats to its security," Mr Kissinger said.

He also called on the administration, in conjunction with other great powers, to establish a new international order to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

[Howlin]

Nope. Wish I did.

[The Great Satan]

Not Very Diplomatic Report: Albright Livid When Mistaken for Maid
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was not amused when some Albanian diplomats mistook her for a hotel cleaning lady. (Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)

By Eric Wagner

W A S H I N G T O N, Feb. 4

— When a bunch of Albanians mistook Madeleine Albright for a hotel cleaning lady, the secretary of state spewed a most-undiplomatic, and untranslatable, stream of invective, a newspaper reports.
     A State Department spokesman wouldn’t comment on the New York Daily News report that Albright was mistaken for a maid during last year’s peace negotiations for Kosovo in Rambouillet, France.
     Albright at first wasn’t recognized by the Albanian delegation when she walked into their room, it said.
     “One member of the delegation, who didn’t realize who she was, and probably thinking she was some cleaning lady because it was after midnight, simply said to her, ‘Give us five minutes and please go away,’” recalled Albanian diplomat Dugagjin Gorani in War on Europe, a British TV program.
     Instead, Albright exploded in rage, swearing at the group, according to the reports.
     “Mrs. Albright started using explicit language which the translators never could translate into Albanian,” says Veton Surroi, another member of the delegation.

[Brian Allen]

<< "This is not the time or place for short attention spans," she said ..... On the other hand, a quick withdrawal could plunge .... into .... >>

Sounds as if she is reminiscing for the Beezelbubba's oral orifice sink, days.

[Great Dane]

Ms Albright said: "It is not an American trait to want war."

Thats not what she said when Clinton bombed Serbia.

[Great Dane]

I am not sure. here in Canada the CBC opened new campaing against the Serbs again. Over and over the same story, didn't change a single line for almost 3 years.

You noticed that too, huh, wouldn't it be nice if they would also run, "Yugoslavia, the avoidable war."

[Liberty Teeth]

This little troll should stay under the bridge she stumbled out from under.

War criminal.

[Great Dane]

#42....... I just love that story.

[paul51]

After the mess these incompetent fools created , one would think they would have the good sense to just keep quiet and disappear. Can they honestly believe anyone cares what they think now?

[Naplm]

Aldumb, how bought serving yourself a big cup of SHUT the F@#$ UP!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

One thing you can say for the Clintonistas; they have their army of kneepadders well-trained.

Another thing you can say for them, when Albright was SoS their was precious little 'exuberance' over anything.

[dalebert]

Allbutt is still the pits.

[DoughtyOne]

If my theory holds, the Dems have a lot riding on this. If you look at who the beneficiaries of their politicing have been for the last forty or fifty years, you soon realize that Iraq and the PLO need some bolstering about now. If only they can turn things around...

When Johnson was in office the Dems thought it was very important to send 500,000 troops to Vietnam. When Nixon took over it was very important to withdraw all our troops. During the cold the Dems often fought Reagan to prevent him from calling the USSR the Evil Empire, to force agreements at Raciavik, to keep the Pershings out of Europe, to forget about SDI. They tried to oppose Bush on Iraq I. Now they're opposing him on Iraq II. They loved Jerry Adams, think Arafat is a statesman and damn Israel constantly for defending themselves.

Figure out who our enemies are. That'll tell you what the Dem course of action will be.

They don't always come out and say it. They're rather devious. They'll say something like, "Well lose thousands if we send our men to Afghanistan." It all amounts to the same thing. Go negative on the actions we must take, play down the acts of our enemies.

Name an evil organization on the planet and you'll be able to tie some of their people to a common org that is also supported by the Democrats.

[dfwgator]

Shut up Miss Korbel you Serb-killer.

[UnBlinkingEye]

Hang her high.

She's a murdering war criminal.

[fire_eye]

Please don't post pictures of Albright here. This is a family website.

[backhoe]

-Iraq...NBC Warfare...Terror--

[iranger]

"It is not an American trait to want war."

Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.-Gen George S. Patton

[Great Dane]

#58...... On surfing the net last night, I happened to hit on Nightline, they were running all the old lies about the Serbs, including the 7-8.000 killed in Bosnia...... you know, the mass graves which were never found, and the famous picture of skeleton people behind barbed wire.... I couldn't believe my eyes.

[aristeides]

Was SecDef Cohen kept out of the loop in the planning for the aspirin factory bombing? I know the service chiefs were (Joint Chiefs Chairman Shelton was kept informed, but he was ordered not to tell anyone else in uniform.)