By William A. Mayer - Editor & Publisher
December 5, 2001
Hillary Clinton is attempting to reinvent herself again which, all things considered, is not the worst idea she's ever had.
It's just that this time the effort is so bald-faced and obviously self-serving that we simply can't resist triangulating a bit in her direction.
"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton warned on Sunday that the United States would "root out" any terrorist elements in Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority" Verena Dobnick, 12/2/01 Associated Press
What a curious turnaround for the junior Senator from New York to take; especially considering her earlier support for a Palestinian state presumably to be headed by "Chairman Arafat".
"Speaking by satellite from Washington...Hillary Rodham Clinton said today..."Well, I think that it will be in the long-term interest of the Middle East for Palestine to be a state, to be a state that is responsible for its citizens' well-being, a state that has responsibility for providing education and health care and economic opportunity to its citizens." In Washington, Marsha Berry, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Clinton, said that the First Lady was giving her own personal views and that they did not represent the position of the Clinton Administration." 5/7/98 New York Times
Before it became political suicide to support Arafat, Hillary was always and consistently to the left of even the Clinton administration on this issue, not only supporting a fully functional Palestinian state [all the trimmings; an army, independent foreign policy, ability to make treaties & kill Jews, etc.] but greedily seeking out accepting campaign contributions from noted Hamas activists.
"...her Senate campaign has returned $50,000 collected at a Boston fundraiser...The First Lady posed for photos holding a plaque given to her by the event's organizers. It expressed the appreciation of the American Muslim Alliance for her human-rights activism. Mrs. Clinton now says she didn't know the award was from the Alliance, even though the group's name was emblazoned on the trophy in large letters. "I get handed thousands of plaques," Mrs. Clinton now says. Alas for the First Lady, the American Muslim Alliance's national president, Agha Saeed...believes the Palestinians "have the right to resist by armed force"
A code word for terrorism that, when viewed through the lens of the 9/11 attacks, even Hillary can't hide from.
"...Her Senate campaign returned a $1,000 contribution from Abduraham Alamoudi of the American Muslim Council [Editor's note: Almoudi's organization was misrepresented by the Clinton Senate campaign as "The American Museum Council"]...Alamoudi declared: "We are the ones who went to the White House and defended what is called Hamas," the Palestinian terrorist group whose 1994 -1996 suicide-bombing campaign killed 130 people and wounded some 600 others. Shortly after one of its bombs exploded in Jerusalem in August 1997, Alamoudi told Fox News about Hamas: "I think it's a freedom-fighting organization." Deroy Murdock - Scripps Howard News Service 10/25/00
Clinton's ill-fated Republican Senate opponent, Rick Lazio, in an October 2000 speech to students at Syracuse University, clearly demarcated the wide chasm between the two positions.
"If there was ever evidence that Arafat is not interested in peace, the blood in the streets of Jerusalem is it," said Lazio, a four-term Republican congressman from Long Island. "The peace process is dying, for the time being at least, and responsibility for this lies squarely with Yasser Arafat."
Of course Lazio was branded as an extremist for suggesting that Arafat and PLO were mere terrorists but then the World Trade Towers were still standing.
“During Mr. Clinton's presidency, American Muslim organizations were welcome in the White House and Mr. Arafat had accumulated an enviable amount of frequent flyer miles from his trips to Washington" - Muqtedar Khan, assistant t professor of political science at Adrian College, Michigan
Frequent flyer miles indeed.
Yasser Arafat made more trips and spent more time at the White House during the Clinton years than any other foreign leader and who can forget the Rose Garden meeting where Bawdy Billy kept Yasser waiting nearly an hour while he got "spiritual counseling" from a certain ditzy young intern entrusted to his care.
One has to presume that since Hillary supported Arafat even more than her husband, that she did indeed also support Yasser's White House revolving door and there is no denying she wasn't exactly repulsed by his comely wifey.
Hillary checking Suha's ear lobes for a possible cache of C-4
More to the point, there does seem to be a disjunct when the former First Lady refers to Arafat - until last Sunday, she gave no hint whatsoever that she considered him a terrorist, preferring instead to lay blame among his associates at worst - as if the head didn't know what the hands were doing on the PLO body.
"Chairman Arafat said he would continue to do all he could to combat terrorism, specifically Hamas but other groups as well, and I am satisfied with the response he gave and I believe he will attempt to implement it". - Hillary October 1994
With no evidence to the contrary, and given her history, we must assume that she also supported her husband's reckless intervention in Israel's electoral process - which sent James Carville, pollster Stanley Greenberg, and media specialist Robert Strum to Jerusalem to assist Ehud Barak in defeating Binyamin Netanyahu.
On Yom Kippur Eve in September 1998 Clinton lied to Netanyahu to get him to sign the "Territory for Peace" accord at the Wye Plantation, promising the release of convicted spy Johnathan Pollard in return.
Members of Netanyahu's inner cabinet (Sharon, Sharansky and Mordachai) were present and confirmed the deal.
"Bibi went to Wye knowing that Clinton would immediately release Pollard with the signing of the agreement with the Palestinians."
The Senator from New York has admitted lobbying her husband to grant Pollard a pardon thus completing the circle.
When viewed separately the above noted facts showcase Hillary Clinton's cavalier disregard for both US security and the truth, however when taken as a whole they outline a damning legacy of deceit and treachery which is what the Clintons have always been about - they are inseparable allies in self-aggrandizement with an effete contempt for anything that stands in their way.
Chameleon image ©Twisted Walleye Studios, used with permission.