Barack Obama's aide suggested renege on Iraq troop pledge

[Dos Equis]

Poor lady got caught in a moment of truth and lost her job. 

Barack Obama's aide suggested renege on Iraq troop pledge
BY MICHAEL SAUL in New York and KENNETH R. BAZINET in Washington
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, March 8th 2008, 4:00 AM
 
Obama, who came under heavy attack from Hillary Clinton, is expected to win state caucuses.
Samantha Power paid for her "monster" dig by resigning Sunday, but Hillary Clinton's campaign seized on potentially more damaging remarks suggesting Barack Obama might renege on his pledge to pull U.S. troops from Iraq promptly.

Even before the Harvard professor and Obama's chief outside foreign policy adviser stepped down, the Clinton camp was gleefully circulating another interview where Power called Obama's 16-month withdrawal plan "the best-case scenario."

"[Obama] will, of course, not rely on some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. senator," Power told the BBC in what the Clinton campaign flagged as eyebrow-raising remarks.

"He will rely upon a plan - an operational plan - that he pulls together in consultation with people who are on the ground to whom he doesn't have daily access now, as a result of not being the President," she said.

Aides to Hillary Clinton jumped all over those comments, charging in a hastily planned conference call that it was an example of more empty words by Obama.

"The impression that one thing is said for political purposes perhaps and another thing is what's actually going to happen, is amateur hour on making foreign policy," said Clinton foreign policy adviser Jamie Rubin, a State Department spokesman in the Clinton administration.

"On foreign affairs, in particular, words matter," Rubin added. "He can't seem to run a foreign policy team the way it's supposed to run."

Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark added that Power's Iraq comments were "quite disturbing."

Bomb-lobbing spokesman Howard Wolfson, who a day earlier compared Obama to Clinton nemesis Ken Starr, contended Power's remarks fit a troubling pattern: "Again we are seeing the difference between talk and action."

Obama's team charged Clinton's aides were distorting what Power had said for political advantage.

Obama responded himself in Wyoming, blasting Clinton for hurling mud to divert attention from her vote backing the war.

"Sen. Clinton used this to try to imply that I wasn't serious about bringing this war to an end....Don't be confused," Obama said.

"Sen. Clinton is not even willing to acknowledge that she voted for war," he added. "So I don't want to play politics on this issue because she doesn't have standing to question my position on this issue."

These new dustups come as Wyoming holds caucuses today with 15 delegates up for grabs. A Clinton source conceded Obama will likely win easily, padding his overall lead in delegates slightly.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/03/08/2008-03-08_barack_obamas_aide_suggested_renege_on_i.html

[headhuntersix]

What u thought we were going to pull out in 90 days...sorry libs..we're not going anywhere.

[240 is Back]

What u thought we were going to pull out in 90 days...sorry libs..we're not going anywhere.

yeah, all 3 candidates have virtually the same position on this issue now.  They'll get us out as soon as the mission dictates and the military commanders decide.

The war should be a non-issue at this point.  The Prez' job is nat'l cheerleader and manager of those who are far more experienced and wise in these areas than he/she is.   Of course neither Obama nor Mccain will know as much about what iraq needs as a Gen Patraeus will.  Just like we don't want Mccain making sweeping economic changes or hilary making widespread healthcare changes - they'll speak on what they'd like to do, then they'll turn over the reigns to the reality of circumstances and options to those people who are the smartest in the world in those areas.

[Soul Crusher]

Samantha Power to be the next Secretary of State?
Irish Central ^ | 04/02/11 | Cathy Hayes



A flattering New York Times profile has increased speculation that Samantha Power, the Dublin-born aide to President Obama, could be his next Secretary of State or National Security Adviser.

She has been the main architect, along with Hillary Clinton, of the Libya policy and has an increasing influence in the White House inner circle.

No Irish-born person in recent history has had such influence on a president. Power, now 40, moved to the US from Ireland at age 10.

With Hillary Clinton due to step down after Obama’s first term, she would be a live candidate to succeed her if Obama wins re-election.

The Times reported that on Monday night last, Samantha Power took to the podium at Columbia University in New York two hours before President Obama was due to address the nation on Libya and received a rock star reception.

Power, who is one of Obama’s key advisers on foreign policy, insisted that Libya was not going to be the main topic of conversation.

“I’m not going to talk much about Libya,” she said, as quoted in The Times.

However, when later questioned she defended the administration’s decision in establishing a no-fly zone, adding failure to do so would have been “extremely chilling, deadly and indeed a stain on our collective conscience.”

Since she began her career working as a war correspondant in Bosnia at the tender age of 22, Power has believed that nations have a moral obligation to prevent genocide. She can bring life to these ideals from her position of the National Security Council.

“She is clearly the foremost voice for human rights within the White House,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told the New York Times “and she has Obama’s ear.”

Power won a Pulitzer Prize for her 2002 book on genocide, entitled “A Problem from Hell,” which examined the U.S. foreign policy response to genocide.

The book argues that the Armenia, Nazi Germany, Cambodia and Rwanda genocides occurred because of government authorities averted their eyes and individuals made the choice not to intervene.

“The most common response,” Ms. Power wrote, “is, ‘We didn’t know.’ This is not true.”

Some of her critics say that she could be pushing the U.S. into another Iraq. The conservative blog American Thinker says that Obama has “outsourced foreign policy” to the Dublin woman. She has also drawn the ire of the Israeli lobby for her pro-Palestinian positions.

Power attempts to keep a low profile after she described Hillary Rodham Clinton as "a monster" during the 2008 presidential election campaign. Her remarks saw her step down from her position as an advisor on Obama’s campaign. Since then, the women have reconciled.

Obama initially headhunted Power in 2005, after reading her book. After a long meeting, Power decided to take leave from her Harvard professorship to work for the then senator.

Despite her efforts to remain low key, the Dublin woman has an impressive artillery with two Ivy League degrees (Yale undergraduate, Harvard Law).

She once posed in an evening gown for Men’s Vogue and played a game of basketball with George Clooney. She has been described by the Daily Beast as “the femme fatale of the humanitarian assistance world.”

[Fury]

This woman is bad news. Her becoming SOS would be a disaster.

[Soul Crusher]

This woman is bad news. Her becoming SOS would be a disaster.

After the disaster that is unfolding in Lybia - I dont think she will get it. 

Batchelor show last night was brutal as to the mess we created in lybia.   

[Fury]

After the disaster that is unfolding in Lybia - I dont think she will get it. 

Batchelor show last night was brutal as to the mess we created in lybia.   

Haha, wait for the thread I'm about to start in 5 minutes. You want to see bad.