QandO

July 26, 2004

Clinton on Bush
Posted by McQ

Interesting Brownstein column in the LA Times today where Clinton steps up criticism of Bush:

"The American people can decide who they think is right and wrong, but the Bush administration believed Iraq was far and away the biggest security problem of the country, despite the fact that there was more support for Al Qaeda within Pakistan and now we know more contacts with Iran,"

Two obvious points. Pakistan cooperated and is still cooperating, so the point of Clinton's critique concerning Pakistan has absolutely no merit. Second obvious point, which was clearly pointed out in the 911 report is that Bush did not believe "Iraq was far and away the biggest security problem of the country" as is witnessed by the attack on Afghanistan a year before Iraq. As reported in the 911 report:

Powell said that President Bush did not give Wolfowitz’s argument “much weight.” Though continuing to worry about Iraq in the following week, Powell said, President Bush saw Afghanistan as the priority. [...] Iraq was not even on the table during the September 15 afternoon session, which dealt solely with Afghanistan.

Apparently Clinton and Maureen Dowd have been comparing notes. It'd be nice if they'd consult a credible source.

He's just as exercised about Bush's doctrine of military preemption. "I think it's a very tricky, slippery slope," he said. "I think you have to be under an imminent threat to justify any kind of preemptive attack. First of all, it was never realistic because we are not going to go to war with Iran or North Korea. I think it's hard to even think of another case."

We have to be under imminent threat to justify any kind of preemptive attack? Well tell us, Mr. Clinton, what "imminent threat" did we suffer under as concerns Kosovo? This reeks of the usual Clintonian redefinition ploy.... the matter depending on what the definition of "is" is. Its the ultimate in selective memory and redfining his own "preemptive" tactics in the Balkins as something other than what they were.

"On balance," Clinton said, "Bush domestic policy is to cut taxes no matter what it does to the deficit and to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of people who share his values and economic interests. Abroad, his policy is to act alone whenever we can and cooperate whenever we have to.

This, of course, is simply pure and utter nonsense as concerns tax cuts. As has been shown here at Q and O, every one of Clinton's marginal rates was lowered in the Bush tax cuts, which means, quite simply, that it wasn't a tax cut for the rich, but a tax cut for all tax brackets. The spending, however, is inexcusable as far as I'm concerned and needs to be condemned as well as reigned in .... now.

A better way of stating Clinton's last characterization is to say Bush will act alone if he has too when the security of the US is at stake. That's what makes him a leader, something neither Clinton, or for that matter Kerry, seem to be able to grasp. But to characterize the Bush foreign policy as a preference for going it alone is just nonsense. The coalition of the willing simply puts lie to that assertion.

"Kerry's policy at home," Clinton continued, "is to say that we ought to have a government that has more fiscal responsibility and takes more initiative in education and healthcare, changes the energy and environment policy of the country to generate jobs and improve the environment and combat global warming. Abroad, he thinks we should cooperate whenever we can and act alone whenever we need to."

Well that's the Democrat line anyway. Nothing in all of the pandering Kerry has done during his campaign speaks to "more fiscal responsibility", especially when he speaks about healthcare or his other programs.

And its interesting that the guy who was charged by Congress in 1990 to come up with a strategic plan to address the possibilty of global warming never did so in the 8 years his administration was in Washington DC, while the Bush administration put the first ever plan together to do so, as well as spending more on the study of global warming that Japan and Europe combined. Yet Clinton jabs Bush concerning environmental policy? Pathetic.

But he believes Bush has taken significantly wrong turns in the war on terrorism, partly by downplaying the U.S. role in brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace, mostly by shifting resources and energy from Al Qaeda to the invasion of Iraq, especially given the global divisions over the war.

"We have an overstressed military, and we have committed far more resources to Iraq than to Al Qaeda," Clinton said pointedly. "I don't think every American president would have made that decision."

A couple of points here. Yes we have an overstressed military at this point, but its not because its in Iraq trying to rebuild it vs. chasing al Qaeda as Clinton would like to pretend (although it is due partly to the massive cuts in manpower for which Clinton is responsible).

Again Clinton's lack of understanding of the miltary shows itself. The war against al Qaeda is not going to be fought by conventional military forces, and those are the forces in Iraq. Its going to be fought by unconventional forces, law enforcment and intelligence agents (conventional forces in Afghanistan now are there primarily in a stability role). And those are who are in Afghanistan hunting al Qaeda. To continue to make the argument that Iraq detracted from going after al Qaeda is simply disingenuous.

Believe it or not the military can allocate assets, prioritize and multi-task. The fact that we're in Iraq, for instance, doesn't stop the missions in 147 other countries around the world where we have military missions in right now.

Would Clinton have invaded? As president, he portrayed former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as a threat in vivid language conservatives often quote today. And apart from asking whether Bush was moving too fast, he didn't publicly challenge his successor's decision at the time. Now, without answering definitively, Clinton strongly implies he would not have launched the war.

"I would have let [U.N. inspectors] finish their work, and then I would have decided," he said. "But the factors in my thinking would have been how well we were doing in Afghanistan stabilizing the entire country, and what our reasonable prospects of getting [Al Qaeda leader Osama] bin Laden were. I still think he was the biggest threat to the country."

I'd love to know how he'd have "let" the inspectors finish their work when he'd have had absolutely no control over them being able to do so. While his rhetoric now suggests he would have not gone in, his rhetoric and that of others second-guessing Democrats sure was singing a different tune in 1998.

One other thing to remember .... Clinton is now singing this tune with perfect 20/20 hindsight and the benefit of knowing what he nor Bush knew before the invasion of Iraq. And that makes it just more in a seeming gale of political hot air rather than a valid critique of the actions taken by the Bush administration.

But then, keeping perspective, it is the election season.

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