You couldn't make this stuff up. An ex-president famous for his ineffective foreign policy and his misuse of the military is now presuming to join Senator McCain in beating the drums for yet another war in Syria on behalf of al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood:
Bill Clinton told Sen. John McCain he agrees that President Barack Obama should act more forcefully to support anti-Assad rebels in Syria, saying the American public elects presidents and members of Congress “to see down the road” and “to win.”
At another point during a closed-press event Tuesday, Clinton implied that Obama or any president risks looking like “a total fool” if they listen too closely to opinion polls and act too cautiously. He used his own decisions on Kosovo and Bosnia as a point of reference.
“Some people say, ‘Okay, see what a big mess it is? Stay out!’ I think that’s a big mistake. I agree with you about this,” Clinton told McCain during an event for the McCain Institute for International Leadership in Manhattan Tuesday night. “Sometimes it’s just best to get caught trying, as long as you don’t overcommit — like, as long as you don’t make an improvident commitment.”
Goodness,I can't imagine why Mr. Bill didn't mention some of his other foreign pollicy accomplishments - sending under equipped Marines to die and be dragged through the streets in Somalia for no good reason, arm twisting Israel to allow a terrorist reichlet on her borders for Clinton's good friend Yasser Arafat, or his farcical agreement with the malignant Kim il-Jong of North Korea that ended up paving the way for the creation of a rogue nuclear nation.
Then there was his totally ignoring the continuing uptick in Islamist terrorist attacks, starting with the first World Trade Center bombing. Not only did Clinton pass on golden opportunities to kill or take custody of Osama bin-Laden, he had his deputy Attorney General, Jamie Gorelick, build a 'wall' between various American intelligence agencies and forbid intelligence outfits like Able Danger from sharing intel on Mohammed Atta and some of the other hijackers with other intelligence agencies - because it might prejudice these non-citizen's legal rights!
And Bosnia? What did Mr. Bill do there except exactly what he criticized his successor for a few years later - intervene in a sectarian civil war? And President Clinton decided to take sides not with an historic ally, Serbia, but with insurgent Muslims in what was supposed to be a temporary involvement.The general he appointed to oversea bombing the Serbian civilians from the air, Wesley Clark was so incompetent that even Mr. Bill had to relieve him from command.We're still there almost two decades later.
Then there was Clinton's payback to his old friends and campaign donors the Chinese People's Liberation Army connected Riyadi brothers, who loaned him a million dollars (that we know about) after he lost the New Hampshire primary in 1992 and was at the point of going under. Mr. Bill made that payback using heavy Democratic party donor and defense contractor Loral to funnel advanced military technology to the Chinese as fast as he could sign the paperwork. Most military analysts estimate that the Chinese made a Great Leap Forward of at least two decades in military technology during the eight years of Clinton's two terms.
He's the only president whom the Secret Service by their own admission couldn't locate at several crucial moments, and the only one ever to lose the 'credit card' containing the codes needed to launch a nuclear attack.
As President, he holds the distinction of leaving the United States weaker and more vulnerable than it was when he took over, although he managed to do pretty well for himself financially, entering the White House as a relatively poor man and ending up as a multimillionaire.
And this is the president who presumes to offer advice on foreign policy? Bill Clinton?
Him? The guy who gave new meaning to the phrase 'have a cigar'? The guy who said that the nation he felt was most democratic and that he felt most ideologically close to was the Islamic Republic of Iran?
William Jefferson Clinton is the luckiest man ever to sit in the White House. Due to a friendly press, his common sense in allowing the Republican congress to do most of the heavy lifting in balancing the budget and his own not inconsiderable skills as a politician and BS artist, he managed to pretty much avoid blame, censure and consequences for the monumental goofs - and worse - that he made while president, except for a few actual felonies he was unable to avoid getting indicted but not otherwise punished for.
Instead, most of the seeds sown by his errors while president blossomed and bore their poison fruits when he was safely out of office and could sit back and criticize his successor's attempts to clean up the mess, like the classy gentleman he is.
It would be a real benefit for the country if he was simply content to enjoy his wealth, his interns and his good fortune and keep his mouth shut.
Unfortunately, no such luck.
2 comments:
You'd have to speak to Bill Clinton and a lot of his fellow Democrats about that.
Personally, I assume they're talking about Iraq, where we overthrew a Sunni dictatorship and oversaw the implementing of a Shi'ite one.
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