Hillary brought peace to Ireland !!

Hillary's recent comment

Can some one ask Hillary's campaign exactly how she brought peace to Ireland.

From today's CNN interview:

Q:  Can you tell us what specific experience in handling a crisis that you can point to that would make you better equipped to handle that White House phone at 3 a.m.?

A:  Well, of course, I've got a lifetime of experience. Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience.  Senator Obama's whole campaign is about one speech he made in 2002.  You know, I was involved for fifteen years in, you know, foreign policy and security policy.  you know, I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.  I negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safey from Kosovo.  I've been standing up against the Chinese Government over women's and standing up for human rights in many different places.  I served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and I was the only Senator, of either party, asked to be on an important task force put together by the Pentagon under this Administration to figure out what to do with our military going forward.  I have so much exerience.  I have experience traveling to more than 80 countries representing the United States, sitting down with Presidents and Prime Ministers and Kings, having the chance to represent our coutnry in some very dificult situations.  I'm offering a lifetime of experience and I think that's a sharp contrast to my opponent's offer.

•  Hey, at least

  give me a little credit for the transcribing, if you're going to steal my typing.  The whole diary, along with Obama's gaffe, is HERE.

  by dhonig on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 09:57:05 AM PDT

  •  Sorry

    it's my first diary. Full credit to dhonig

    by nerdngeek on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 09:59:45 AM PDT

    •  Don't apololgize.

      dhonig's diary has a completely different perspective.  

      by gchaucer2 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:07:44 AM PDT

  •  Not sure how this

    is your diary -- same interview -- different viewpoint.  Jeebus.

    by gchaucer2 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:07:11 AM PDT

    •  I didn't say it was my diary

      I said it was my transcription.

      by dhonig on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:27:35 AM PDT

      •  I'm confused,

        your transcription is from CNN?  I'm ready to apologize if you are telling me that you listened and transcribed rather than copied the CNN transcription.  That being said, I've had a couple of diaries which lifted stuff from mine and had no problem with it.

        by gchaucer2 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:30:10 AM PDT

        •  yeah, i listened and transcribed

          and yeah, stuff gets lifted all the time.  But when I do it, I try to give a hat-tip.  No problem with the diarist, a first timer.  Not a big deal at all.

          by dhonig on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:47:38 AM PDT

•  Read your own blockquote.

  You left out the word "helped."

  The misquoting of Hillary Clinton on this site is getting quite tiresome.

  by illinifan17 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 09:57:51 AM PDT

  •  How did she help? n/t

    by allmost liberal european on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:00:46 AM PDT

    •  Here

      This was on her fourth of six visits to NI between 1995 and 2000, four with Bill and two alone.  Apparently the BBC thinks she helped.

      Sorry to bother you with facts.  I know that irrational hatred is more fun for you.

      by illinifan17 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 11:07:35 AM PDT

      •  Clinton exaggerated her role like she has always

        John O'Farrell, a former journalist from Northern Ireland who covered Clinton's visits there, said in a telephone interview that she promoted the involvement of women in politics and in the peace process, but he doubted that she had met with enemies who otherwise would not have spoken to each other. Rather, he said, she was working with people who were already promoting peace.

        "Her heart was always in the right place, no one doubted that," said O'Farrell, who edited a magazine and did some freelance reporting for the Globe. "But the idea of her bringing together fiercely opposed combatants is a considerable exaggeration."

        by TennesseeGurl on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 11:09:29 AM PDT

  •  I learned the misquoting

    from madam herself !! Apparently her supporters can give but can't take

    by nerdngeek on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:00:52 AM PDT

•  And drove the snakes out :) n/t

  by se portland on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 09:58:43 AM PDT

  •  Yep. Now they're all in the Clinton campaign. n/t

    by Rob Cole on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:30:55 AM PDT

•  Hillarys counting first lady experience

  as a qualification for the presidency is like Posh
  claimimin she could fill in for Beckham.

  by munodi on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:03:25 AM PDT

•  Wow, I wonder if

  Sinn Fein and the Unionists sent her a thank you note for negotiated the Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta (Belfast Agreement) and bringing decades of bloody warfare to an end.  Astonishing.

  by gchaucer2 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:04:51 AM PDT

  •  STOP IT

    the Clinton narrative isn't about reality -- it is about perception ... don't You get it!!!!!

    (close snark tag here!)

    by josephk on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:07:21 AM PDT

•  Then I must get Chelsea to run for something!

  All that First Daughter experience! She negotiated Oslo from her school desk!

  by TLS66 on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:16:11 AM PDT

•  Good thing she got those borders open

  in Kosovo. How did she do that exactly? Was she really negotiating? Where was Madeline Albright?

  by atlliberal on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:19:34 AM PDT

•  Hillary's speeches count as experience

  .

  I've been standing up against the Chinese Government over women's and standing up for human rights in many different places.

  But Obama's dont?

  by atlliberal on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:21:40 AM PDT

•  Did she meet with

  "Presidents and Prime Ministers and Kings" or with their wives?

  by greycat on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:27:26 AM PDT

•  Gave 2 speeches, visited kid's playground

  It appears that she arrived ahead of Bill on a visit in September 1999 and gave her first speech after the Lewinsky affair.

  Mrs Clinton spoke about the rights and achievements of women in front of around 450 people at the Waterfront Hall.

  Later that day she also spoke at a meeting of local politicians and even then seems to be trying to take credit;

  Later in the evening Mrs Clinton spoke to local politicians of her love of Northern Ireland.

  Speaking to community leaders at Belfast City Hall she said: "I'm not shy, but I take any excuse I can find to come back to Northern Ireland.

  "I feel uplifted and energised by the courageous men and women with whom I have met.

  "We know how difficult the journey is. This is not only about the future of Northern Ireland, there are people all over the world who are watching and hoping and praying that what we have set in motion will be something realised."

  http://news.bbc.co.uk/...

  She also visited the site of a bombing with Bill to lay a wreath and also visited a childen's playground with Cherie Blair.

  It looks like, as is usual with these things, the "little woman" has a separate agenda with the spouse of the host. It's the sort of thing that Dennis Thatcher used to excuse himself to hit the bar.

  by Lib Dem FoP on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:37:15 AM PDT

•  Ah yes, let's forget...

  ...giving credit to long-time sworn enemies like Martin McGuinness and Ian Paisley reaching across the aisle to bring and end to the slaughter.

  It's all about Hillary.  Good God.

  I remember being in tears on seeing the announcement of the Good Friday Agreement.  I don't recall a single Hillary Clinton being in sight.  She helped, as in "she knew George Mitchell at the time?"

  by Progressive Witness on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:37:57 AM PDT

•  O'Bama's mama was Irish. I'm part Irish. n/t

  by Neon Mama on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:48:32 AM PDT

•  Ted Kennedy

  Should go on as Obama's surrogate and sklam her for that.  George Mitchell brought peace to Ireland, not Hillary Clinton.

  by PaulVA on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:49:28 AM PDT

•  Yeah

  She stood up so well her husband got to lobby for Most Favored Nation status for the Chinese despite their human rights record.

  by PaulVA on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 10:50:11 AM PDT

•  She always cites her visit to Bosnia

  as experience for instance on 2/29/08  when critizing Obama she speaking witht he NY Times:

  "She evoked dusty battlefields, remembering a trip to Bosnia as first lady, when the welcoming ceremony

  "had to be moved inside because of sniper fire."

  She said she had traveled to more than 80 countries and was "on the front lines" as the United States made peace in Bosnia and Northern Ireland and helped to save refugees from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. She has also served on the Armed Services Committee for five years

  http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/...

  But the truth in 1996 was:

  "Bill and I discussed whether Chelsea should skip the Bosnia leg of the trip. We weighed the security risks and decided that if we took appropriate precautions, she and I would be fine. She was mature enough to grow from the experience. Besides, we’d be traveling with a USO troupe including singer Sheryl Crow and comedian Sinbad, all of whom were willing to take the risks associated with the trip."
  Living History pages 405-406

  Article from March 26 1996
  http://query.nytimes.com/...

  So a trip to Bosnia on a USO tour is experience.. I guess since I was in the military and served overseas in a unelected position I have foreign policy experience too.

  On Ireland

  "In those years in the White House I had a really extraordinary experience, because I was not only part of the domestic policy team and the diplomatic team we had in those years, but I was also able to help make some of those changes," Clinton said

  In that retelling, Clinton said she had hosted a meeting of enemies in the conflict. They had never been in the same room before, and "no one thought this was going to be a very good idea."

  But then, a Catholic woman shared her daily fears that her husband wouldn't come home at night. Across the table, a Protestant woman described the same worry about her son.

  Boston Globe

  But the article goes on to contradict it

  John O'Farrell, a former journalist from Northern Ireland who covered Clinton's visits there, said in a telephone interview that she promoted the involvement of women in politics and in the peace process, but he doubted that she had met with enemies who otherwise would not have spoken to each other. Rather, he said, she was working with people who were already promoting peace.

  "Her heart was always in the right place, no one doubted that," said O'Farrell, who edited a magazine and did some freelance reporting for the Globe. "But the idea of her bringing together fiercely opposed combatants is a considerable exaggeration."

  http://www.boston.com/...

  Washington Post Fact Checker

  Chris Thornton, a political reporter for the Belfast Telegraph, said that Hillary Clinton's visits to northern Ireland contributed to the "mood music" that made an eventual settlement possible, but were hardly key to reaching an agreement. "Would we have reached a settlement without that kind of stuff? Yes. Would we have got one without the intervention of Bill Clinton and George Mitchell? No

  http://blog.washingtonpost.com/...

  by TennesseeGurl on Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 11:04:13 AM PDT

•  from the guy who did help bring peace to Northern

  "Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a "wee bit silly" for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province.

  "I don’t know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around," he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely "the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets" during elections. "She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don’t want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player."

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/...

  by kloris on Sat Mar 08, 2008 at 01:16:58 PM PDT