Sen. Clinton calls Bush Admin "incompetent"

Jan. 10, 2006 — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called the Bush administration "incompetent" when it came to protecting the troops in combat and called the lack of adequate body armor for soldiers and Marines "unforgivable."

So far in Iraq, more than 2,100 American troops have been killed. Critics like Clinton, D-N.Y., say that many of these deaths are the result of inadequate body armor. A secret Pentagon study of 93 Marines who were killed in Iraq found that 74 died after they were hit by a bullet or shrapnel in the torso or shoulders — areas unprotected by the armor most are issued.

The Flavor Point Diet A Family's Mission to Combat Lung Cancer Recipes from 'Flavor Point Diet': Day 7 "We perhaps could have avoided so many of these fatalities with the right body armor," said Clinton, who recently wrote letters to Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee; Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee; and Francis J. Harvey, secretary of the Army, calling for an investigation into why troops were not being protected.

Clinton pointed to President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney as the culprits. Some have said that supplying Marines and soldiers with armor that covers their sides is too expensive — costing about $260 for each person. Clinton said that considering the United States' defense budget was half a trillion dollars, the additional protection was affordable. She said the administration had refused to listen to people in the field like Paul Bremer, former ambassador to Iraq, who said the United States needed more troops in Iraq to pacify the country.

"This is Bush/Cheney policy. … I've been one of the leading critics pointing out all the failures, the incompetencies," Clinton said. "I am just bewildered as to how this president and this vice president continue to isolate themselves from different point of views. He's [President Bush has] got three more years in office. Some of us wish this wasn't the case."

Congress recently passed a law to reimburse troops who purchased the armor themselves, but Clinton said not all of those people had been given their money.

"It's our duty to protect our men and women in uniform," said Clinton, who is rumored to be considering a run for the White House in 2008. "They are protecting us, our interest. They have been sent there by our president. The very least we can do is give them the very best body armor and armored vehicle."

The lack of adequate armor has been a hot topic during the war in Iraq. In 2004, a soldier confronted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld during a Q&A session in Iraq about the issue. The question turned out to be planted by a journalist. Recently, Howard Dean, former presidential candidate and president of the Democratic National Committee, called for Rumsfeld to resign.

The Defense Department and Army said that they needed more time to acquire the armor and that publicly discussing issues of body armor aided the enemy — claims that Clinton dismissed as out of hand.

She said it was now incumbent on the president to stand up for the men and women fighting overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The president speaks out strongly and even harshly from time to time about issues he thinks are important," Clinton said. "Let's hear him speak about men and women who wear the uniform of our country."

Hillary has a real problem. The Democratic base thinks of her as a DINO. She voted for and supported the President in the war on Iraq. Bill Clinton held office for 8 years and enacted nothing except welfare reform and preached the end of big government as we know it. The base did not like that but bought the story that it had to be done to get elected. Now after what they see as two DINOs (Gore and Kerry) getting beat they want a real Deaniac to get the nomination. Hillary is in trouble with the Democratic base.

The Polls show she will have a hard time getting the Democratic nomination. They see her as a DINO and they don't want a DINO. So she must now change to constantly attack President Bush and to present a very leftist front.

Hillary violated the first rule of politics. That rule is is sew up the base then run for the political center. The problem is Hillary supported our policy in Iraq long before she discovered the Democratic base is made up of Deaniacs. And the Clintons acted like "New Democrats" when in office. The Democratic base wants unadulterated "Old Democrats".

To get the nomination she has to please the base so she is going far left. But going far left will cost her the general election. So once the nomination is won, if it is, she will have to run to the center. But that very likely will just confirm the Democratic base's belief that Hillary is a DINO. The Base will then desert her in the General Election. She is between a rock and a hard place.

The Democratic primaries are going to be very contested in 2008. They will be a contest to see who can run farthest to the left. By the time the nomination is decided the victor will not be able to run to the center.

The media actually believes their views represent the general population of voters. The media sees themselves as centrists. They will gladly let the Democratic primary contestants play the "I am more left than you are!" on national TV.

That should ensure a Republican victory in 2008.

The Democrat base actually feels that the reason their party has not achieved much since LBJ was president is they have run DINO Candidates. This time they want an openly leftist candidate and will accept nothing else. They believe that if they run a true leftist who makes no bones about being a leftist that candidate can easily win. They are delusional.

That belief will cost them the center and the right.

When only Democrats vote for Democrats, Democrats get beat badly.

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