Today’s quotes – there are two, and one is more breathtaking than the other – come from former Secretary of State and current Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton.
Let’s start with the lesser of the two, from last night’s “Town Hall” hosted by Hillary adorer Chris Matthews:
“I’ve said Iraq was a mistake. Libya was a different kind of calculation. And we didn’t lose a single person.”
Let’s start with the obvious: do you think the families of the four dead in Benghazi would agree with that assessment – the ones who then-Secretary of State Clinton did not provide anywhere near adequate security for on 9/11, and who then lied to them about why the massacre took place?
But let’s assume that Ms. Clinton wasn’t talking about Benghazi, only the military action which ended with Qadaffi’s assassination. Does that improve the comment?
Uh….nope.
Libya was “a different kind of calculation” alright, since President Bush went through all legal channels before invading Iraq. By contrast, Barack Obama and Secretary of State Clinton bombed Libya for over 6 months without congressional oversight or authorization – a blatant disregard for the constitution.
Even the New York Times called Libya an “illegal war”, and concluded its scathing editorial by saying, “If Congress does not act, the Constitution’s command that the president ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ will become nothing more than an unfulfilled hope on an old piece of parchment.”
On most days, that win Quote Of The Day, hands down. But today it wasn’t even close.
Here is what Ms. Clinton then said about how Libya has moved since then:
“Now, is Libya perfect? It isn’t. But did they have two elections that were free and fair where they voted for moderates. Yes, they did. So you know, changing from a dictator who has hollowed out your country to something resembling a functioning state and even hopefully more of a democratic one doesn’t happen overnight. And we’ve got to continue to support the Libyan people, to give them a chance, because otherwise you see what has happened in Syria, with the consequences of millions of people flooding out of Syria, with more than 250,000 people killed, with terrorist groups like ISIS taking up almost – huge blocks of territory, as big as some of the states in that area.”
What a truly breathtaking quote that is. It’s hard to know where to start, so let’s just do it in order of appearance:
-Free, fair elections that voted for moderates? WHO voted? WHERE is this government operating? WHAT power does it have over almost any part of the country except maybe downtown Tripoli? Libya is a lawless, governmentless no-man’s land, in which the “government” is whichever terrorist group is the most feared in that area. You probably knew about Libya already, but in case there is any doubt, read this and there won’t be;
-What support are we giving the Libyan people? Bombing a high-visibility target here and there, among the many to choose from since the country is overrun by terrorist groups? Because of our actions when she was Secretary of State, Libya has degenerated into a terrorist home-base. Libyan citizens have reason to fear for their lives every minute of every day. This is what we are supporting???
-How in God’s name can Hillary Clinton invoke Syria this way, as if it is some kind of out-of-body experience for the Obama administration? In September, 2013, Barack Obama set down a “red line” which, if crossed, would mean he would come down hard on bashar al-assad, the mass murdering butcher who was handed the country by his father. al-assad proceeded to ignore Obama…and Obama, instead of acting did nothing. THAT is why over a quarter million are dead there and Syrians are streaming out of the country by the millions.
In the 2 1/2 years since that “red line” was drawn, did Hillary Clinton ever say a word about this? Did she ever insist that President Obama make good on his word? No, not a peep out of her…and now she wants to use Syria to show us how great things are in Libya????
Twenty years ago, the late, great William Safire, then a columnist for the New York Times, called Hillary Clinton a congenital liar. I award Ms. Clinton Quote Of The Day honors for proving that, even as of just yesterday, Mr. Safire had her pegged perfectly.
. . . . . .. . . . . Yuh ! So, I guess that Syria was a mistake, as well. . . . . . . What’s the best strategy there? . . . . . .. . Send 150,000 American troops there ?. . . .. . . The Syrians hate our guts, and our troops won’t be able to change anything there. ., . . . . . . . But, when we bring them home, at least they will have had realistic training to combat Syrian Terrorists that Barry and Hillie will have imported to the United States. . . . . . . . . .