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Title: Clinton camp accuses Obama of being disingenuous on (Iraq) withdrawal plan
Source:
Raw Story
URL Source: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Clint ... cuses_Obama_of_being_0307.html
Published: Mar 7, 2008
Author: Nick Juliano
Post Date: 2008-03-07 17:01:58 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 12
Barack Obama's foreign policy aide Samantha Power got the candidate in some more hot water Friday when Hillary Clinton's team targeted her recent comments that Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq in 16 months was a "best case scenario." Clinton's staff assembled several foreign policy advisers for a Friday afternoon conference calls (taking the "highly unusual" step of scheduling two press calls in a single day, campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson noted). A Clinton-sponsored Web site highlighted Power's comments earlier in the day, and the campaign argued her attempt to step back from setting a date certain for full withdrawal conflicted with Obama's earlier statements. Speaking to a BBC interviewer, Power said Obama would not necessarily base every military decision he would make in 2009 would be based in full on a plan crafted now. "He will of course not rely upon some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or as a US senator," said Power, who resigned after calling Clinton a "monster" in a separate dust-up. "He will rely upon a plan, an operational plan that he pulls together, in consultation with people who are on the ground, to whom he doesn’t have daily access now as a result of not being the president," Powers told the BBC's Stephen Sackur Monday. Former NATO commander Wesley Clark, a Clinton supporter, called the comments "disturbing," and he accused Obama of not being prepared enough to be commander in chief and properly oversee an end to the Iraq war. "That means knowing where you're headed before you start down the path," Clark said. Jamie Rubin, a former State Department spokesman, compared Obama's foreign policy approach to "amateur hour." Obama campaign manager David Plouffe defended Obama's approach to Iraq, saying there should be "absolute clarity" to his commitment to brining combat troops home within 16 months. Plouffe further pointed out comments from a Clinton associate predicting she also would not begin an immediate withdrawal. "I have no doubts whatsoever that if she were president in January '09 she would not act irresponsibly and issue orders to conduct an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, regardless of the consequences," Retired Gen. Jack Keane told the New York Sun, "and squander the gains that have been made." DEVELOPING...
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