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Ferd Berfel

(3,687 posts)
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 07:28 PM Feb 2016

Hillary was offered a private briefing on Iraq Before her Vote - By an expert and passed

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-ritter/hillary-clinton-iraq-war-vote_b_9350340.html

The Meeting That Never Was: One UN Weapons Inspector's Effort to Educate Hillary Before Her Iraq Vote

Scott Ritter

Hillary Clinton was my Senator in 2002, and as a constituent who possessed unmatched qualifications on the issue of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, I felt I had a duty to brief her; and as her constituent, she had a responsibility to give me a hearing. But she never did.

America heads to the polls tomorrow as part of "Super Tuesday," and supporters of Hillary Clinton hope they will be able to cement the inevitability of her status as the Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States with an impressive victory. Politicians like to live in the moment, and Hillary Clinton is no different, cloaking herself in the aura of a woman who is well positioned to make the hard choices of governance based upon her "experience, wisdom, skepticism, and humility." But Hillary's "moment" was shaken to the core by the resignation Sunday -- two days before the "Super Tuesday" contests -- of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a veteran of the Iraq War, from her position as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Tulsi Gabbard's resignation came at the same time she announced her decision to throw her support behind Hillary Clinton's rival for the Democratic Party nomination, citing "the necessity to have a commander-in-chief who has foresight, who exercises good judgment ... who looks at the consequences of the actions they are willing to take before they take those actions so that we don't continue to find ourselves in these failures that have resulted in chaos in the Middle East and so much loss of life." Tulsi Gabbard, in looking toward the future of America post-Barack Obama, has refused to allow the politics of the moment to blind her to the reality of the past, and in doing so has shined a spotlight on an issue Hillary Clinton wishes would go away -- her vote in support of military action against Iraq in 2002.

"I have a much longer history than one vote, which I said was a mistake because of the way that it was done and how the Bush administration handled it," Hillary has said, trying to explain away her actions. The issue at hand, however, isn't simply one vote, but rather the processes behind the casting of that one vote which shed considerable light on the judgement of the individual involved. This isn't the first time I've called out Hillary Clinton on the utter hypocrisy of her vote to authorize military force against Iraq in 2002 -- in early 2007 I wrote a piece for AlterNet that addressed my concerns then, on the eve of her first bid for the Democratic Party nomination.
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Hillary was offered a private briefing on Iraq Before her Vote - By an expert and passed (Original Post) Ferd Berfel Feb 2016 OP
She thought the war was going to be Politicalboi Feb 2016 #1
But it looked so good on paper ... AtomicKitten Mar 2016 #47
Of course she passed on that meeting. Autumn Feb 2016 #2
I can see why Tony Blair supports her. PoliticAverse Feb 2016 #3
Whistle Ass' poodle. hifiguy Feb 2016 #15
And at one point I admired him NWCorona Feb 2016 #16
A vote for Hillary is a vote for wars, invasions, coups, and regime changes. SamKnause Feb 2016 #4
Neoliberal economics combined with a belligerent, hawkish neocon foreign policy. hifiguy Feb 2016 #14
It's intentional, to be sure. Major Hogwash Mar 2016 #51
Good grief. How callow. Why would anyone skip a briefing with the folks who had actual knowledge? peacebird Feb 2016 #5
plausible deniability NWCorona Feb 2016 #18
Knowingly sending troops into harms way after refusing to attend briefing...? Disgusting. peacebird Feb 2016 #20
She didn't skip a briefing. He showed up at her office. She wasn't available. nt msanthrope Feb 2016 #28
And never made herself available to THE FOREMOST UN Weapons Inspector on the ground in Iraq KeepItReal Mar 2016 #46
At the time, he wasn't working anymore for the UN...nor did the UN send him. nt msanthrope Mar 2016 #53
Outrageous. Qutzupalotl Feb 2016 #6
She didn't bother to read the intelligence report either jfern Feb 2016 #7
The annointed one knows best. She has superior thereismore Feb 2016 #8
I stopped fact checking the author when I read his history of "soliciting minors for sex". procon Feb 2016 #9
As repulsive as his sexual proclivities most definitely are... gregcrawford Feb 2016 #22
And to think these people were saying to not shoot the messenger a few days prior... VulgarPoet Feb 2016 #26
Meanwhile back in 2016....-nt- Happenstance24 Feb 2016 #10
tell that to the Iraqis PaulaFarrell Mar 2016 #45
She wanted to get her war on farleftlib Feb 2016 #11
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Feb 2016 #12
That vote was an act of craven, disgusting political ass-covering, hifiguy Feb 2016 #13
She was tough. She didn't back down. moondust Feb 2016 #17
Ugh. AzDar Feb 2016 #19
Scott Ritter is a convicted sexual predator: Freddie Stubbs Feb 2016 #21
Four times over. There's four incidents we know of. Nt msanthrope Feb 2016 #25
That was in 2009, 7 years after Hillary voted for the Iraq War. Major Hogwash Mar 2016 #50
Actually, the four incidents we know of.....one predates Iraq. He's been at this a while. nt msanthrope Mar 2016 #54
It certainly speaks to his credibility and his mental stability Freddie Stubbs Mar 2016 #56
How could anyone do such a thing??? Very sick elmac Feb 2016 #23
Sorry...But I don't believe anything that comes out of the mouth of a convicted and confessed child msanthrope Feb 2016 #24
You think maybe delrem Feb 2016 #29
Consenting adults aren't my business. But Ritter's had four run ins with the law involving minors. msanthrope Feb 2016 #32
Yah, there's a degree of difference, for sure. delrem Feb 2016 #34
Well, rivers of blood tend to stain, so no, I don't like them. I also don't like hyperbole....Ritte msanthrope Feb 2016 #37
I'm appalled by the disdain for life that your post describes. delrem Feb 2016 #39
Lighten up, Francis! Nt msanthrope Feb 2016 #40
No, not for Hillary Clinton's war profiteering buddies, I won't. delrem Feb 2016 #42
You've gone from blowjobs to rivers of blood. I'd switch to decaf. nt msanthrope Feb 2016 #44
That was Bill and Hillary who went from blowjobs to rivers of blood. Not me. delrem Mar 2016 #61
I guess because she's vice-chair of the DNC this is extra significant. delrem Feb 2016 #27
Her vote was based on political expediency only. Broward Feb 2016 #30
She set up a private information flow. delrem Feb 2016 #31
I'm gonna assume that was sarcasm NWCorona Feb 2016 #33
It was a statement of fact. delrem Feb 2016 #35
Until it does exist. NWCorona Feb 2016 #36
Hillary didn't read the NIE, either. Major Hogwash Mar 2016 #49
Both of them are so corrupt there is no truth between them about Iraq WMD leveymg Feb 2016 #38
She freaking wanted that war. Many who were paying close attention polly7 Feb 2016 #41
Scott Ritter... SidDithers Feb 2016 #43
I think he's still on parole. Might have completed it though.nt msanthrope Mar 2016 #55
Hillary called that vote the most important vote in her short career. Major Hogwash Mar 2016 #48
I believe Scott Ritter publicly warned all those hundred + who voted to support Bush's invasion. Jitter65 Mar 2016 #52
"Facts are stupid things." Wilms Mar 2016 #57
Here's a fact: Scott Ritter is a convicted sexual predator Freddie Stubbs Mar 2016 #58
Lemme ask you something, Fred. Wilms Mar 2016 #59
Did he get sentenced to stand in Iraq while it was bombed or something? Orsino Mar 2016 #60

SamKnause

(13,110 posts)
4. A vote for Hillary is a vote for wars, invasions, coups, and regime changes.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 07:39 PM
Feb 2016

Why do her supporters continue to ignore her intentional or unintentional

poor judgment ???

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
14. Neoliberal economics combined with a belligerent, hawkish neocon foreign policy.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 08:51 PM
Feb 2016

Welded at the hip to the banksters and the MIC. What's not to love?

Major Hogwash

(17,656 posts)
51. It's intentional, to be sure.
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 06:16 AM
Mar 2016

She has supported the MIC her entire life.
She has no intention of stopping now.


peacebird

(14,195 posts)
20. Knowingly sending troops into harms way after refusing to attend briefing...? Disgusting.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 09:08 PM
Feb 2016

I Will Never Vote For This Callow Creature

KeepItReal

(7,769 posts)
46. And never made herself available to THE FOREMOST UN Weapons Inspector on the ground in Iraq
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 03:34 AM
Mar 2016

Who also was a Marine officer.

jfern

(5,204 posts)
7. She didn't bother to read the intelligence report either
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 07:50 PM
Feb 2016

Bob Graham and Dick Durbin pushed for an intelligence report to be made available to Senators and urged Senators to read it. they voted no.

thereismore

(13,326 posts)
8. The annointed one knows best. She has superior
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 07:57 PM
Feb 2016

judgement. Did you notice her weasel wording? It was a mistake because of the way it was done.

procon

(15,805 posts)
9. I stopped fact checking the author when I read his history of "soliciting minors for sex".
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 08:19 PM
Feb 2016

"In 2001 Ritter on two occasions was detained and later arrested on charges of soliciting minors for sex on the Internet that were both dismissed. He was arrested on similar charges in 2010 that led to a conviction and sentence of one and a half to five and a half years."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ritter





gregcrawford

(2,382 posts)
22. As repulsive as his sexual proclivities most definitely are...
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:35 PM
Feb 2016

... that is no way negates his knowledge and expertise regarding the lies and fabrications that led us to war in Iraq.

VulgarPoet

(2,872 posts)
26. And to think these people were saying to not shoot the messenger a few days prior...
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:41 PM
Feb 2016

...Ritter's disgusting proclivities aside, something reeks of hypocrisy in Camp Weathervane.

 

farleftlib

(2,125 posts)
11. She wanted to get her war on
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 08:32 PM
Feb 2016

Period. This, like so many other things we've learned about her, is indefensible.

She lacked the moral fiber to stand up to the schoolyard bully, now she wants a pass because she says she didn't know he was lying. Well, I did, and I didn't have any experts with inside knowledge knocking at my door.

K & R.

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
13. That vote was an act of craven, disgusting political ass-covering,
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 08:50 PM
Feb 2016

utterly devoid of conscience, as brimming with hypocrisy and self-serving back-patting as anything I have ever seen in my adult life, and that stretches back to Richard Nixon.

moondust

(20,006 posts)
17. She was tough. She didn't back down.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 09:05 PM
Feb 2016

She wasn't afraid. Strong leader. Fearless. Taking on the terrorists.

Wow.


Great imagery! Will make a great campaign ad someday.






Except...some of the worst judgment in U.S./world history.

Freddie Stubbs

(29,853 posts)
21. Scott Ritter is a convicted sexual predator:
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 09:19 PM
Feb 2016

Verdict: Ex-UN weapons inspector Ritter guilty of all but one count in sex sting

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter has been found guilty of unlawful contact with a minor and five of six other charges after a three-day trial in Monroe County Court on charges stemming from an online sex sting. He was acquitted on a criminal attempt charge

Ritter's 18-year-old twin daughters covered their faces and began sobbing while their mother tried to console them as the verdict was read. He faces up to seven years in prison on the most serious of the charges.
Monroe County Court Judge Jennifer Sibum gave Ritter until the end of the business day Tuesday to come up with $25,000 bail or he will be placed in Monroe County Correctional Facility until he posts that amount. The ever-stoic Ritter and his family and attorneys then left the courtroom, making no comment to reporters.
The jury deliberated for more than seven hours Thursday after the prosecution and defense both gave closing arguments in the morning.

Ritter, 49, of Delmar, N.Y., masturbated on a Web camera and engaged in a sexually graphic online chat with an undercover Barrett Township police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl in 2009.

more: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110414/NEWS/110419856/-1/NEWSMAP

Major Hogwash

(17,656 posts)
50. That was in 2009, 7 years after Hillary voted for the Iraq War.
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 06:15 AM
Mar 2016

And one doesn't have a damned thing to do with the other.

 

elmac

(4,642 posts)
23. How could anyone do such a thing??? Very sick
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:36 PM
Feb 2016

Vote to invade a country that had nothing to do with 911

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
24. Sorry...But I don't believe anything that comes out of the mouth of a convicted and confessed child
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:38 PM
Feb 2016

predator.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
29. You think maybe
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:47 PM
Feb 2016

stuff that comes out of the mouths of 50yr old POTUS's re. diddling with a 23yr old intern is more down your alley?
You know, that narcissistic loony tune who victimized the POTUS?

Is that far enough down your alley?

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
32. Consenting adults aren't my business. But Ritter's had four run ins with the law involving minors.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:50 PM
Feb 2016

I wouldn't believe a word out of the mouth of a confessed and convicted sexual predator.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
34. Yah, there's a degree of difference, for sure.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:57 PM
Feb 2016

Ritter's guilt has no bearing on HRC's innocence of all charges w.r.t. her Iraq war vote.
Some people just want to know why. We're talking a million dead, now, in this escalating situation.
Some people want to know why HRC escalated the conflict by taking out Libya.
It really makes no sense, given the surrounding context, unless one's intent is to further inflame the PNAC wars and escalate them to take out even more countries. Like Syria. And HRC has made it crystal clear that Iran is in the cross-hairs, after Syria, so ...

You like that, msanthrope? You like the rivers of blood flowing as effluent after the war profiteers have their way?

 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
37. Well, rivers of blood tend to stain, so no, I don't like them. I also don't like hyperbole....Ritte
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 11:01 PM
Feb 2016

showed up at her office one day, without an appointment, she wasn't available.

I am sure that when John Kerry ran, you invoked the rivers of blood and did not vote for him, right?

delrem

(9,688 posts)
39. I'm appalled by the disdain for life that your post describes.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 11:08 PM
Feb 2016

And the pretense of it.
I'm appalled by the amorality of the mindset that could excuse and promote the continuing bloodbath, while deriding those who don't.

But that's the ... occasion ... that Hillary's supporters offer me on DU. To meet with you.
Good day to you.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
42. No, not for Hillary Clinton's war profiteering buddies, I won't.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 11:15 PM
Feb 2016

On some issues I take an absolute stand.
I did back in Henry Kissinger's heyday, too. I hated the fucker. I hated the fucker with a vengeance the moment I heard of him, way back when.

So no, I' won't lighten up and pretend that the rivers of blood are so much kool-aid.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
61. That was Bill and Hillary who went from blowjobs to rivers of blood. Not me.
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 09:50 PM
Mar 2016

It's you who loves you some war.

I bet you don't even bother to count the dead.
Not like you care.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
27. I guess because she's vice-chair of the DNC this is extra significant.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:43 PM
Feb 2016

She sounds like a woman for whom lives matter, and not just fat profits from selling cluster munitions, and backing wars that use them.

Nice to know that some people in the USA actually care.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
31. She set up a private information flow.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:50 PM
Feb 2016

There was no need for her to talk with anyone.

Not even the gov't of the USA.

delrem

(9,688 posts)
35. It was a statement of fact.
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 10:59 PM
Feb 2016

That's what the FBI investigation is about, you see?
It isn't something that one can pretend doesn't exist, so doesn't exist, as if it were a magic pony.

polly7

(20,582 posts)
41. She freaking wanted that war. Many who were paying close attention
Mon Feb 29, 2016, 11:15 PM
Feb 2016

said so at the time. She can apologize a thousand times, it won't make up for the mess of human suffering she helped create by publicly pushing for it and voting for it - and this, ignoring someone who knew about Iraq's weapons capability.

Major Hogwash

(17,656 posts)
48. Hillary called that vote the most important vote in her short career.
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 06:00 AM
Mar 2016

Let's hope that because of the way she voted, it shortens her career.

 

Jitter65

(3,089 posts)
52. I believe Scott Ritter publicly warned all those hundred + who voted to support Bush's invasion.
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 06:22 AM
Mar 2016

But then, it was only Hillary's vote that turned the vote FOR the invasion. She is breathtakingly powerful That is why she should be President.

Freddie Stubbs

(29,853 posts)
58. Here's a fact: Scott Ritter is a convicted sexual predator
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 01:39 PM
Mar 2016

Verdict: Ex-UN weapons inspector Ritter guilty of all but one count in sex sting

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Scott Ritter has been found guilty of unlawful contact with a minor and five of six other charges after a three-day trial in Monroe County Court on charges stemming from an online sex sting. He was acquitted on a criminal attempt charge

Ritter's 18-year-old twin daughters covered their faces and began sobbing while their mother tried to console them as the verdict was read. He faces up to seven years in prison on the most serious of the charges.
Monroe County Court Judge Jennifer Sibum gave Ritter until the end of the business day Tuesday to come up with $25,000 bail or he will be placed in Monroe County Correctional Facility until he posts that amount. The ever-stoic Ritter and his family and attorneys then left the courtroom, making no comment to reporters.
The jury deliberated for more than seven hours Thursday after the prosecution and defense both gave closing arguments in the morning.

Ritter, 49, of Delmar, N.Y., masturbated on a Web camera and engaged in a sexually graphic online chat with an undercover Barrett Township police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl in 2009.

more: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110414/NEWS/110419856/-1/NEWSMAP

Does this sound like a mentally stable person whose word should be accepted as fact?

 

Wilms

(26,795 posts)
59. Lemme ask you something, Fred.
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 01:49 PM
Mar 2016

Is the story THAT hard to believe??

We're you one of those who heeded the word of the bush admin? I wasn't. And that was the easy part. Trying to figure out why so many fell for it is the hard part.

She other didn't realize, in which case she's incompetent. Or she did know, and lied.

Guess who I call a LIAR. Go on, Fred. Shocking, I know. Hillary is a LIAR.

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
60. Did he get sentenced to stand in Iraq while it was bombed or something?
Tue Mar 1, 2016, 01:51 PM
Mar 2016

Is the claim really that Clinton is just that prescient?

Or is the jury willing to consider that her vote for war might have a foregone conclusion?

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