Where did Bill Richardson Get His Information? updated
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Hearing this week that none of the top tier candidates can commit to redeploying all combat forces out of Iraq before 2013 was a jolt. But Bill Richardson has a post up at Huffington Post stating something even more alarming.
Edwards and Obama have said that they will get the combat troops out of Iraq.
But they would leave behind tens of thousands of other troops unprotected,
in the middle of a civil war, indefinitely. It doesn’t make any sense.Clinton told her own military advisors that she expects to have troops
in Iraq at the end of her second term in office, in 2017. … ..
I contacted the Clinton camp. The response was emphatic: “Absolutely
false.”
Did Richardson just make it up? First he tries to pander his
way to winning the primary by saying we can pull all of our troops out of Iraq,
no problem. He then fudges that a bit by also saying we’ll leave light equipment
behind as we redeploy, trying to make sense of the timing in the face of what people like Joe Sestak have said. But now he’s put up a post stating something
that is absolutely false about the frontrunner, at least according to Clinton’s own people who should know.
There is a lot of Hillary hatred out there. However, one would hope that outright
falsehoods wouldn’t come from a presidential candidate hoping to climb his way to
the top.
Where did Governor Richardson get his information? This matters, especially since people are obviously taking him at his word. Reader Matt Hawkins put up a Hot Topics post on it, trusting that it was true. After all, if a man with Governor Richardson’s resume says it that’s good enough, right? The majority of commenters over at Huffington Post don’t even question his bold statement, even though it’s not backed up by anything. There is no quote from anyone in camp Clinton. Not even blind sourcing. No anonymous sourcing either. There
is no substantiation whatsoever. He just throws the line out there
hoping Democratic primary voters will grab hold.
Beware. Sometimes a line is tied to an anchor.
UPDATE: Ring-ring, who is it? Richardson’s internet director. … .. Let’s get this really clear. This week has the potential to hurt all Democratic candidates vying for the ’08 nomination. The inability for our candidates to promise to withdraw by 2013 has shocked everyone. But it’s really simple. If you know the source, cite it, even if it is from June and no one else picked it up. I also respect Ted Koppel, who evidently “ran into an old source” who “occasionally” briefed Clinton before he retired stating what Richardson said in his post. Again, cite the source. But as of this week, according to the transcript of the Russert debate, Clinton got Koppel’s message (however indirectly) and changed the words she uses today. But every regular reader knows I do not support Richardson’s plan, because I think it’s naive in the extreme given the mess Bush has made. I was against this war, but I do think we’ll have troops in Iraq, though I’m not willing to accept that fact through 2013. I’ve been saying, long before the candidates came clean with Russert, these very things. But the 2017 date Richardson excavated for his post today is really reaching into the paranoia grab bag. Is it possible? You bet. Did Clinton say it? They say no. You all will have to decide the rest, but let’s play with all the facts, sources and information, shall we? We’re supposed to be on the same side.
SENATOR CLINTON: Well, Tim, it is my goal to have all troops out by the end of my first term. But I agree with Barack. It is very difficult to know what we’re going to be inheriting. You know, we do not know, walking into the White House in January 2009, what we’re going to find.
UPDATE: It’s really simple, if this is the source, cite it. Clinton’s team denies it. You have to figure it out from there.
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