When Hillary Clinton announced that she was going to form a presidential exploratory committee, Terry McAuliffe proudly announced that Hillary Clinton was the new Margaret Thatcher. I scoffed at such a ludicrous idea. Hillary Clinton is no more Margaret Thatcher than I am the Easter Bunny. For one, Lady Thatcher would not say anything so obviously contrived as “Let’s talk, let’s chat. Let’s have a dialogue.” And the former British prime minister would certainly never propose having a chat with Iran and Syria, which is what Hillary is recommending.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Thursday the United States should talk with Iran and Syria as she outlined a plan for the Middle East that left open the possibility of military action against Tehran.
The New York Democratic senator, who aims in 2008 to become the first woman U.S. president, said in a speech to a pro-Israel lobbying group that valuable knowledge and leverage could be gained from engaging with those countries and organizations.
“I have advocated engagement with our enemies and Israel’s enemies because I want to understand better what we can do to defeat those who are aiming their hatred, their extremism and their weapons at us,” Clinton told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee dinner in New York.
The wife of former President Bill Clinton said new tactics were needed “in the endeavor to rein in terrorism, to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power and to quell the influence of (Islamist groups) Hezbollah and Hamas”
And just how will having a dialogue with Iran and Syria accomplish the goals of reining in terrorism, preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and quelling the influence of Hezbollah and Hamas? In a couple of words: it won’t. Ahmadinejad must be rubbing his hands together in anticipation of a Hillary Clinton dialogue session. The British were lucky during the cold war to have the leadership of the Iron Lady while we, during one of the most important moments in our country’s history, risk being stuck with Chatty Cathy.
Hat tip: The Political Pit Bull
