FACT CHECK - Clinton Ad

March 7, 2008 on 9:59 am | In Uncategorized |

In an ad that was recently run here in Texas entitled “True”, the Clinton campaign discusses Senator Obama’s position as head of a sub-committee overseeing operations in Afghanistan and how he has not held a single substantive meeting since being elected it’s head.

The information presented in this ad is false. Her ad states: As chairman of the oversight committee charged with the force of fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan, he was too busy running for President to hold even one hearing.

The fact of the matter is that not a single existing subcommittee is “charged with the force of fighting al Qaeda in Afghanistan”. Senator Obama is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee that focuses on European Affairs.

Last time I checked a map, Afghanistan wasn’t located in Europe.

The subcommittee that does deal with the part of the world where Afghanistan is located is the Subcommittee on Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs, which is chaired by Senator John Kerry.

And typically, issues relating to the NATO Alliance are handled by the full Foreign Relations Committee, of which Senator Obama has been an active participant.

Moreover, Senator Clinton has been focusing a good many of her ads and speeches in recent days on her national security experience. She has talked about defending Human Rights in China and helping to broker the peace agreement in Northern Ireland. She did give a speech while in China with regards to human rights while First Lady. And she was in Northern Ireland while the peace talks were taking place, but there is no evidence that she had anything to do with the actual negotiating of that process. In fact, her visit to Ireland at the time consisted of a good number of photo-ops with various individuals in her capacity as First Lady. She was not on the negotiating team which brokered the deal.

In addition, during the last debate and in many of her campaign speeches she is quick to remind listeners that she is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. This committee is slated with the task of acting as legislative oversight of the nation’s military, including the Department of Defense, military research and development, nuclear energy , benefits for members of the military, the Selective Service System and other matters related to defense policy.

In February of 2008 this committee held two hearings on Afghanistan. On February 8, it focused on appropriations for U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Appropriations, to simplify it, is outfitting our soldiers with the materials they need to fight this war, it’s their life-line, it’s what keeps them safe and saves them from running out of bullets or using flack jackets that are barely being held together. On February 16th, , the committee focussed on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, holding a two-part hearing examining recent reports on the situation in Afghanistan. Key witnesses included senior officials from the State Department and the Pentagon responsible for the administration’s Afghanistan policy.

Clinton attended neither of these hearings. She was on the campaign trail.

The important facts here are to point out the false accusations being issued by the Clinton campaign in their “kitchen sink” approach to playing the political game. The “fun part” that Hillary Clinton referred to earlier in the campaign is apparently the “fabrication” part of campaigning. Or the hipocritical part of campaigning if you like.

So arm yourselves with this information because as we have seen, time and again, knowledge is power.

Senator Obama does not have to go negative, he just simply needs to respond to her attacks by stating the facts, plain and simple. As indicated they can speak for themselves.