Quotes of the Morning: Emboldening

“You may remember this one from Friday…”
-Skippy

“The Pentagon told Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton that her questions about how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq boosts enemy propaganda.
In a stinging rebuke to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman responded to questions Clinton raised in May in which she urged the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces.
A copy of Edelman's response, dated July 16, was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.
‘Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia,’ Edelman wrote.”
-Associated Press, July 19, 2007

“Well the Senator from New York has had a chance to respond.”
-Skippy

“Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday accused the Pentagon of impugning her patriotism simply because she raised questions about U.S. planning for the eventual withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
The politically heated back-and-forth began Thursday with a sharply worded missive from Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense for policy, to Clinton warning that such questions boost enemy propaganda.
Clinton pressed Edelman's boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on Friday, asking if he agreed with his aide's charge. The New York senator said in a statement that Edelman had ducked her questions and ‘instead made spurious arguments to avoid addressing contingency planning.’"
-Associated Press, July 20, 2007

“Hillary is so wrong with this one.. So, very wrong. Her works cut deeply at the war effort by adding to enemy propaganda. Much more deeply than insulting the faith of the Iraqi people..”
-Skippy

“And I just -- I cannot speak strongly enough about how we must collectively get after those who kill in the name of -- in the name of some kind of false religion.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, August 1, 2002

“…or blaming them for being grateful enough for being ‘liberated’.”
-Skippy

“PELLEY: Do you think you owe the Iraqi people an apology for not doing a better job? DUBYA: That we didn't do a better job or they didn't do a better job? PELLEY: Well, that the United States did not do a better job in providing security after the invasion. DUBYA: Not at all. I am proud of the efforts we did. We liberated that country from a tyrant. I think the Iraqi people owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude, and I believe most Iraqis express that. I mean, the people understand that we've endured great sacrifice to help them. That's the problem here in America. They wonder whether or not there is a gratitude level that's significant enough in Iraq.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, January 12, 2007

“But still, I think that we can all agree that at least the Pentagon is fair and balanced. I remember all of the times that they have spoken up to criticize conservative pundits for calling Arabs ‘towel heads’ or saying that Islam is a religion of hate. Seems like a week doesn’t go by that they aren’t correcting Bill Kristol or other conservative talking heads for saying that we should go kill them all and let God sort them out. I mean, that stuff has the potential to make the enemy really want to fight us (well, that and Abu Ghraib, civilian deaths, etc..).”
-Skippy

"We should invade their [Muslim’s] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."
-Ann Coulter, September 13, 2001