Hillary Makes Major Gaffe on National Security, Shows Naivete

Hillary Clinton recently has made a major gaffe on assessing America’s national security that has gone relatively unrecognized by the mainstream press. When asked whether she believes the War on Terror is a bumper sticker slogan she said:

No, I do not. I am a senator from New York. I have lived with the aftermath of 9/11, and I have seen firsthand the terrible damage that can be inflicted on our country by a small band of terrorists who are intent upon foisting their way of life and using suicide bombers and suicidal people to carry out their agenda.

And I believe we are safer than we were. We are not yet safe enough. And I have proposed over the last year a number of policies that I think we should following.

Clinton’s claim that America is safer than we were shows a naivete about the nation’s level of national security. Several important groups and intelligence agencies have issued reports contradicting her claim.

• General Michael Hayden, the current CIA director, said in April 2006: “New jihadist networks and cells, sometimes united by little more than their anti-Western agendas, are increasingly likely to emerge. If this trend continues, threats to the U.S. at home and abroad will become more diverse and that could lead to increasing attacks worldwide.”
• The Council on Global Terrorism produced a report in September 2006 called, “State of the Struggle: Report on the Battle Against Global Terrorism.” They say: “Five Year Assessment: As of Now, West is in a Worsening Position in Struggle Against Radical Islam…there is every sign that radicalization in the Muslim world is spreading rather than shrinking.”
• Twenty-one former military generals and foreign policy officials in 2006 wrote a letter stating that America has become less safe.
• The Democratic National Committee released a report in late 2006 entitled, “The Bush Administration Has Made America Less Safe.” They detail the many ways in which America has become less safe.
• 16 U.S. Spy agencies worked on a consensus report that says the threat of terrorism has grown since 9/11.
• The U.S. State Department issued a report on April 30, 2007 called, “Country Reports on Terrorism.” They find that terrorism throughout the world had increased 29% and the number of deaths had increased from 14,618 to 20, 498 between 2005 and 2006.
• The Center for Strategic and International Studies produced a report in 2007 showing that al Qaeda had trained up to 60,000 jihadists in Afghanistan.

Clinton’s blunder on this issue follows a long line of other blunders including authorizing Bush to go into Iraq, arguing before she decided to run for President that the U.S. should “stay the course,” not noticing the correct spelling of the word “tomorrow” in the banner at a campaign speech, and saying that “Outsourcing will continue” while in India while saying “Outsourcing is a problem” while in the U.S. Some Americans wonder if Clinton has the judgment to be President at a time when the country has leaders in office who have a lot of experience.