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Prominent Irish Historian: Clinton Is "Silly" To Say She Was Instrumental in Peace Accords
Last week, Hillary Clinton released a statement celebrating the tenth anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement that led to peace in Northern Ireland. She noted,
Ultimately, the real credit for peace can only go to the brave people of Northern Ireland, as well as the leaders of Ireland and the U.K. But I also know that helping to advance the peace process and to achieve the Good Friday Agreement is one of my husband's proudest accomplishments as President. And I too am proud to have played a role in that effort.
The statement--and Clinton's assertion that she had been part of the peace process--did not draw much media notice, a sign that her Irish troubles might have eased. Last month, the Barack Obama campaign had challenged her claim to have "helped to bring peace to Northern Island." And that triggered a transatlantic tempest. David Trimble, the former First Minister of the Northern Ireland, called Clinton "a wee bit silly" for claiming to have been a figure of an importance in the peace process:
She visited when things were happening, saw what was going on, she can certainly say it was part of her experience. I don't want to rain on the thing for her but being a cheerleader for something is slightly different from being a principal player.
But then Clinton's campaign posted on its website a statement from John Hume, who shared the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with Trimble, in which Hume declared: "I can state from firsthand experience that she played a positive role for over a decade in helping to bring peace to Northern Ireland." And Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams told the Irish Times that Clinton played an important role in the peace process. I met the senator on many occasions....I always found her to be extremely well-informed on the issues."
These endorsements from Hume and Adams did not fully support the claims from Clinton and her camp that she had been a significant participant in the Irish peace process. On NPR, she had said, "I wasn't sitting at the negotiating table, but the role I played was instrumental." And appearing on CNN on March 4, Terry McAuliffe, her campaign chairman, had said, "We would not have peace today had it not [been] for Hillary's hard work in Northern Ireland." Still, Hume's and Adams' statements did somewhat counter Trimble's dismissive remarks. And the campaign flare-up flared down.
But what was the truth? Had Clinton been instrumental? Was McAuliffe correct to say Northern Ireland would today be a bloody landscape had it not been for Clinton? Looking for an expert on the Irish peace process, I contacted Paul Bew. He is a prominent--perhaps the most prominent--historian of Northern Ireland. A professor at Queen's University Belfast, Bew last year published Ireland: The Politics of Enmity 1789-2006, a much-acclaimed work, which is part of the Oxford University Press's Modern Europe series. He once was an adviser to Trimble, and he was appointed to the House of Lords in 2007, in recognition of his own contributions to the Good Friday Agreement.
When I asked Bew about Clinton's claim, he chuckled and replied: "There is a simple point to be made." He referred me to a new book by Jonathan Powell, Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland. Powell was chief of staff to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and his book, which has been a sensation in England, is an insider's account of the peace talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement. Look at the index of this book for "Hillary Clinton," Bew told me. There is, he said, "only one reference to Hillary Clinton." Bew was right about that. That one citation refers the reader to a tangential anecdote in which Powell mistakes a female Secret Service agent assigned to First Lady Clinton for a friend (Nancy Soderberg, a national security aide in the Clinton White House) and cheekily asks for a kiss. "That's it," Bew said. "The only reference to Hillary Clinton in this detailed blow-by-blow account. This is more telling than any other particular point....It is very revealing."
Powell's book aside, I asked Bew, whose own book covers the Irish peace accords (and who also published a collection of his real-time journalistic accounts of the Good Friday Agreement), how he assessed Clinton's claim to have been "instrumental" in bringing peace to Northern Ireland. "She just was not there," he said. "Calling her instrumental is silly....I can't think of anything to be said for the case that she had a major role."
For the moment, this campaign controversy appears to be done. But if Clinton's Irish troubles return, perhaps the definitive--and last--word can go to the guys who wrote the books.
The house is burning down and even "Mother Jones" is devoting even a few calories to this non-issue? How can I take this, or any campaign or nearly any media anymore at all seriously?
What's next week? If Obama's sneakers were made in a sweat shop?
Ralph Nader very astutely wrote last week: "Can the press and pundits ever be serious if the people do not grab hold of politics and make them become serious about their pleas, their plight and their revulsions? If voters want a concise mission statement, read the preamble to the Constitution, which starts 'We the People?' - not 'We the Corporations?.' There is a responsibility attached to those words." - Ralph Nader
So who really gives a @#$% if Hillary exaggerated her resume... I want to know what her specific plans are for a LONG list of things and to know which hose she would grab first for the fire, whether she will prosecute the Cheney "administration"- including George Bush and all the cabinet formers as well, for war crimes and high treason and if she would be able to talk Ralph Nader into being her Attorney General... and same thing goes for Obama.
The Mother Jones who walked the grounds of Ludlow, if she was sitting here at her computer reading this kind of pap would be screaming bloody murder... and so am I!!
Ralph, there's not enough room here to list my pleas or describe my plight but I can say- scream at the top of my lungs that I am highly revulsed by seeing this kind of content and it has nothing to do with any loyalty to anyone's particular campaign. It has to do with common sense and decency and the fact that it is highly insulting to ME and MY intelligence as a citizen.
My dream is that Walt Whitman's beard will break ground soon and grow like kudzu from his grave in the cess pot of what Camden has become and start to selectively strangle the perpetrators of the rampant crimes being committed against the people every minute of every day.
The house is burning down and even "Mother Jones" is devoting even a few calories to this non-issue? How can I take this, or any campaign or nearly any media anymore at all seriously?
What's next week? If Obama's sneakers were made in a sweat shop?
Ralph Nader very astutely wrote last week: "Can the press and pundits ever be serious if the people do not grab hold of politics and make them become serious about their pleas, their plight and their revulsions? If voters want a concise mission statement, read the preamble to the Constitution, which starts 'We the People?' - not 'We the Corporations?.' There is a responsibility attached to those words." - Ralph Nader
So who really gives a @#$% if Hillary exaggerated her resume... I want to know what her specific plans are for a LONG list of things and to know which hose she would grab first for the fire, whether she will prosecute the Cheney "administration"- including George Bush and all the cabinet formers as well, for war crimes and high treason and if she would be able to talk Ralph Nader into being her Attorney General... and same thing goes for Obama.
The Mother Jones who walked the grounds of Ludlow, if she was sitting here at her computer reading this kind of pap would be screaming bloody murder... and so am I!!
Ralph, there's not enough room here to list my pleas or describe my plight but I can say- scream at the top of my lungs that I am highly revulsed by seeing this kind of content and it has nothing to do with any loyalty to anyone's particular campaign. It has to do with common sense and decency and the fact that it is highly insulting to ME and MY intelligence as a citizen.
My dream is that Walt Whitman's beard will break ground soon and grow like kudzu from his grave in the cess pot of what Camden has become and start to selectively strangle the perpetrators of the rampant crimes being committed against the people every minute of every day.
I can't help but wonder:
Was HRC armed when she brought peace to Ireland?
Did HRC come under sniper fire on the tarmac in Ireland?
Was the Good Friday agreement reached by phone at 3AM?
Did she drink any liquor with the good Irish folks she saved?
Hey poor Historian!
How much money you got from Obama to write this?
Shame on you!
I believe the gentleman you refer to was the spin doctor for Tony Blair so whatever he says is to improve the image of Tony nothing more and nothing less.The more he lowers others the higher he raises Tony. Just ask yourself who would you believe John Hume the recipient of the noble peace prize or a spin doctor?
No matter what the subject, Hillary is a cheep, dime-store 'stand-in' for a serious political leader.
The American people have been duped into presuming she is qualified or deserving of high office.
She is the net result of nepotism squared, Madison avenue branding and lastly, the prohibition on a third term for US Presidents.
She's the adult who goes into the liquor store to buy the beer for the teenagers.
Hillary's claim to have brought peace to Ireland is another tall tale she spun to beef up her resume. She's less relevant to the Irish than leprechauns.
In the world of employment, if you get caught padding your resume, you don't get the job.
-Wexler
If you have evidence contradicting the thesis of the article, we'd all love to hear it. Impugning the integrity of the article's author because it's unflattering to your chosen candidate will convince nobody of anything.
Oh I get it... It's part of that "35 years of experience."
When will HRC's enablers and supporters ever come to the realization that she's just as big a phony as her lying, piece-of-crap husband? Anyone that thinks these 2 even talk, let alone share a bed, is living in a parallel universe.
The fact is, after 7+ years of Cheney having his hand in the back of this dullard Shrub, we deserve better...and she ain't it!
Look at the quote from Gerry Adams. While it is missing the first quote mark, from where I can tell the quote starts at, it seems to only say "she was well-informed."
That is not the same thing as being 'instrumental.'
More truth-stretching. Perhaps she will also have a secret military background she can bring up with to counter McCain.
Billary will stop, err...ooops, I meant STOOP to new levels of low to inflate her 'resume' and her EGO.
Good article, please forward to www.hillaryclinton.com!
Well, even the Blarney Stone has been made jealous of HRC and her B/S.
Trollstein,
You are so hilarious!!!! I agree totally. She's a political whore. She'll do anything to further her political ambition. I have yet to see how her being married to a former US President gives her foreign policy experience. The more she speaks the more I dislike her. I'm a yellow dog Dem but I would really hate for her to be the Dem candidate. It will be a bitter pill to swallow only sweetened by the fact that McCain is an even bigger political whore.
Lets be honest folks, who really cares what a First Lady does except for those things that are purely ceremonial. A First Lady is formally elected or selected to nothing. Like the comedians have said, if being the wife of a principal gives one the right of entitlement, then Robin Givens should be boxing's heavy weigh champion of the world, because she was married to Mike Tyson.
How is it that Mrs. Clinton thinks that she should get credit for anything that was done or attended to by her husband the President.
Because the GUYS who write the books are ALWAYS RIGHT, aren't they, David? Especially if they have something demeaning to say about Hillary Clinton.
Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com
Why don't all of you Hillary haters REALLY take a look at what Hillary Rodham Clinton has done for this country. Then maybe you'd keep your mouths shut and start taking a look at the candidates - FOR REAL.
To those that say (yeah, Howard, you) H's "First Lady" experience should be cast aside, I ask you: Why, then, should we look at ANYTHING that Obama had done before his SHORT term as Senator? Huh?
Lastly, to the author of this ridiculous piece, I did NOT renew my Subscription to Mother Jones. I am tired of EVEN liberal magazines and news media taking sides. What ever happened to journalism?
As the poster said above, I think I'd listen to a Nobel Peace prize winner over a political pundit who worked for Tony Blair. End of discussion for me.
Jeez!
The truth will come out tomorrow, or at the latest if Hillary Clinton does not do well in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton was not really in the public eye much before the late 1970's. Explanation? Hillary Clinton is really Golda Meir, the former prime minister of Israel, who "supposedly" died in 1978. She has only withheld this because she did not want to be accused of pandering for the Jewish vote. The matter that Meir was not born in the United States is not an issue, since McCain was not either. Similarly the fact that she is almost 110 years old- well look at McCain. SO she has been modest to say she only has 35 years of experience.
Far-fetched? Before the convention it will be revealed that she really was Mother Teresa and Chelsea was the product of a virgin birth.
People are far too picky about Hillary's biography.
Why did you ever subscribe to Mother Jones if you have issues with a publication that takes sides? After all that is what MJ is about- raising heck and trying to find the truth.
Lisben. Hmm!
All $$$,people and products
to be wiretapped.
Same will go for Colombia,US,
Britain,...
What can one say: another fake Irish.
Maybe instead of asking the guy who wrote Irish history about HRC's contribution, perhaps MJ should have asked the Irish women.
http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/031008.html
oh but wait - MJ only does pieces that reflect their own bias and agenda. No longer left of center, but leading the charge, eh Mother Jones?
Sheri - tell us what she has done for this country - please. And Carolyn, it's not just guys. I dislike the woman as well and have yet to see anything worth bragging over. I'll give that she's intelligent and I'll give that she has actually represented New Yorkers rather than simply holding a place in line for the next senator. Beyond that, I see nothing. Her claims seem more related to her former belief that "WE are the president" than that she was really personally involved - in other words, she gets her experience by proxy, not by being a principal, yet takes credit for the proxy's accomplishments.
Would somebody please ask HRC in what way she was instrumental? For cryin' out loud, let's not accept vague statements from anyone. Nail 'em down on specific facts with precise language.
The house is burning down and even "Mother Jones" is devoting even a few calories to this non-issue? How can I take this, or any campaign or nearly any media anymore at all seriously?
What's next week? If Obama's sneakers were made in a sweat shop?
Ralph Nader very astutely wrote last week: "Can the press and pundits ever be serious if the people do not grab hold of politics and make them become serious about their pleas, their plight and their revulsions? If voters want a concise mission statement, read the preamble to the Constitution, which starts 'We the People ' - not 'We the Corporations .' There is a responsibility attached to those words." - Ralph Nader
So who really gives a @#$% if Hillary exaggerated her resume... I want to know what her specific plans are for a LONG list of things and to know which hose she would grab first for the fire, whether she will prosecute the Cheney "administration"- including George Bush and all the cabinet formers as well, for war crimes and high treason and if she would be able to talk Ralph Nader into being her Attorney General... and same thing goes for Obama.
The Mother Jones who walked the grounds of Ludlow, if she was sitting here at her computer reading this kind of pap would be screaming bloody murder... and so am I!!
Ralph, there's not enough room here to list my pleas or describe my plight but I can say- scream at the top of my lungs that I am highly revulsed by seeing this kind of content and it has nothing to do with any loyalty to anyone's particular campaign. It has to do with common sense and decency and the fact that it is highly insulting to ME and MY intelligence as a citizen.
My dream is that Walt Whitman's beard will break ground soon and grow like kudzu from his grave in the cess pot of what Camden has become and start to selectively strangle the perpetrators of the rampant crimes being committed against the people every minute of every day.
Hillary thinks (with some justification) that the American public is ill-informed and has the political attention span of a fruit fly.
Some artful use of quotation marks, and it'll look as if she pulled down the Berlin Wall single-handedly -- at least to the "I heart Hillary" folks it will.
---
Stop watching TV.
Hillary is clever and hard-working.
Unfortunately, she's also become a cynical politico and lobbyst friend...
... and her shrillness and power hunger are highly distasteful to me.
If HR helped bring peace to Ireland then she must've been doing her bit at Mena too.
You know, I have just about had enough of all these HRC supporters going on and on about how smart she is. SHOW ME SOMETHING SHE HAS DONE!
Most, if not all, of the women posting here would absolutely loose their minds if men just ran out to the polls for a male candidate JUST BECAUSE HE WAS A MAN.
Shame on all of you for not realizing that if she wins in November there will be two family rule over the executive branch for at least 24 years. Thats historic!! How on earth are we going to even pretend that we are a democracy?
I'll tell you this. If she wins this nomination I am voting for John McCain. Thats right! Because I dont want to live in a Aristocracy.
I honestly think that despite pressure from the imminent defeat of Obama in the PA primary, almost half of his supporters were able to express themselves in a reasonably civil manner. I find this a mild improvement but I still feel that words like "whore" or "Billary" reflect directly on the candidate who inspired his supporters to use them.
David my man, I think you have sat on one cob to many!!
Just as Billy Boy had nothing to due with the idealogy of The Camp David Accord, it was done in OLSO long before his Presidency(?)and NO AMERICANS were involved, so to the myth of the Clinton's lives on in Her Highness Hillary!
Clinton stretching the truth, no way. Maybe she thinks that drinking a brew in an irish pub with with a few working class folks created peace in Ireland.
It'a a wonder this woman hasn't spontaneously combusted from all the lies she's told during this run for affice alone. Right now, I wouldn't trust Hillary to tell me the sun was shining on a clear sunny day. When is she going to accept the reality that we the people elected Bill during the 90s? Hillary came to the White House in 1993 with the rest of Bill's luggage and personal effects. If being luggage to a Presidents makes one a President, I'd like to elect my Jean Paul Gautier garment bag. At least it's elegant, tasteful, and protects my clothes with class.
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