HILLARY BLASTS BUSH IN ARAB PRESS

Newsmax 04/27/04

In remarks being reported throughout the Arab world Tuesday morning, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted the Bush administration as a threat to peace in the Middle East, going so far as to accuse the President Bush of endangering the lives of U.S. troops.

Sen. Clinton delivered the unprecedented attack in an interview with the London-based Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Monday, with newspapers from Tehran to Islamabad picking up her harsh words almost immediately.

Typical was the coverage by Tehran's news agency Mehr, which quoted Clinton as saying that "the U.S. is trapped in the quagmire of Iraq."

"Referring to the Bush Administration policies as arrogant and insolent," Mehr said, "the wife of the former U.S. president further added that Bush is not willing to admit his mistakes in Iraq, the grave mistakes that have endangered the lives of both the Iraqi people and the U.S. servicemen alike."

The former first lady said that Bush's "mistakes have also threatened peace and stability in the region."

In comments that could only encourage the Iraqi insurgency, the top Democrat complained that "the United States was in trouble because it could not abandon Iraq, nor provide enough manpower to run the country, nor gather world allies willing to provide the necessary assistance for the gigantic task," according to Mehr's translation.

HENCH adds: She's running folks. This is just the beginning. She's going to be attacking President Bush all summer, and at the last minute shove Kerry out the door and take the nomination with about a month to go. Be afraid, be VERY afraid.