In a letter to Hillary Clinton Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman writes that "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," and goes on in the letter to say "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."
The tone and attitude of Mr. Edelman in the letter to Senator Clinton who is a member of the Senate Armed Services demonstrates an arrogance on his part since his letter was to a U.S. Senator whom he is accountable to in her role as a United States Senator serving on the Armed Services Committee. Clinton's Senate spokesperson stated in response to the letter that it is "at once outrageous and dangerous," and said the Clinton would respond to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. I for one believe that she is right to speak directly to the Defense Secretary regarding this letter. This man violated the rights of the people of New York by insulting their Senator by sending sending such a rude and arrogant letter. The interesting thing about this was that Senator Clinton wasn't asking for Edelman's opinion on the merits of a withdrawal instead she urged "the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces." Regardless of what Mr. Edelman's opinion is on withdrawal has no bearing on the request made by a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee asking the Department of Defense to start making plans for withdrawal of American troops. He doesn't decide when our troops are withdrawn from Iraq instead his job as Undersecretary of Defense is to perform the functions of his job as enacted into law by prior Congresses and yet he felt the need to address a U.S. Senator on a political question of this sort. It only goes to show that our military isn't really non-partisan like some people claim and that Mr. Edelman who worked for Vice President Cheney does have a political position to advance and doesn't care that a lack of planning for a withdrawal could cause serious problem if our country needs to do so on short notice.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON_IRAQ?SITE=VASTR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
The tone and attitude of Mr. Edelman in the letter to Senator Clinton who is a member of the Senate Armed Services demonstrates an arrogance on his part since his letter was to a U.S. Senator whom he is accountable to in her role as a United States Senator serving on the Armed Services Committee. Clinton's Senate spokesperson stated in response to the letter that it is "at once outrageous and dangerous," and said the Clinton would respond to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. I for one believe that she is right to speak directly to the Defense Secretary regarding this letter. This man violated the rights of the people of New York by insulting their Senator by sending sending such a rude and arrogant letter. The interesting thing about this was that Senator Clinton wasn't asking for Edelman's opinion on the merits of a withdrawal instead she urged "the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces." Regardless of what Mr. Edelman's opinion is on withdrawal has no bearing on the request made by a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee asking the Department of Defense to start making plans for withdrawal of American troops. He doesn't decide when our troops are withdrawn from Iraq instead his job as Undersecretary of Defense is to perform the functions of his job as enacted into law by prior Congresses and yet he felt the need to address a U.S. Senator on a political question of this sort. It only goes to show that our military isn't really non-partisan like some people claim and that Mr. Edelman who worked for Vice President Cheney does have a political position to advance and doesn't care that a lack of planning for a withdrawal could cause serious problem if our country needs to do so on short notice.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON_IRAQ?SITE=VASTR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
