Subject: Friends & Allies TP's: Jeb Bush's Foreign Policy Attacks
From: Adrienne Elrod <[email-masked]>
To: Adrienne Elrod <[email-masked]>
Cc: Alexandria Phillips <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2015 17:31:38 -0400

All - In advance of Jeb Bush's foreign policy speech today at the Reagan
Library where he reportedly plans to lodge attacks against Secretary
Clinton's strong foreign policy record, we wanted to arm with you with the
facts. Please let me know if you have any questions.

We've also included a statement from Hillary for America's Senior Policy
Adviser Jake Sullivan, who held a press conference call this afternoon
pre-butting the attacks. His statement is below.

Hope these are helpful - thanks!

AE

*Friends and Allies TPs – Jeb Bush’s Foreign Policy Attacks*

*Hillary For America*

*August 11, 2015*

*As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton worked tirelessly to restore
American leadership and relationships around the world after eight damaging
years of the Bush Doctrine.* Secretary Clinton has unrivaled foreign policy
experience, and the credibility, strength, and evenhandedness to navigate
challenging and changing dynamics overseas and keep us safe at home.

*On the other hand, just like his brother, it appears that Jeb Bush’s
answer to every issue that arises is to put more boots on the ground.* And
almost every other Republican candidate subscribes to this same military
action-first mantra.  Hillary Clinton doesn't think that our answer to
every threat should be to put tens of thousands of American troops in
harm's way.

*When it comes to withdrawing from Iraq, Jeb Bush intentionally omits the
fact that the Status of Forces Agreement requiring our troops to leave Iraq
by 2011 was negotiated by his brother's administration, not Obama's*.
Moreover, the
Obama administration tried to negotiate a follow-on agreement to Bush's
Status of Forces Agreement, and Hillary Clinton advocated strongly for
leaving a residual force in Iraq for training and counterterrorism, but the
Iraqi government refused.  So when Jeb Bush disingenuously claims that
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton bear the responsibility for our withdrawal
from Iraq, that's just flat wrong.

*But the truth, which Republicans refuse to accept, is that military force
is not a panacea, and the absence of American troops on the ground was not
the fundamental problem in Iraq.* The fundamental problem was the sectarian
policies that the Maliki government pursued that made it dangerously easy
for ISIS to gain support in Sunni areas. Not only did Secretary Clinton
repeatedly call them out and push them to govern more inclusively, but she
called for Maliki to be replaced back in 2007 for these very reasons, even
as President Bush and the GOP embraced him.

*Jeb Bush's attacks are wrongheaded. *We need serious leaders who are
prepared to handle complicated situations across the world and have clear
plans to do so, not leaders who want to oversimplify those situations to
score political points. And the last thing we need to do is turn back to
the same reckless foreign policy that damaged our standing across the world.

*Remarks From Senior Policy Advisor, Jake Sullivan -- August 11, 2015*

I’m here to offer some comments in response to Governor Bush’s false
attacks on Secretary Clinton.

Let me start by saying that it’s curious that Governor Bush is choosing
Iraq as the place he wants to engage the foreign policy debate.

This is a pretty bold attempt to rewrite history and reassign
responsibility.  And we’ve seen similar things from other Republican
candidates.  They cannot be allowed to escape responsibility for the real
mistake here.  They might hope we’ll all forget, but the American people
remember.

We remember that they ignored the advice of the Army Chief of Staff by
sending too few troops to secure the country.  We remember that they
installed a new Iraqi government that opened the door to greater Iranian
influence.  We remember that they disbanded the Iraqi army and banished
Sunnis who soon became insurgents.

And this last point is especially important.  Let’s remember where ISIS and
its leadership came from.  It is simply wrong to assert that ISIS arose in
the vacuum after American troops left.   ISIS grew out of Al–Qaeda in
Iraq.  And where did AQI come from?  It didn’t exist before the invasion.
It emerged in no small part as a result of President’s Bush’s failed
strategy.  And it gained strength by signing up former Sunni military
officers – officers from the army that the Bush administration disbanded.

It was President Bush who set the withdrawal date for Americans from Iraq,
not President Obama.  President Bush signed an agreement that *required* us
to be out by the end of 2011.   The Obama Administration urged Maliki to
approve our leaving a residual force behind.  But Prime Minister Maliki,
who the Bush Administration had pushed to the front in Iraq, made it clear
that he could not get the Iraqi parliament to do that. Not even for five-
or ten-thousand troops.

American boots on the ground cannot fix Iraq. Only Iraqis can fix Iraq,
with our support but not with our combat boots on the ground.

Democrats have learned that lesson. We’ll never shy away from using
military force to protect America when absolutely necessary.  And should
that time come, we’ll ensure our troops have the overwhelming capabilities
and the numbers they need to fight and to win.

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton worked tirelessly to restore
American leadership and relationships around the world after eight damaging
years.

And as for her record on Iraq, Secretary Clinton is proud of the work she
did to strengthen the partnership and support our ally.

She met multiple times with Prime Minister Maliki, with her counterpart,
Foreign Minister Zebari, and with President Talabani.

She chaired a joint coordinating committee to implement the US-Iraq
strategic framework, covering the full range of shared interests between
our two countries.

She directed her deputy to chair a weekly secure video conference with the
embassy and key US government officials to monitor progress and shape
events.

She regularly briefed President Obama on developments in Iraq.

And her State Department led the transition to a fully civilian mission in
Iraq, executing a complex and ambitious strategy with thousands of civilian
personnel.

Secretary Clinton also rallied the world to build a new global
counterterrorism platform that could invest in our partners and coordinate
action against terrorist groups.

She set up a new strategic communications center to take on the terrorists
online.

So she welcomes the opportunity to debate how to deal with ISIS and other
terrorist groups.

Now, a word about the future.  After excoriating the Obama administration,
what does Governor Bush propose for Iraq and ISIS?  He appears to propose
doing pretty much the same thing that President Obama is doing. What is he
suggesting we do differently?  More boots on the ground?

If that is what he wants – more American boots on the ground in combat in
Iraq – he should come out and say so.

Secretary Clinton has made clear that we need to use all the tools at our
disposal, in an integrated fashion, to defeat ISIL and take on other
terrorist groups.  And she’ll have more to say on this in the weeks and
months ahead.

-- 

Adrienne K. Elrod
Spokesperson
Hillary For America
*www.hillaryclinton.com <http://www.hillaryclinton.com>*
@adrienneelrod