Clinton's N. Ireland Peace Claims "A Wee Bit Silly"
Sen. Hillary Clinton has been talking a fair bit lately about the role she played in the Northern Ireland peace process.
Clinton has been saying that her role in helping the two bitter enemies find a way to come together -- in particular women from the two groups -- is an example of the kind of experience she has in a crisis situation. But negotiators from the two parties that helped but together the Accord in 1998 disagree about the extent of that role. Some told Britain's Daily Telegraph "she played no part in the gruelling political talks over the years."
Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province, said that Clinton played no direct role in the peace process and that her claims of doing so are "a wee bit silly."
"I don't know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around," he said. Her claims that she was deeply involved he described as "the sort of thing people put in their canvassing leaflets" during elections. "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.
The Telegraph's Toby Harden was the paper's Northern Ireland reporter during the peace process but is now the paper's U.S. editor. After Lord Trimble made his statements, the Clinton camp sent him a statement from David Hume, who led the Catholic side in the negotiations, that said Clinton played a "positive role" in the negotiations. It also put him in touch with Republican Rep. Peter King.
King was effusive in his praise for Clinton and described Clinton's her this way: "She was actively involved. It was George Mitchell who was negotiating and Bill Clinton who was calling a lot of the shots but Hillary, first of all she had access to the President on I think it was three trips to Northern Ireland. She knew all of the players on a first-name basis ... She was certainly more than just someone along for the ride. She spoke with some authority. I consider her to be a serious player. I say that as someone who supports John McCain and wants Hillary Clinton defeated in November. But fair is fair."
Harnden also notes that there is a bit of a "transAtlantic divide" on the issue of how the role the Clinton's played. "Those in Northern Ireland of whatever political stripe are apt to be more sceptical about Bill Clinton having a really big role, let alone Hillary," he writes.
9:00 AM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink

