Former White House Adviser Pete Wehner

 

MSNBC's "Morning Joe"

December 19, 2007

To watch, please see: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC0PRgnAF4Y

Former White House Adviser Pete Wehner Discusses Huckabee's Attacks On Bush Foreign Policy:

MSNBC's JOE SCARBOROUGH: "Welcome back. We got Jim Cramer to stay because he's mad. He's mad for life brother and he's number one with a bullet.  Let's bring in right now Pete Wehner. He's former deputy assistant to the President, senior fellow right now at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Pete, thanks so much for being with us."

PETE WEHNER: "Nice to be with you. Thanks for inviting me, Joe."

SCARBOROUGH: "You have written and we're a little shocked and stunned and deeply saddened because the guy that loves Jesus, generally loves Jesus, Mike Huckabee was on our show earlier. We're friends with Mike. He likes Hendrix. I mean, he's got all the bases covered. But you have gone after him in a National Review article and you say that his Foreign Affairs article where he attacked President Bush for being arrogant and having a bunker mentality was misguided, and you said it was stunningly silly and deeply revealing. In what way?"

WEHNER: "Well, it was revealing because the criticisms that he made were with the kind that Jimmy Carter and Al Gore would make, not that usually conservative Republicans would make. He said that the President was at war with the world, which is not true. He spoke about the 'arrogant bunker mentality.' He said that the President really should deal with Iran like you deal with miscommunications between parents and friends. And that's actually not how you deal with Iran. It's not that he criticized the President. I've criticized our policy on Iraq. But the grounds of the criticism, I thought were wrong and, as I said, silly and I think for a Republican running in a Republican primary you don't want to sound like Jimmy Carter or Al Gore or the Daily Kos."

SCARBOROUGH: "Do you think, though, that a lot of Republicans are concerned with let's say what Paul Bremer did with the de-Baath-ification plan or what Donald Rumsfeld did by not giving the generals all the troops they wanted. I mean, Republicans, I know you've heard from other Republicans. There are similar concerns about missteps after we got into Baghdad."

WEHNER: "I acknowledge those and I accept them, actually. I've got some of the same complaints. Clearly the post-war situation wasn't handled well. We didn't have enough troops. We didn't have the right counter insurgency strategy. We have it now with David Petraeus. That wasn't the grounds of my criticism for the Foreign Affairs article. As I said, it was the nature of his criticisms as they related to this 'arrogant bunker mentality' that we really weren't, that we were having a problem in communications with dictators in the world. Well, sometimes it's actually the nature of the regimes that cause the problems. Its not that you're not being nice enough to them. He was making the argument that if you dominate the world you're going to illicit opposition. We're not dominating the world. We're actually trying to liberate some countries. And sometimes that elicits opposition."

CNBC's JIM CRAMER: "Peter, this is Jim Cramer, it seems like that Huckabee is also implying that we are a stingy nation that doesn't do a lot around the world. Isn't it true that we're the most, by far, the most generous nation in the world towards both friend and foe?"

WEHNER: "Yeah. That was another criticism that bothered me. Implicit in his argument is that it wasn't a generous nation. If we were generous we'd be well-loved. The reality is that we are generous. We give a huge amount in foreign aid. The President's global AIDS initiative which increased the amount of money to combat global AIDS by five times over the Clinton Administration is one of the great, generous, humane foreign policy achievements ever. And the reality is that we liberated more than 50 million people from two of the most despotic and cruel regimes in modern history and that was an act of generosity. It's come at a lot of cost to us in terms of human lives and in terms of money. It's cost more in lives and money than it should have. But the reality is that the impulse was generous and I think when all is said and done we'll look back on in history as having done the right thing and the generous thing."

MSNBC's MIKA BRZEZINSKI: "Peter, pertaining to the Foreign Affairs article written by Governor Huckabee and the words that he used, isn't it also true that we're dealing with an administration that led us into war on faulty intelligence and an administration that brought up the possibility of World War III which appears to be on intelligence that is still sort of hard to decipher at this point. I mean, isn't there something to be said for the 'arrogant bunker mentality' and why can't Republican candidates say that? Is there some rule against it?"

WEHNER: "No, there's no rule against it. He said it. But there's no rule against criticizing him for saying it. In terms of the faulty intelligence, I don't dispute that. Of course we went in with faulty intelligence and it was a huge, huge failure. The rest of the world had faulty intelligence. Countries that even opposed our actions in Iraq had faulty intelligence. They believed Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. I would say, that it would be nice if, once in a while, people pointed out that there was a burden of proof on Saddam Hussein to meet the obligations that he had agreed to. He didn't. He intentionally kept the inspectors out, and based on his history we drew conclusions. They were the wrong ones. Again, I don't dispute the idea that the Bush Administration can be criticized or even if it should be criticized. In eight years, you're going to make mistakes. This administration has made some; we've made some big ones. My objection was the nature of the criticisms. I just think Governor Huckabee who is a very smooth and talented fellow – you saw that in your interview with him. He's the best debater in the field. He's a terrific speaker. But, I think on foreign policy, his views are wrong, and he's pretty inexperienced and it's showing."

SCARBOROUGH: "Alright, Pete, thank you so much for renewing this. Pete Wehner. He's with The Ethics and Public Policy Center. You can read Pete's critique on the National Review Online and you can also see Governor Huckabee's article in Foreign Affairs."

Gilchrist discovers candidate favors giving status to illegals within days

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ELECTION 2008
Minuteman reconsiders Huckabee endorsement
Gilchrist discovers candidate favors giving status to illegals within days

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Posted: December 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in the moments following the Values Voter Debate Sept. 17, 2007, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (WND photo)

Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist says he will have to reconsider his endorsement of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee after learning the Republican presidential candidate favors allowing illegal aliens to wait only days to receive documents allowing re-entry into the U.S.

In a Dec. 9 Fox News interview, just two days before Gilchrist's endorsement, Huckabee was questioned by host Chris Wallace about an apparent contradiction between statements last year that he preferred a pathway to citizenship and his current plan. On his campaign website, Huckabee outlines a proposal that would require illegal aliens to repatriate and get on the back of the line, which could mean years for re-entry into the United States.

Huckabee insisted there is no discrepancy, specifying that "the pathway to get back here legally doesn't take years. It would take days, maybe weeks, and then people could come back in the workforce."

Asked by WND to respond, Gilchrist backtracked, admitting he may have been mistaken in his initial assumptions about the repatriation provisions of Huckabee's "Secure America Plan."

"I'm going to have to follow up on this," Gilchrist said. "I had not seen before anything in Governor Huckabee's plan where repatriation and touch-back could involve only days, not years.

"I personally need to talk to Governor Huckabee about this," he added. "This issue needs to be between Governor Huckabee and me."

 

Huckabee's admission to Fox News directly contradicted a condition Gilchrist stated was a sine qua non of his endorsement.

As previously reported, Gilchrist told WND, "Nothing I can find in Huckabee's plan indicates he is going to let the illegal immigrants back into the country the next day after they go home.

"The illegal aliens, once they are back home, will have to stand in line with everybody else and apply for legal entry at the end of the line," Gilchrist insisted, representing what he thought was the Huckabee plan.

Gilchrist further stated at the time, "If, in fact, there is no standing in line and waiting for legal entry, I would have a serious reservation about endorsing Huckabee."

Despite the new information about Huckabee's plan, Gilchrist declined to withdraw immediately his endorsement.

"I need to get answers from Huckabee himself about this discrepancy," Gilchrist said. "I want a valid explanation and I want it published.

"Plus, I have some other questions too that you're not aware of that I have already queried Governor Huckabee's staff about yesterday and again this morning," he continued. "But it's going to take about 72 hours to get responses."

Gilchrist declined to specify the additional questions.

In the Fox News interview, Wallace asked Huckabee about the apparent inconsistency.

"Well, I don't think there's an inconsistency," Huckabee said. "When I said a pathway, I didn't say what the pathway was.

"I now believe that the only thing the American people are going to accept – and frankly, the only thing that really makes sense – is a pathway that sends people back to the starting point," Huckabee continued.

"But this idea of the waiting years – no, I don't agree with that," he stressed. "In fact, look, if we can get a credit card application done within hours, if we can get passports done within days, if we can transact business over the Internet any place in the world within seconds, do a background check instantaneously – it's our government that has failed and is dysfunctional."

Huckabee went on to say, "It shouldn't take years to get a work permit to come here and pick lettuce."

He further specified, "But the pathway to get back here legally doesn't take years. It would take days, maybe weeks, and then people could come back in the workforce."

That repatriation provisions in Huckabee's "Secure America Plan" apparently are supported by Point 9 of his plan, which calls for an increase in the number of visas available for highly skilled and highly educated applicants.

Theocratic?

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

 

From a friend: "...While a lot of people talk about the "Christian Leader" ad he ran . . . not many are using this "Faith, Family, Freedom" line to support the "Theocratic" theme to his whole campaign."

Bill Whitaker

 

From CBS News' Correspondent

Bill Whitaker, who's covering the Romney campaign:

LONDONDERRY, N.H. -- Before former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney arrived at his first campaign stop at Insight Technology, a maker of high-tech military laser and imaging systems, a young woman went around the room, hurriedly handing out leaflets to the 150 or so employees gathered to hear Romney speak.

 

The leaflet entitled, "Questions for Presidential Candidates," had a half dozen questions, most of them critical of the Iraq war and U.S. nuclear policies. A few minutes later another woman, who identified herself as an Insight employee, came around and with a stern voice, asked the assembled workers to give her the leaflets.

 

"These are anti-Romney," she said. "We don't allow this. Some young woman snuck in here and handed these out. She didn't belong here, we don't allow this!" Every employee I saw her approach handed the leaflets over.

 

After Romney gave his standard speech and asked for questions, one older gentleman stood and said he had a question about the First Amendment and the right to free speech. He relayed the above story and added that the young woman had been asked rather forcefully to leave. He then asked Romney what he thought of that.

 

Romney at first seemed taken aback and looked as though he'd prefer to laugh if off. Then the candidate, who has made "Ask Mitt Anything" sessions a staple of his campaign, seemed to recognize brushing this off was not an option and he seemed to realize this could be a useable moment.

 

Saying, "I'm not afraid of any questions" and "I was on 'Meet The Press' yesterday, for Pete's sake," he asked to see the leaflet. Romney then proceeded to answer the leaflet questions about the cost of the war and bring the troops home from Iraq, his voice growing more confident as he went along. "What patriot would take the troops out regardless of the consequences," he asked in response.

 

Romney never did address the free speech issue, whether he condoned or condemned the attempt to stifle a line of questioning. Still, the workers at this military technology company seemed rather pleased with his response and gave him an energetic round of applause. The candidate seemed rather pleased with himself.

St. Louis Conservative

I just got this on Rush: by St. Louis Conservative

...when a reporter confronted Huck about Romney demanding that he apologize for accusing Bush of having a "bunker mentality", Huck literally responded with essentially, "yes, but I am more pro-life than Romney and I'm more against gays than Romney".

He literally dodged the question entirely and turned into an attack on Romney over social issues!!!!!!

This guy is an absolute and total disaster. What a loser.

".....women and minorities hardest hit"

No Laughing Matter: "Someone Who Hasn't Thought Much About Foreign Policy"

Below you'll find information and a YouTube link on Governor
Huckabee's speech to the Center For Strategic And International
Studies (CSIS). As you can see, he attacked the Bush Administration's
"bunker mentality," called for "full diplomatic relations" with Iran,
and claimed that "our focus on Iraq [is] at the expense of Pakistan."

http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/No_Laughing_Matter_12.15

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQitn77AXvo

"SOMEONE WHO HASN'T THOUGHT MUCH ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY"

No Laughing Matter: A serious look at Gov. Mike Huckabee's record and
policy beyond the one-liners.
Gov. Mike Huckabee: "And the ultimate thing is, I may not be the
expert that some people are on foreign policy, but I did stay in a
Holiday Inn Express last night." (WABC Radio's "Imus In The Morning,"
12/4/07)
National Review: "The Holiday Inn Express Candidate." "In sum,
conservatives should have worries about the depth and soundness of
Mike Huckabee's foreign-policy views. And staying at a Holiday Inn
Express is not going to be enough to allay them." (Editorial, "The
Holiday Inn Express Candidate," National Review, 12/10/07)

"Huckabee did give a long speech on foreign policy at [CSIS]… It
combined a superficial rendering of conventional foreign-policy wisdom
— which of course included many unfair criticisms of President Bush —
with Huckabee's inimitable folksy delivery. … Huckabee's views are the
uneven grab bag to be expected from someone who hasn't thought much
about foreign policy." – National Review (Editorial, "The Holiday Inn
Express Candidate, National Review, 12/10/07)

To Watch Selections From Gov. Huckabee's Speech, Click Here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQitn77AXvo

Gov. Huckabee's Foreign Affairs Essay Closely Mirrors A Speech He Gave
In September 2007:

Gov. Huckabee: "This Administration's Bunker Mentality Has Been
Counterproductive, Both At Home And Abroad." GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE:
"Well, let me begin by saying that to say that American foreign policy
needs a change in tone or attitude, or an opening up and reaching out,
is [as] obvious as saying that O.J. Simpson might've had a bad month.
This Administration's bunker mentality has been counterproductive,
both at home and abroad. They've done a poor job of communicating and
consulting with other countries, just as they have, frankly, with the
American people." (Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks To The Center For
Strategic And International Studies, Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)
Foreign Affairs As Playground Politics. GOV. HUCKABEE: "There's a
sense in which our situation with prestige in the world is a great
deal like many of us experienced as a child growing up in a
neighborhood where there was one kid, one kid who was just exceptional
at everything he did. He made A's, and never anything else; he could
run faster; he could jump higher; he could throw the ball further; he
never struck out. You know the kid; I hope you weren't that kid."
(Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks To The Center For Strategic And
International Studies, Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)

Gov. Huckabee: "Full Diplomatic Relations" With Iran. GOV. HUCKABEE:
"Normally we speak to Iran only indirectly, through the Swiss embassy
in Tehran. Our recent direct negotiations about Iraq have been very
narrowly focused, not very productive because we really weren't
exploring the full range of issues. We have valuable incentives to
offer Iran in exchange for helping us to stabilize Iraq, not
supporting the Taliban, Hamas, and Hezbollah, and abandoning their
nuclear ambitions, trade and economic assistance, full diplomatic
relations, and security guarantees." (Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks To
The Center For Strategic And International Studies, Washington, D.C.,
9/28/07)

Gov. Huckabee: Iran Is Simply Playing "Normal Power Politics" And We
Can "Negotiate With Them." GOV. HUCKABEE: "And while there can be no
rational dealings with al Qaeda, Iran is a nation-state looking for
regional power. It plays the normal power politics that we do
understand, and can skillfully and rightfully pursue. And we have
substantial issues to negotiate with them." (Gov. Mike Huckabee,
Remarks To The Center For Strategic And International Studies,
Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)
Diplomacy With Iran Is Like A Fight With Your Sister. GOV. HUCKABEE:
"We haven't had diplomatic relationships with Iran in almost 30 years,
most of my entire adult life, and a lot of good it's done. Putting
this in human terms, all of us know that when we stop talking to a
parent, or a sibling, or even a friend, it's impossible to resolve the
differences to move that relationship forward. Well, the same is true
for countries." (Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks To The Center For
Strategic And International Studies, Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)

Gov. Huckabee: An Embassy In Baghdad Would Have Led To Better
Intelligence. GOV. HUCKABEE: "If we had had diplomatic relations with
Iraq, and an ambassador in Baghdad, we obviously would've had better
information. Before we put boots on the ground in the future, we
better have a few wingtips there first." (Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks
To The Center For Strategic And International Studies, Washington,
D.C., 9/28/07)

Gov. Mike Huckabee: "And When President Bush Included Iran In The Axis
Of Evil, Everything Went Downhill Pretty Fast." (Gov. Mike Huckabee,
Remarks To The Center For Strategic And International Studies,
Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)

Gov. Mike Huckabee: "I Know That We Cannot Live With Al Qaeda, But
There Is A Chance We Can Live With A Domesticated Iran." GOV.
HUCKABEE: "As the only presidential candidate with a theology degree,
along with several years of political experience, I know that theology
is black and white. Politics is not. My enemy today on one issue may
be my friend tomorrow on another. Bottom line is this: Iran is a
regional threat to the balance of power in the Middle and Near East.
Al Qaeda is an existential threat to the United States. I know that we
cannot live with al Qaeda, but there is a chance we can live with a
domesticated Iran." (Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks To The Center For
Strategic And International Studies, Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)

Gov. Huckabee: Bin Laden Is "Protected Indirectly By The Pakistani
Government." GOV. HUCKABEE: "Now, while our failure to engage Iran
seems to be leading to our potentially attacking them, our failure to
engage al Qaeda and Pakistan seems to be leading to their attacking us
again. When we let bin Laden escape at Tora Bora in December of 2001,
he fled Afghanistan into Pakistan, and we played Brer Fox to his Brer
Rabbit. We threw him into the perfect briar patch, protected directly
by Islamic extremists, tribal leaders who revere him, and don't
consider their land to be part of Pakistan, protected indirectly by
the Pakistani government, who believes that it is." (Gov. Mike
Huckabee, Remarks To The Center For Strategic And International
Studies, Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)

Gov. Huckabee: The War In Iraq Is A Distraction From Going After Al
Qaeda In Pakistan. GOV. HUCKABEE: "I am convinced that our focus on
Iraq at the expense of Pakistan or Iran is like dealing with the
neighbor's house, which is on fire, while ignoring the house on the
other side of the street that's filled with carbon monoxide. Iraq may
be the hot war, but Pakistan is where the cold, calculating planning
is actually going on. Al Qaeda in Iraq is a branch office. Corporate
headquarters is in Pakistan." (Gov. Mike Huckabee, Remarks To The
Center For Strategic And International Studies, Washington, D.C.,
9/28/07)

Gov. Huckabee: By Supporting Pakistan's Government, "Our Government"
Is To Blame If Al Qaeda Attacks Us. GOV. HUCKABEE: "If al Qaeda
attacks us tomorrow, that attacked will be postmarked Pakistan, not
Iraq. Pakistan has become the new Afghanistan. Another attack will
spark justified outrage that we let bin Laden and his people get away.
Concerns about Pakistan's delicate sensibilities will be drowned out
by the wailing about American casualties. The American people will not
understand why our supposed ally refused to help us or why our
government put up with their intransigence." (Gov. Mike Huckabee,
Remarks To The Center For Strategic And International Studies,
Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)
Gov. Huckabee: "I Would Prefer To Skip The Next Attack And The
Exasperated Fury That It Will Rightly Generate And Cut To The Chase By
Going After Al Qaeda's Safe Haven In Pakistan." (Gov. Mike Huckabee,
Remarks To The Center For Strategic And International Studies,
Washington, D.C., 9/28/07)

Arrogant?

Mike Huckabee says the US government has an "arrogant" "bunker mentality". George Bush has surrounded himself with the best minds in the business. Dick Cheney was previously Secretary of Defense, and has more years in service of this country than Mike Huckabee has been alive. Robert M. Gates, the current secretary of defense was the Director of Central Intelligence for three years, and again make's Huckabee's Resume look pathetic. Rumsfeld was a brilliant strategist, and twice served as secretary of defence. Do we need to even mention the qualifications of General Petraeus? Each of these men lead organizations of thousands of people each working on the problems that America faces. Condoleezza Rice is also a very competent Secretary of State. These men and woman set American foreign policy, and project American power overseas.

Mike Huckabee, a person who hadn't even heard of the NIE report that was on the front page of every newspaper for weeks, thinks he can do a better job than these people.

Tell me Mike, who is incorrectly arrogant? Oh yeah, that's right... I forgot you stayed at a Best Western... Ha, ha, ha... very funny.