What A Party, by Terry McAuliffe: on War & Peace

Bill Clinton: 2000 plan: Palestinians retain 97% of West Bank

[Initial the Israeli-Palestinian] talks ended on a sour note, but Bill Clinton, understanding the stakes, was not about to give up. He knew that the Camp David meetings would probably not result in an agreement but could move the ball forward. He ordered his team to keep negotiating and pressing for more creative solutions to the intractable problem of forging Middle East peace. The Israeli and Palestinian delegations capped off months of additional work when they met in Washington on December 23 to go over the latest version of what came to be known as the Clinton plan. Unlike the deal being discussed at Camp David under which the Palestinians would have had to give up more than 9% of the West Bank, the Clinton plan provided for them to retain the equivalent of about 97% of the West Bank. Through Clinton's efforts they were also able to resolve most of the territorial and neighborhood issues as well as questions relating to holy sites. Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.251-252 Jan 23, 2007

Jimmy Carter: OpEd: re-election failed with 1980 Iranian hostage crisis

We didn't know it right away, but Jimmy Carter's reelection hopes probably went south on him the night in April 1980 when the attempt to rescue the US hostages being held in Iran turned into a fiasco. There was a dust storm raging and one of the helicopters the military had sent in crashed into a transport plane, starting a fire that killed 8 soldiers.

The next day we found out Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the rescue attempt, had resigned in protest.

We were in a tough spot with Carter sticking to his Rose Garden strategy of staying at the White House and sending out the Vice President and First Lady to campaign for him. You need your biggest star to go out there and get people excited.

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p. 30 Jan 23, 2007

Terry McAuliffe: Acted as back channel between Yasir Arafat and Bill Clinton

When Yasir Arafat arrived, we talked about what was happening in the Middle East and Arafat had all kinds of questions about US politics and of course about Bill Clinton. Arafat wanted to establish a back channel to Bill Clinton. During the Camp David Summit in July 2000, [an Arafat aide] called me from Camp David to ask me to relay a message directly to the President, saying that Arafat wanted a few minutes alone with Clinton outside of the group talks. I called the President right up and passed on the request that he meet with Arafat one-on-one. "And I did," Clinton remembers.

Arafat was under pressure from other Arab leaders not to accept a deal just for the sake of a deal, but to fight hard for the best deal possible. Through Clinton's efforts [the Israelis and Palestinians] were also able to resolve most of the territorial and neighborhood issues as well as questions relating to holy sites.

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.251-252 Jan 23, 2007

Terry McAuliffe: Iraq War case built by scaring the daylights out of people

Blair's support gave Bush cover--but Blair was on his own, exposed to withering criticism at home for supporting a war on a false pretext, as the infamous Downing Street Memo later demonstrated.

The same month that Cheney and Rice hit the talk-show circuit to scare the daylights out of the American people, I happened to be over in Spain attending the wedding of Prime Minister Jose Aznar's daughter, Ana. We were joined by Blair and his charming, outspoken wife, Cherie.

Cherie Blair had a question for me. "Terry, what do people in America think of my husband on this issue?," she asked coyly.

I decided what the heck, I'd tell them the truth.

"With all due respect, Mr. Prime Minister, most people think you're a lapdog for George Bush," I said "No offense, sir."

At that point Cherie slapped her husband on the shoulder and said, "See, I told you so, Tony."

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.334 Jan 23, 2007

Terry McAuliffe: 2003: Where are WMDs? Still asking today!

By May 2003 the American people could see that the Iraq War was none of these things Bush had said it would be. He rushed off to war under false pretenses and set off a chain of events that has made this country far less safe. Ask yourself: Are you safer now than when George W. Bush was inaugurated in January 2001? Do you FEEL safer? Instead of sticking with the tough job of fighting the war on terror, Bush pulled most US troops out of Afghanistan well before long-term stability had been established.

The questions, I had on June 17, 2003, speaking in Oklahoma, were: "Where are the weapons of mass destruction?" and "Where is Osama bin Laden?" I'm still asking those questions today--along with millions of other outraged Americans.

The following month, we started getting a clearer picture of just how far Bush had gone to distort reality in his push for war.

Source: What A Party!, by Terry McAuliffe, p.336-337 Jan 23, 2007

The above quotations are from What A Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and Other Wild Animals by Terry McAuliffe. Click here for definitions & background information on War & Peace. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Terry McAuliffe on War & Peace. Click here for more quotes by Bill Clinton on War & Peace.
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