The New York Observer, February 24th, 2005
Around here, Hillary's all about making all the right friends, and in the Arab world she seems to be making just the enemies an American politician might seek: the new, Islamist-leaning Iraqi prime minister, and the good folks at an Islamist-leaning website called Al Jazeerah.
According to the Times of London, the presumptive PM, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, didn't take kindly to Hillary's suggestion that his rise is "grounds both for concern and for... vigilance."
"Clearly irritated, the candidate...brushed aside the remark yesterday. 'We are not at an American traffic light to be given a red or green signal. I am speaking on behalf of a collective decision. I will stop when the Iraqi people say to stop,' he said. 'Hillary Clinton, as far as I know, does not represent any political decision or the American Administration and I don't know why she said this. She knows nothing about the Iraqi situation.'"
And over at a website called "Al Jazeerah" and apparently not related to the Qatar-based television network, contributor Sam Hamod added these kind words: "Once again, showing that she's as evil politically as her husband, ex-president Clinton, the shill for Israel--Hillary Clinton is in the infamous American fortress called 'the green zone,' telling the Iraqis who should be their next Prime Minister.... After all, who tells Hillary what to do, and gives her the money to remain in office--the biggest zionist voting bloc in history, in New York City. Thus, Hillary is there to do the bidding of her zionist constituency, not the American people's constituency, nor for freedom or justice in the world."
Juan Cole, who thinks Hillary's wrong on the merits, has a somewhat saner analysis of the situation.
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this post, we mistakenly attributed Sam Hamod's views to the television network Al Jazeera; his op-ed is in fact posted on a website with a very similar name, Al-Jazeerah, but wilder-eyed views. We appear not to be the only ones who made this mistake.
