*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
Thursday, June 05, 2014
CONTACT: Correct The Record by American Bridge
Adrienne Watson / Daniel Wessel
Correct The Record Reacts to Putin Comments
Washington, D.C. – Correct The Record today released the following statement in reaction to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent comments regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“If Putin thinks he can bully Hillary Clinton, he’s got another thing coming,” said Correct The Record spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod. “As the world saw over and over again in her time as Secretary of State, she is one tough leader. She has been blunt and tough with Russia, calling out Putin as a man who ‘doesn’t have a soul,’ and calling out Russia as ‘despicable’ for blocking action against the Assad regime in Syria. She stood up to Putin, arguing that he has interfered with former Soviet republics. Hillary Clinton stood up for Russian democracy activists in 2012 after their arrest, even calling for Putin’s election to be investigated. She built and maintained a coalition to enact the toughest sanctions in Iran’s history.
“Mr. Putin’s posturing as a schoolyard bully does indeed demonstrate weakness, his own. Real leaders like Hillary Clinton aren’t bullied; they stand up.”
BACKGROUND:
Sen. Clinton: As a former KGB agent, Putin “doesn’t have a soul.” According to the Associated Press, “Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose prospects for beating Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination are dwindling, also has played on Bush’s line and Putin’s earlier career in the Soviet intelligence service. ‘I could have told (Bush) he was a KGB agent; by definition he doesn’t have a soul,’ she said in January. (That brought a rebuke from Putin, who said, ‘At a minimum, a head of state should have a head.’)” [Associated Press, 5/17/08]
Sec. Clinton called Russia “despicable” for veto of Syrian sanctions. According to the Denver Post editorial board, “When the United States and its allies tried to tighten sanctions against Syria, Russia and China vetoed the Security Council resolution. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, talking to reporters after the meeting in Tunis, called the vetoes ‘despicable’ and asked of Russian and China, ‘Whose side are they on? They are clearly not on the side of the Syrian people.’ … Clinton left open all options in Syria and made it clear that the Syrian regime could not stand. We hope that the lead role in supporting the opposition comes from the Arab states, whose stake in isolating Syria — Iran’s only ally in the region — is at least as great as the stakes for all of us horrified by the Syrian violence.” [Editorial, Denver Post,2/25/12]
Clinton argued that Putin has interfered with former Soviet republics and “created a new class of oligarchs.” “Statesmanship is also necessary to engage countries that are not adversaries but that are challenging the United States on many fronts. Russian President Vladimir Putin has thwarted a carefully crafted UN plan that would have put Kosovo on a belated path to independence, attempted to use energy as a political weapon against Russia’s neighbors and beyond, and tested the United States and Europe on a range of nonproliferation and arms reduction issues. Putin has also suppressed many of the freedoms won after the fall of communism, created a new class of oligarchs, and interfered deeply in the internal affairs of former Soviet republics.” [Hillary Clinton, Foreign Affairs, Nov-Dec 2007]
Sec. Clinton: There were a number of concerns about Putin’s election “that should be investigated and addressed.” According to Agence France Presse, “US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern Wednesday about the arrest of protesters after Russia’s weekend elections but said Washington looks forward to working with Vladimir Putin. Clinton clearly acknowledged Putin’s presidential election victory when she named him in her remarks, even as she repeated US calls for reported voting irregularities to be investigated. ‘There were a number of concerns about this latest electoral process that should be investigated and addressed,’ the chief US diplomat said during a brief press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.” [Agence France Presse, 3/7/12]
Secretary Clinton built and maintained a coalition to enact the toughest sanctions in Iran’s history. Secretary Clinton helped impose the toughest sanctions in Iran’s history by getting Russia and China on board. Even the Wall Street Journal editorial board noted that, “Clinton surely pulled out every stop to get Russia and particularly China…on board.” And as Howard Dean recently told CNN, “Hillary Clinton cranked up the sanctions for the first time under President Obama that actually made the Iranians come to the table.”
Sec. Clinton: “We will have to be tough, clear eyed, and be ready to walk away and increase the pressure” on Iran because no deal was “better than a bad deal.” According to CNN’s coverage of Sec. Clinton’s speech to the American Jewish Committee, “Clinton echoed the skepticism in her remarks to rounds of applause. To get an agreement, Clinton said, ‘we will have to be tough, clear eyed, and be ready to walk away and increase the pressure if need be. No deal is better than a bad deal.’” [CNN, 5/14/14]
Correct The Record by American Bridge is a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend potential Democratic presidential candidates from right-wing, baseless attacks.
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