Obama Press Release: Senator Clinton continues to exaggerate her role in the Northern Ireland peace process

[Obama Campaign Press Release from March 15, 2008]

“Senator Clinton has said, ‘I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.’ It is a gross overstatement of the facts for her to claim even partial credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland,” said Greg Craig, former director, Policy Planning Office, U.S. State Department under President Clinton. “She did travel to Northern Ireland. First Ladies often travel to places that are a focus of U.S. foreign policy. But at no time did she play any role in the critical negotiations that ultimately produced the peace. As the Associated Press recently reported, ‘[S]he was not directly involved in negotiating the Good Friday peace accord.’ With regard to her main claim that she helped bring women together, she did participate in a meeting with women, but, according to those who know best, she did not play a pivotal role. The person in charge of the negotiations, former Senator George Mitchell, said that ‘[The First Lady] was one of many people who participated in encouraging women to get involved, not the only one.’ News of Senator Clinton’s claims has raised eyebrows across the ocean. Her reference to an important meeting at the Belfast town hall was debunked. Her only appearance at the Belfast City Hall was to see Christmas lights turned on. She also attended a 50-minute meeting which, according to the Belfast Daily Telegraph’s report at the time, ‘[was] a little bit stilted, a little prepared at times.’ Brian Feeney, an Irish author and former politician, sums it up: ‘The road to peace was carefully documented, and she wasn’t on it.’” [Obama campaign memo, March 11, 2008]

CLINTONS CLAIMS THAT SHE BROUGHT PEACE AND PLAYED AN “INSTRUMENTAL” ROLE IN THE NORTHERN IRELAND PEACE PROCESS ARE EXAGGERATIONS

Clinton Said She Played An “Instrumental” Role In The Northern Ireland Peace Process. When asked by National Public Radio whether she had been in the “centre of the room” during Northern Ireland peace talks, she said: “What I was part of a team and that team included obviously the principal negotiators under the direct authority of my husband. I wasn’t sitting at the negotiating table but the role I played was instrumental. I guess it was in December when Ian Paisley [Democratic Unionist Party leader] and Martin McGuinness [Sinn Fein leader] came to the United States. I think they met with the leadership of Congress, with the President and with me and they thanked me publicly for the role I had played.” [Telegraph, 3/14/08]

• FactCheck.org: “Key Players Agree That She Was Not Directly Involved In Any Actual Negotiations” During The Irish Peace Process. Clinton’s activities ‘helped bring peace to Northern Ireland.’ Irish officials are divided as to how helpful Clinton’s actions were, and key players agree that she was not directly involved in any actual negotiations.” [FactCheck.org, 3/13/08]

• Time: Clinton Played A Role In Hearing The Concerns Of Irish Women Left Out Of The Peace Process… But That Does Not Mean She Rolled Up Her Sleeves And Conducted Or Led The Talks That Resulted In The 1998 Good Friday Agreement.” “Clinton played a role in hearing the concerns of Irish women left out of the peace process, and in encouraging them to put pressure on their countrymen to pursue negotiations. But that does not mean she rolled up her sleeves and conducted or led the talks that resulted in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.” [Time Magazine, 3/13/08]

• Stephen Farry, A Member Of The Northern Ireland Assembly, Said Clinton “Did Not, To My Knowledge, Have Any Direct Role With Key Players In Negotiations.” “Stephen Farry, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, said it’s important to put the Clinton administration’s efforts in perspective. ‘It is an exaggeration to say that the administration brokered the agreement. … Most of the heavy lifting to reach the Good Friday Agreement was provided by the British and Irish governments,’ Farry said in an e-mail to PolitiFact. He said Hillary Clinton ‘did not, to my knowledge, have any direct role with the key players in the negotiations. She did play a positive role in engaging with civil society in Northern Ireland, and building on work that was already in progress. This would have assisted with the general atmospherics.’” [Politifact.com, 3/10/08]

• PolitiFact: “Although She Played A Role, Especially With Women In Northern Ireland, Her Statement Leaves That Impression That She Was More Involved Than She Was. We Find Her Statement Half True.” “Clinton claimed that she ‘helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.’ That’s the kind of thing that Mitchell, Hume or Trimble could accurately say. But based on our interviews and research, it’s a stretch for Clinton to say so. Although she played a role, especially with women in Northern Ireland, her statement leaves the impression that she was more involved than she was. We find her statement to be Half True.” [Politifact.com, 3/10/08]

• Leader Belfast Politician Brian Feeney Said Clinton “Overstates Her Role” In The Northern Ireland Peace Process. Some in Northern Ireland say Clinton “overstates her role.” “The road to peace was carefully documented, and she wasn’t on it,” says Brian Feeney, an author and former leading Belfast politician. [AP, 3/8/08]

• Nobel Peace Prize Winner Lord Trimble Of Lisnagarvey Said “Clinton Had No Direct Role In Bringing Peace To Northern Ireland And Is A ‘Wee Bit Silly’ For Exaggerating The Part She Played.” “Hillary Clinton had no direct role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland and is a ‘wee bit silly’ for exaggerating the part she played, according to Lord Trimble of Lisnagarvey, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former First Minister of the province. ‘I don’t know there was much she did apart from accompanying Bill [Clinton] going around,’ he said. Her recent statements about being deeply involved were merely ‘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.’” [Telegraph, 3/8/08]

• Biographer Sally Bedell Smith: “I Noticed In The Debate The Other Night That She Said She Had Played A Role In The Irish Peace Process, The Northern Ireland Peace Process. But In Fact, There Really Is No Evidence That She Participated In Any Negotiations That Led To The Good Friday Accords.” Clinton has cited her extensive travel - 80 trips as First Lady - as part of her foreign policy experience. She promoted microfinance in Latin America, peace in Bosnia and, famously, human rights in China. But for the most part she functioned as more of a Goodwill Ambassador. “I noticed in the debate the other night that she said she had played a role in the Irish Peace Process, the Northern Ireland peace process,” biographer Sally Bedell Smith said. “But in fact, there really is no evidence that she participated in any negotiations that led to the Good Friday Accords.” [CBS News, 2/29/08]
  
  Washington Post Fact Checker: Clinton Exaggerated Her “Independent” Role In Northern Ireland Peace Process. “Hillary Clinton has repeatedly cited her White House years as key to why she has the ability to serve as president from “Day One.” Both she and her husband have pointed to her “independent” role in bringing peace to Northern Ireland as an example of her foreign policy experience. Her critics, notably former Clinton pollster Dick Morris, have poured scorn on her claim that she was “intimately involved” in the peace process. So who is right? […] she accompanied her husband as first lady on those four occasions, so they were hardly “independent” visits. (She would sometimes fly in a day early to give a lecture.) […] I just spoke to Senator George Mitchell, the Clinton administration’s leading Northern Ireland peace negotiator, who said that Hillary was “not involved directly” in the diplomatic negotiations that led to the landmark April 1998 Good Friday agreement on power-sharing. On the other hand, Mitchell credits Clinton with taking an intelligent interest in the issues and getting acquainted with many of the key players. […] Chris Thornton, a political reporter for the Belfast Telegraph, said that Hillary Clinton’s visits to northern Ireland contributed to the “mood music” that made an eventual settlement possible, but were hardly key to reaching an agreement. “Would we have reached a settlement without that kind of stuff? Yes. Would we have got one without the intervention of Bill Clinton and George Mitchell? No.” Hillary is making a lot more of her Northern Ireland role on the campaign trail than she did in her memoir “Living History.” As the Boston Globe recently noted, her stories of bringing Protestant and Catholic women together have become more dramatic with each retelling. The claim that she brought Catholics and Protestants together “for the first time” seems dubious. This would not be the first time that she has mixed up her chronology. [Washington Post, Fact Checker, 1/10/08]