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Boehner misleadingly responds to ’small price’ criticism.

Last night, TPM caught House Minority Leader John Boehner saying that the sacrifice of soldiers who have died or been wounded in Iraq “will be a small price if we’re able to stop al Qaeda.” After Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), DNC Chairman Howard Dean and DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen condemned the remarks, Boehner’s office finally responded, telling the Politico that he was “asked about the money spent in Iraq, and that’s what Mr. Boehner was referring to” with his “small price” comment. But a look at the interview’s transcript clearly shows he was asked about troop deaths:

BLITZER: How much longer will U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure? The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?

BOEHNER: I think General Petraeus outlined it pretty clearly. We’re making success. We need to firm up those successes. We need to continue our effort here because, Wolf, long term, the investment that we’re making today will be a small price if we’re able to stop al Qaeda here, if we’re able to stabilize the Middle East, it’s not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids.



39 Responses to “Boehner misleadingly responds to ’small price’ criticism.”

  1. Lesly says:

    But a look at the interview’s transcript clearly shows he was asked about troop deaths:

    Well, uh, to be fair, he was asked about both.


  2. The Republic of Stupidity says:

    Indeed, Mr Boner. Think about the enormous long-term debt you have helped BuschCo foist off on our children and grandchildren.

    Thanks a whole lot, BONER!


  3. GSD says:

    Mah feller ‘Murkins. I have three words for you.

    Just suck it.

    Good night and good luck.

    -The Decider


  4. Republicans are the Fear and Smear Party says:

  5. Abby says:

    And the entire burden of this “small price” to be borne by just a very small section of the American people………

    Only in America, eh?

    Is this a Great Country or What!!!

    USA. USA. USA. !!!!!!!!!!!!


  6. Republicans are the Fear and Smear Party says:

    No matter how you spin this it’s still outrageous.


  7. ace says:

    It’s all a lie – and Blitzer knows it.

    There is no Al Qaeda.

    There is no Bin Laden.

    It’s all a Zionist ploy.


  8. Carol Lam says:

    Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield 07′ drills new false flag?

    http://www.total411.info/2007/09/solid-curtain-citadel-shield-07-drill.html

    “SOLID CURTAIN-CITADEL SHIELD 07 MILITARY DRILLS RAISE SPECTER OF IMMINENT FALSE FLAG PROVOCATION, ATTACK ON IRAN

    By Webster G. Tarpley

    Washington DC, September 13 – US military bases in the continental United States (CONUS) will go on special lockdown between September 17 and September 21 under the auspices of Solid Curtain-Citadel Shield ’07, a reliable source reported today. Under these exercises, US installations will institute enhanced anti-terror force protection measures, with increased security at all gates. The increased security was so elaborate that base personnel were being warned to expect significant delays at all base entrances.

    According to William Arkin’s 2005 directory of military code names, Solid Curtain is a US Navy Fleet Forces Command anti-terrorism/force protection exercise. In Solid Curtain ’03, Arkin reports, the drill scenario involved 15 simultaneous attacks across the country including the Corpus Christi naval air station, the Ingleside naval station, local shipyards, and other targets of attack in the coastal bend of south Texas. In earlier versions of Solid Curtain, the Newport Rhode Island naval station was featured in the scenario.

    snip

    BASE ISOLATION AND COUP PREPARATION
    snip

    Persons of good will in the United States must demand that elected representatives and presidential candidates act to expose, denounce, and shut down these reckless and highly dangerous drills. Countries outside of the US must demand explanations from the US Embassy as to whether the US is indeed preparing a nuclear aggression against Iran, under the cover of a false flag war provocation. Countries not wishing to be drawn into the abyss of such a catastrophe must take steps now to assert their national independence.
    —–
    September 5, 2001: US Army Bases Implement ‘Full Access Control’
    8:30 a.m. September 11, 2001: Army Base Near Pentagon Holds Terrorist Attack Exercise

    At Fort Belvoir, an army base 12 miles south of the Pentagon, Lt. Col. Mark R. Lindon is conducting a “garrison control exercise” when the 9/11 attacks begin

    http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a090501fullaccesscontrol#a090501fullaccesscontrol

    http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/09/hbc-90001112

    Speaking From Experience, Part II: Former CIA official expects war with Iran


  9. katy says:

    i would have bet that he’d try to
    spin it that way… no surprise…



  10. klyde says:

    And yet for some reason the SCLM has been almost mute on bonehead’s comments. But the phony move-on scandal was been flogged like a stubborn mule.


  11. Ed T says:

    was he crying when he was being interviewed and while he was giving his answer and he often does NOW…


  12. LibertyLover says:

    Spoken like a true patriot that isn’t effected by this war in the least.


  13. DutchHenry says:

    You really expect Repukes to be honorable ?Where have you been for the last 10yrs.Repukes are pigs folks.


  14. OxyCon says:

    Repubs like Boener are such good liars. It comes natural for them.


  15. Mugsy says:

    If he were conscious of the fact he was referring to money and specifically not dead soldiers, he might of said something like: “the financial cost of the war to the American taxpayer will be a small price to pay…”

    But he didn’t. It was an unscripted Republican moment when their true attitudes were exposed. Now he’s trying desperate to put the toothpaste back into the tube.


  16. Daryll says:

    You libs misrepresented and misconstrued Rep. Boehner’s response. He clearly was referring to the cost of the war. TP, try Comprehension 101 before accusing someone of making a derogatory/negative statement.


  17. mike says:

    i’m sure the politico fact checked mr. boehner’s assertions. they are just as dedicated to accuracy as they are objectivity.


  18. GSD says:

    Katy, The Daily Show is lifting my bits, dammit. I demand renumeration!

    -GSD


  19. 186 says:

    “U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure”?

    I guess you cyclopes don’t see that part of the question??


  20. phinga bheng says:

    If Blitzer didn’t ask about the 2 or 3 billion a week, tp soros robots would have an argument. But this deception isn’t even sly. Ignoring Blitz’s first question. You would have to willingly suspend disbelief to accept this tp argument. Just another tp smear that will be fed to the media outlets and a dem congressperson near you.


  21. katy says:

    that was pretty funny, GSD… after our “discussion” earlier,
    for that to come up on the daily show…

    hey – i maybe would have missed that joke if not for you!
    thanks!

    (actually, i wouldn’t've… i’ve thought the same thing, as i said)


  22. katy says:

    … fed to the media outlets and a dem congressperson near you.

    we keep hoping!

    g’nite all…


  23. Keith says:

    Easy for him to say. It’s not his @ss on the line and he doesn’t care about anyone else. No conscience. No compassion.

    Al Qaeda was not in Iraq before our illegal invasion and occupation. They make up 2-4% of who we are fighting now. Leave and the Iraqis would get rid of them.

    It doesn’t make any sense that our aim is to stop al Qaeda, and we left bin Laden and al Qaeda alone and went to where the oil is, instead.


  24. AngryOne says:

    Far from disqualifying Boehner as a Republican mouthpiece on Iraq, diminishing the sacrifices of U.S. troops, leaking classified national security information and weeping on the floor of the U.S. House has apparently earned him a privileged position as prized Bush confidant.

    For more details on Boehner’s venomous history, see:
    “Boehner Pays No Price for Iraq Demagoguery .”


  25. Republicans are the Fear and Smear Party says:

    Ok trolls, we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Only half of Boner’s answer was referring to the price we’re paying in the loss in blood and the Americans who are killed every month.


  26. cotterperson says:

    “the future for our kids and their kids.” HIS daughters should enlist if this is so important for their future.


  27. ipod says:

    “we’re making success”???? – what does that mean?


  28. Marie says:

    Weasel.
    Drunken weasel.
    Lying, drunken weasel.


  29. ipod says:

    Leave and the Iraqis would get rid of them.
    Comment by Keith — September 13, 2007 @ 10:39 pm

    good point keith – you are absolutely right


  30. Why are Republicans destroying America? says:

    Boehner in a nutshell: “Just as long as I don’t know any of the dead soldiers, it’s a small price to pay.”

    WTF


  31. JosephW says:

    Maybe Rep Boehner can redirect some of that weekly $2 BILLION my way. I’m not asking much–I can make do with a mere $100/week.
    Okay–sarcasm mode off.
    How much of our country’s infrastructure (roads, bridges, levees, dams, etc) could be helped from that “small sacrifice”? Terrorism, Mr Boehner, has been around for well over a century (and some might argue it’s been around since the beginning but in its use to attempt some sort of political change, it’s only been about 150 years or so), and NO AMOUNT of money (no matter how “small” the “sacrifice”) is going to make it go away completely. As long as someone has a political grievance that is ignored by those in power, terror will be a weapon of choice or as long as those with power fear change, terror will be a weapon of choice. (To expound on that latter point, dictators RARELY operate without incorporating some form of terrorist force, often in the guise of “security forces” or, more aptly described, “secret police”.)


  32. Jericho says:

    The money spent in Iraq was peanuts?! 2 trillion dollars for bombs, ammunition and war contractors was a small price to pay?! For that amount of money you could have bribed ALL the Iraqi’s to boycot the next election Saddam would have organized! You could have build yourself a new Iraq in the middle of the Sahara for crying out loud! Boehner is definitely out of touch with the rest of the world when it comes to money.


  33. Ramona loves pictures says:

    The cost of this US made misery in Iraq is by far the most impressive failure of the decade, if not the century.

    I wonder how long the US people will be patient with the goverment, before they start revolting.

    Yours Sincerely.


  34. Kathy Slifer says:

    troops as cheap cannon fodder not a new concept,but a dirty one.


  35. Zooey says:

    Boehner makes it worse by pointing out that his only focus was the money — not the blood shed by our troops.


  36. David Fahey says:

    How is living during WWIII going to make our children safer? And their children?
    Boner’s defenders say, to be fair, he was talking about both, money and lives.
    Nice backpeddle! The continued waste of lives AND money should not be allowed. One life lost is too many. These are human beings, not numbers on a pie chart.


  37. DreamCrusher says:

    Oh God. Blitzer asked him two questions. When will you liberals start being honest? Just because you put one of the two questions in bold doesn’t mean that the other one doesn’t exist.

    Are you guys really this desperate to slime people in the GOP? Absolutely pathetic.


  38. Clyaotn and I am a vet! says:

    Oh by the way,

    According to the Frence PM,

    get ready for IRAM!!

    E HA! HOW TO LEARN TO LOVE THE BOMB!!



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