?????????????????? Um, New York Times .... HUH????

[beachmom]

This is the biggest bunch of spin I have ever read, and I say that while hoping Sec. Clinton succeeds in getting Karzai to clean up the corruption.

But damn, this is the most obvious erasure of John Kerry's contributions to this country I have ever seen. This reminds me of "Working Girl" when Sigourney Weaver takes Melanie Griffith's idea and acts as if it is her own.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/world/asia/20clinton.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes

Clinton Emerges as Obama’s Key Link to Afghan Leader

KABUL, Afghanistan — It is far from clear that President Obama can depend on President Hamid Karzai to bring order to this violent country, but it is becoming clear that he will depend on Hillary Rodham Clinton to be his go-between in dealing with the mercurial Afghan leader.

In a visit to Kabul, during which she held a 90-minute, one-on-one session with Mr. Karzai on Wednesday, and in an intense telephone call a few weeks ago in the aftermath of Afghanistan’s election, Secretary of State Clinton has built an unlikely rapport with the Afghan leader, according to administration officials.

They go into how risky it is, blah, blah, blah. Then this:

“When I came into the administration, I was one of the few people who had a long-term positive relationship with President Karzai,” Mrs. Clinton said in an interview on Thursday, hours after seeing him get sworn in. “I continue to believe he has a tremendous historical opportunity.”

...

Mrs. Clinton “combines the hard-headed strength, the political clout and the human understanding to do it right,” said Mr. Riedel, who is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Of those qualities, her political bona fides may be the most relevant. When Mr. Karzai was wavering about whether to allow a runoff vote after almost a million of his votes were disqualified, she implored him to acquiesce, arguing that he would emerge with a stronger hand. (In the end, Mr. Karzai’s rival, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out, making a second round unnecessary.)

In case Mr. Karzai did not get her point, Mrs. Clinton reminded him of her own bitter experience in the 2008 Democratic primaries, losing to Mr. Obama, who later named her the nation’s chief diplomat.

How odd that suddenly everything John Kerry did and said, it was actually Clinton did it all from thousands of miles away!!! A hundred cups of tea via telephone, eh?

Look, I don't mind all the pressure of Karzai's unpredictableness being put on Clinton's shoulders, and decidedly OFF Kerry's who does not even serve in the Executive branch. But are we talking Bosnia all over again here? No doubt Clinton talked to him on the phone but using the same lines as Kerry? Hmmm. Regardless, shame on the New York Times for not even mentioning Kerry's pivotal role. HE is the one who made it happen. Or has the traditional media decided to erase history to prop up Clinton?