Joe Wilson on Obama's "intuitive sense".."no different from Bush's 'instincts' and 'gut feeling'..." [View All]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Joe Wilson Rips Obama, Ignites Debate Over Candidates' Experience

December 21, 2007 04:19 PM

Writing on the Huffington Post today, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who has endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, took one of the hardest swipes to date at Sen. Barack Obama's foreign policy credentials. Pivoting off a Thursday article in the London Times, Wilson argues that Obama's "intuitive grasp" of the world is no match for his lack of travel and "dearth" of international experience.

"Intuition may be a laudable quality among psychics and palm readers," the Ambassador writes, "but for a professional American diplomat like myself, who have spent a career toiling in the vineyards of national security, it has no relevance to serious discussion of foreign policy. In fact, Obama's supposed "intuitive sense" is no different from George W. Bush's 'instincts' and 'gut feeling' describing his own foreign policy decision-making. We have been down this road before."

Wilson's criticism is uniquely sharp and reflects a growing acrimony between the Democratic frontrunners as the primary season nears its end. In the past, Clinton allies have been more inclined to play up their candidate's strengths (noting, often, her experience as first lady), rather than point out the competition's weaknesses.

To be sure, Clinton herself has called Obama's promise to talk with dictators "naïve", and asserted that his childhood in Indonesia did not qualify as a diplomatic credential. In his post, Wilson repeats these critiques, but also takes them a step further, noting, as the London Times did, that as chairman of the Senate European subcommittee, Obama failed to convene a single policy meeting and made only one official visit to London, none to Western Europe.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/12/21/joe-wilson-rips-obama-ig_n_77921.html