Pax Hillarius

Hillary Clinton has been positioning herself as more experienced in foreign policy issues than her opponent for the Democrat's presidential nomination, Barack Obama.  She may be right but that statement says more about Obama's lack of experience than Hillary's depth of experience.

In this campaign, Hillary is claiming credit for peace in Northern Ireland.  This is a key part of her claimed foreign policy experience.  But, David Trimble, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for actually helping bring about that peace in 1998, has called Hillary's claims of involvement "a wee bit silly."  Trimble says that Hillary had no role whatsoever besides accompanying her husband and cheerleading from the sidelines.  Trimble's comments are reported in The Daily Telegraph.

Most of Hillary's so-called experience comes from the time she served as First Lady.  It is quite possible that she served as a confidant and even a behind-the-scenes advisor to her husband but that's a far cry from being a participant in foreign policy herself.  To boost her credentials over her opponent's, Hillary seems to be taking credit for anything "good" that her husband did.  As Obama has pointed out, however, she's not willing to take the blame for her husband's failures.

Based on David Trimble's comments, it seems that Hillary Clinton should get as much credit for peace in Northern Ireland as Al Gore gets for inventing the internet.