INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Hillary Clinton Responsible For ‘Inept Leadership’ In Libya, Jim Webb Claims

By Robert Jonathan
Published on: 10:52 PST, Dec 27, 2015

Ex-U.S Senator Jim Webb, who might be considering an independent run for president in election 2016, called out Hillary Clinton for her “inept leadership” in Libya in a Facebook post.

Webb was one of Clinton’s rivals for the Democrat presidential nomination before he dropped out on October 20 because he was getting minimal traction in the polls.

He is reportedly mulling a run for the White House as an independent.

Webb, 69, is a highly decorated Marine combat veteran who was Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan and who was a strong opponent of the Iraq War. A Republican from 1984 to 2006, Webb served one term in the U.S. Senate from Virginia as a Democrat after narrowly defeating incumbent Republican George Allen in November 2006. Allen declined to request a recount although he had the legal basis for doing so.

After the October 13 presidential debate in Las Vegas, Webb complained that CNN rigged the event to favor front-runner Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Earlier this month, during the dispute between the two campaigns over access to the voter data file, Webb declared that the Democratic National Committee “is nothing more than an arm for the Clinton campaign.”

In his Facebook post yesterday, Webb strongly criticized Clinton for the Libya intervention resulting in the country becoming a terrorist enclave during her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State, America’s top diplomat. Webb took exception to the Clinton suggestion during the recent Democrat debate that Libya was one of her foreign policy success stories.

“Our next commander in chief must define a strategic vision for the country and accept accountability for past actions. Hillary Clinton should be called to account for her inept leadership that brought about the chaos in Libya, and the power vacuums that resulted in the rest of the region…While she held that office, the U.S. spent about $2 billion backing the Libyan uprising against Qadaffi. The uprising, which was part of the Arab Spring, led directly to Qaddafi being removed from power and killed by rebel forces in 2011. Now some 2,000 ISIS terrorists have established a foothold in Libya…For a Secretary of State (and a Presidential administration) this is foreign policy leadership at its worst.”

Last month, Webb chided Clinton for her unsubstantiated claim that she tried to join the Marines but was discouraged by a recruiter. “Mrs. Clinton disparaged integrity of [the U.S. Marine Corps] claiming wrongly turned away from serving. Tell us when, where & w/whom,” Webb demanded on Twitter.

On Christmas Eve, Webb slammed Obama on Facebook for comments the president made on NPR about blue-collar workers that “show how out of touch this administration and the Democratic Party have become with working men and women.”

“His comments degrading the working class by asserting that they cannot adjust to change, and calling factory work a ‘bargain,’ are examples of the left’s doing all it can to isolate that demographic group as idiosyncratic,” Webb added.

Jim Webb has stepped up his criticism that the Democrats have moved too far to the left. As a U.S. Senator, however, Webb voted for the Obama agenda nearly 90 percent of the time including for the stimulus bill and Obamacare and other liberal/progressive initiatives.

“Since dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination, Webb has continued to maintain his Webb2016 website, which he has updated with posts about the possibilities of an independent run. On Twitter, he and his fans have been promoting a #WebbNation hashtag,” Bloomberg Politics reported.

“A Webb spokeswoman recently told CNN that Webb was doing some polling on a potential independent run and would make a decision by New Year’s Day,” Fox News noted.

In a close election, an independent run for president by Jim Webb could ironically help her win the presidency, however, by taking votes away from the eventual GOP nominee. “There’s no ensuring that Webb would be a spoiler for Clinton even as he attacks her…Even [the Facebook post] echoed the talking points of Republican candidates and groups,” Bloomberg added.

“Webb lacks the funds and national profile to mount a strong independent bid that would hurt either party’s candidate. He barely registered in primary polls, and left the race with only around $700,000 in campaign funds. That is a pittance compared to leading candidates,” the Washington Examiner asserted on the other hand about Hillary Clinton foe Jim Webb who might be planning an independent run.

[Photo by John Locher/AP]

Share this article: Hillary Clinton Responsible For ‘Inept Leadership’ In Libya, Jim Webb Claims
hillary clinton libya
More from Inquisitr