GOP fires back at Hil
October 31, 2003

By KENNETH R. BAZINET
New York Daily News

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon and Republicans indignantly rejected Sen. Hillary Clinton's suggestion that President Bush is trying to hide Iraq war casualties from the American people.
"Every casualty is important to us. ... The idea that we're trying not to be forthcoming about casualties is inaccurate," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said yesterday.

In a speech Wednesday, Clinton faulted the Bush administration for sparing Americans "the sight of caskets coming home" to Dover Air Force Base, Del., and "refusing to release" timely casualty reports.

Whitman said closing Dover to reporters was challenged in the courts during the Persian Gulf War, but the federal courts upheld keeping the arrival of coffins away from the media.

"That has been the policy for more than a decade," he said - including when Clinton's husband was President.

Dover was closed to the public during former President Bill Clinton's administration when soldiers and sailors were brought home in coffins from Somalia and the destroyer Cole.

"The guiding principle, with regard to casualties, is that we want to respect the integrity of the families," Whitman added.

The White House ignored Clinton's suggestion that the administration was not being straightforward with the American people, just as it ignored Sen. Ted Kennedy's accusation this month that Bush lied about the need for war with Iraq.

"I didn't notice her speech," said a White House official who is usually briefed about partisan attacks.

But a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee was indignant.

"Under President Clinton, we had terrorist attacks both at home and abroad. It's surprising to hear her saying things like this and she should know better," said committee spokeswoman Christine Iverson.

Clinton's office referred yesterday to a line from her speech.

"As Sen. Clinton said in her address, there is too much at stake to treat war as a political spin zone," said spokesman Philippe Reines.

Clinton's harsh attack on the President's foreign policy was read by some as a signal that she may be willing to take him on as a presidential candidate.

Iverson indicated the GOP was unconcerned about a possible Clinton candidacy. When she was asked whether Clinton might run, she snapped, "How would I know?"

Gamblers are taking odds that she'll run. The William Hill bookie operation in London has laid 11-1 odds that Clinton will be President in 2004.

Bush remains the overwhelming favorite at 8-13 odds, with Gen. Wesley Clark the next-closest bet at 3-1 odds.