RE: DRAFT: Opening Statement

One further thought on the current draft: we might consider softening the “Chris did not believe retreat was an option – and neither do I” line. I don’t think we want to suggest that there was a commitment to be there at any and all costs; but rather, that the known risks were being balanced with the reasons for being there, regular assessments of this balance were made, and that the people on the ground were best-positioned to contribute to those assessments. Katherine Turner Williams & Connolly LLP 725 Twelfth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005 (P) 202-434-5487 | (F) 202-434-5029 kturner@wc.com<mailto:kturner@wc.com> | www.wc.com/kturner<http://www.wc.com/kturner> A few more edits after talking with Phil S On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 7:42 PM, Dan Schwerin <dschwerin@hillaryclinton.com<mailto:dschwerin@hillaryclinton.com>> wrote: Here are some modest revisions. Am going to send this over to HRC so she can start thinking about it as well. Thanks all. Dan On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 7:00 PM, Dan Schwerin <dschwerin@hillaryclinton.com<mailto:dschwerin@hillaryclinton.com>> wrote: That "backs of dead Americans" line is stolen from Hard Choices, so maybe a good idea to tweak slightly anyhow. I'll play with some alternatives. If folks have other concerns before I send on to HRC, please let me know. On Fri, Oct 16, 2015 at 6:13 PM, Mandy Grunwald <gruncom@aol.com<mailto:gruncom@aol.com>> wrote: I also think it's strong. I don't mind the "backs of dead Americans" because we need a bit of moral outrage. I suppose we can dial the language back, but the sense of outrage should remain. Mandy Grunwald Grunwald Communications 202 973-9400<tel:202%20973-9400> ----- Sent from my iPhone On Oct 16, 2015, at 3:40 PM, Kendall, David <DKendall@wc.com<mailto:DKendall@wc.com>> wrote: I like it. Just two thoughts. We twice call the ARB “independent”—I’d prefer to call it “non-partisan” as we do once in the draft. Hard Choices did not call it “independent”, and since it’s appointed by and responsible to the Secretary, I think we open an avenue of attack by calling it “independent”. Can we get some more numbers into the early “diplomacy is dangerous” discussion? Sixty-six American diplomatic personnel and over a hundred contractors and locally employed staff killed since the 1970’s (or whatever the numbers are). I recognize we have some numbers on page 3 (Beirut bombing, 1998 attacks). David E. Kendall Williams & Connolly LLP 725 Twelfth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20005 (P) 202-434-5145<tel:202-434-5145> | (F) 202-434-5029<tel:202-434-5029> dkendall@wc.com<mailto:dkendall@wc.com> | www.wc.com/dkendall<http://www.wc.com/dkendall> Here is a draft of HRC's opening statement based on our discussion today. As Cheryl mentioned, we'd love to get this to HRC for a first read tonight or tomorrow, so quick feedback would be great. Thanks Dan ________________________________ This message and any attachments are intended only for the addressee and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you have received this message in error, please do not read, use, copy, distribute, or disclose the contents of the message and any attachments. Instead, please delete the message and any attachments and notify the sender immediately. Thank you.