Clinton steps up Bush criticism
Clinton steps up Bush criticismBy Charlotte Raab in Washington January 18, 2007
US Senator Hillary Clinton has stepped up her criticism of the Bush administration, blasting its new Iraq strategy while Washington buzzes with speculation she will announce her presidential candidacy soon.The former first lady's offensive on the war, which she backed in a 2002 Congress vote authorising it, came amid expectations she will add her name to the list of Democrats running in the 2008 campaign by this weekend.
Political observers believe she could announce her intentions this week to catch up to two other Democratic heavyweights, Senator Barack Obama, who took this week a key step towards running, and 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who has already declared his candidacy.
Mrs Clinton, who visited Iraq last week, today criticised President George W. Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, expressing scepticism that it would help secure the strife-torn country.
"I don't see where our putting in more American troops is likely'' to help end the violence, she said.
She said she had returned from her trip to Iraq with "a strong opposition to the president's plan for escalation".
"I do not think that this strategy has a very high level of success at all attached to it. In fact, I think that at best, it's a holding pattern,'' she said on NBC television.
Mrs Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, had been criticised by the Democratic Party's left wing for voting to authorise the war in 2002 and not taking hard stance against it later.
She was seen by some US media this week as a target of veiled criticism from one of her potential presidential rivals, Mr Edwards, who on Sunday criticised lawmakers not speaking out against the war, saying "silence is betrayal".
Her criticism of Mr Bush's strategy today came as Democrats used their newfound control of Congress to challenge the Republican president's Iraq strategy, introducing a non-binding Senate resolution opposing his plan.
Mrs Clinton offered her own strategy for the war today, saying US troop levels should be capped at January 1 levels and gradually withdrawn from Iraq.
There are about 132,000 US troops in Iraq.
She also expressed support for the non-binding Senate resolution, which states that sending more troops is "not in the national interest of the United States".
Mrs Clinton, whose trip also took her to Afghanistan, said she planned to send a letter to Defence Secretary Robert Gates, insisting that the administration should give higher priority to battling insurgents in Afghanistan.
"Let's focus on Afghanistan and get it right. We still have a chance to do that,'' she said on CBS television.
The Democrats' victory over Mr Bush's Republicans in the November elections, which ended their 12 years of congressional dominance, was largely attributed to voter anger over the Iraq war.
MoveOn.org, a leftist pressure group, has already launched a campaign to press Congress on the war.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21079085-23109,00.html
US Senator Hillary Clinton has stepped up her criticism of the Bush administration, blasting its new Iraq strategy while Washington buzzes with speculation she will announce her presidential candidacy soon.The former first lady's offensive on the war, which she backed in a 2002 Congress vote authorising it, came amid expectations she will add her name to the list of Democrats running in the 2008 campaign by this weekend.
Political observers believe she could announce her intentions this week to catch up to two other Democratic heavyweights, Senator Barack Obama, who took this week a key step towards running, and 2004 vice presidential candidate John Edwards, who has already declared his candidacy.
Mrs Clinton, who visited Iraq last week, today criticised President George W. Bush's plan to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, expressing scepticism that it would help secure the strife-torn country.
"I don't see where our putting in more American troops is likely'' to help end the violence, she said.
She said she had returned from her trip to Iraq with "a strong opposition to the president's plan for escalation".
"I do not think that this strategy has a very high level of success at all attached to it. In fact, I think that at best, it's a holding pattern,'' she said on NBC television.
Mrs Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, had been criticised by the Democratic Party's left wing for voting to authorise the war in 2002 and not taking hard stance against it later.
She was seen by some US media this week as a target of veiled criticism from one of her potential presidential rivals, Mr Edwards, who on Sunday criticised lawmakers not speaking out against the war, saying "silence is betrayal".
Her criticism of Mr Bush's strategy today came as Democrats used their newfound control of Congress to challenge the Republican president's Iraq strategy, introducing a non-binding Senate resolution opposing his plan.
Mrs Clinton offered her own strategy for the war today, saying US troop levels should be capped at January 1 levels and gradually withdrawn from Iraq.
There are about 132,000 US troops in Iraq.
She also expressed support for the non-binding Senate resolution, which states that sending more troops is "not in the national interest of the United States".
Mrs Clinton, whose trip also took her to Afghanistan, said she planned to send a letter to Defence Secretary Robert Gates, insisting that the administration should give higher priority to battling insurgents in Afghanistan.
"Let's focus on Afghanistan and get it right. We still have a chance to do that,'' she said on CBS television.
The Democrats' victory over Mr Bush's Republicans in the November elections, which ended their 12 years of congressional dominance, was largely attributed to voter anger over the Iraq war.
MoveOn.org, a leftist pressure group, has already launched a campaign to press Congress on the war.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21079085-23109,00.html
posted by presgore19 at 8:25 PM
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