Hillary Clinton defends Iraq war support
Hillary Clinton defends Iraq war supportMonday, January 29, 2007 at 07:22 EST
DAVENPORT — Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton brought her bid to be the first female U.S. president to Iowa over the weekend where she was asked to defend her past support of the war in Iraq.
The New York senator blasted the policies of the administration of President George W Bush, but stopped short of calling the war a mistake and said she has "taken responsibility" for her vote in 2002, ahead of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Clinton, wife of the former President Bill Clinton, told a gathering at the Democratic Party offices on Saturday that there never would have been a war if Congress had known then what it knows now and blamed Bush for misusing his authority.
"I said this was not a vote for preemptive war. The president took my vote, and others' votes, and basically misused the authority we gave him," Clinton said in Des Moines, Iowa.
The war is a critical issue to those in the party's liberal wing who are more likely to get involved in the process to nominate the Democratic presidential candidate and Clinton's vote to authorize the war has been seen by many as a betrayal from which she cannot recover, analysts said.
Clinton had managed to dodge the Iraq question in her only public event Saturday, town hall meeting in a Des Moines school gymnasium filled with 1,400 people.
But she was pressed for answers when meeting in the smaller forums typical of this largely rural state, which by tradition will play the earliest role in the selection of the Democratic Party's candidate for the 2008 presidential elections.
She said she was planning on introducing legislation calling for a cap on troop levels in Iraq and wanted to cut off funding for the Iraqi army but could not support cutting funding for U.S. troops.
"Our leadership in Washington — in particular from our president and vice president — has been undermining the progress our country made during the 21st century," she told some 150 party leaders gathered in a sprawling suburban home in Cedar Rapids Saturday night.
"This was about undoing the bipartisan consensus we have on foreign policy. This was about turning our back to the rest of the world."
She dismissed criticism that a bipartisan resolution opposing the war currently making its way through Congress had "no teeth" and said it was the only way to get the administration's attention.
Clinton, who announced last week that she was stepping into the campaign "to win," is leading among Democratic hopefuls in early national polls but faces a tough and crowded field for the Democratic nomination as the only woman.
"I don't think there's a woman here who thinks that sometimes you just have to try harder," she said.
Also in the race are Illinois Sen Barack Obama bidding to be the country's first black president, and former energy secretary, New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson, aiming to the the first Hispanic president.
Clinton said that a broader foreign policy should include opening a dialogue with Iran, a position she has long held.
"When you have a country like Iran that is clearly being provocative, confrontational, we know that it funds terrorist groups, we understand all of the downside that we confront with Iran that it does not in any way undermine your position or take away any of your options if you begin a process of engagement," she said.
Clinton also reiterated her support for the government of Israel and blamed the failure of the peace process her husband brokered on former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying he refused "to make the step necessary to have a resolution of the issues."
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/397459
DAVENPORT — Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton brought her bid to be the first female U.S. president to Iowa over the weekend where she was asked to defend her past support of the war in Iraq.
The New York senator blasted the policies of the administration of President George W Bush, but stopped short of calling the war a mistake and said she has "taken responsibility" for her vote in 2002, ahead of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Clinton, wife of the former President Bill Clinton, told a gathering at the Democratic Party offices on Saturday that there never would have been a war if Congress had known then what it knows now and blamed Bush for misusing his authority.
"I said this was not a vote for preemptive war. The president took my vote, and others' votes, and basically misused the authority we gave him," Clinton said in Des Moines, Iowa.
The war is a critical issue to those in the party's liberal wing who are more likely to get involved in the process to nominate the Democratic presidential candidate and Clinton's vote to authorize the war has been seen by many as a betrayal from which she cannot recover, analysts said.
Clinton had managed to dodge the Iraq question in her only public event Saturday, town hall meeting in a Des Moines school gymnasium filled with 1,400 people.
But she was pressed for answers when meeting in the smaller forums typical of this largely rural state, which by tradition will play the earliest role in the selection of the Democratic Party's candidate for the 2008 presidential elections.
She said she was planning on introducing legislation calling for a cap on troop levels in Iraq and wanted to cut off funding for the Iraqi army but could not support cutting funding for U.S. troops.
"Our leadership in Washington — in particular from our president and vice president — has been undermining the progress our country made during the 21st century," she told some 150 party leaders gathered in a sprawling suburban home in Cedar Rapids Saturday night.
"This was about undoing the bipartisan consensus we have on foreign policy. This was about turning our back to the rest of the world."
She dismissed criticism that a bipartisan resolution opposing the war currently making its way through Congress had "no teeth" and said it was the only way to get the administration's attention.
Clinton, who announced last week that she was stepping into the campaign "to win," is leading among Democratic hopefuls in early national polls but faces a tough and crowded field for the Democratic nomination as the only woman.
"I don't think there's a woman here who thinks that sometimes you just have to try harder," she said.
Also in the race are Illinois Sen Barack Obama bidding to be the country's first black president, and former energy secretary, New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson, aiming to the the first Hispanic president.
Clinton said that a broader foreign policy should include opening a dialogue with Iran, a position she has long held.
"When you have a country like Iran that is clearly being provocative, confrontational, we know that it funds terrorist groups, we understand all of the downside that we confront with Iran that it does not in any way undermine your position or take away any of your options if you begin a process of engagement," she said.
Clinton also reiterated her support for the government of Israel and blamed the failure of the peace process her husband brokered on former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying he refused "to make the step necessary to have a resolution of the issues."
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/397459
posted by presgore19 at 4:29 AM
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