Hillary on Iraq

One pleasant surprise of Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as New York Senator has been her tough-minded approach on national security. She responded to 9/11 by supporting President Bush's strategy of taking on not just terrorists but the states that harbor them. She also voted for the war in Iraq and has refused to follow much of her party in alleging that Mr. Bush "lied" about weapons of mass destruction.

Mrs. Clinton bids to win the Democratic Presidential nomination, she is taking a marked turn to left. Pressured by other candidates and by her party's left wing, she is walking back her hawkish statements and is now all but part of the antiwar camp. The polls show her to be the favorite to be the next Commander in Chief, so what she really believes, and how firmly she'll stick to it, deserves to be debated. Here's a summary of the arc of Mrs. Clinton's public thinking on Iraq:

- October 10, 2002. Mrs. Clinton addresses the Senate on the use-of-force resolution. "The facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt," she declares, citing Saddam's record of using chemical weapons, the invasion of Kuwait, and his history of deceiving U.N. weapons inspectors. "As a result, President Clinton, with the British and others, ordered an intensive four-day air assault, Operation Desert Fox, on known and suspected weapons of mass destruction sites and other military targets," she continues, adding that Saddam "has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members."

While she expresses her preference for working through the U.N. if possible, she adds, "I believe the authority to use force to enforce that mandate is inherent in the original 1991 U.N. resolution, as President Clinton recognized when he launched Operation Desert Fox in 1998."

"You are either with us... or you are not."

Liberal Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton said it first, (followed by Conservative Republican President George W. Bush 2 months later)

September 12, 2001

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Statement On The Floor of The United States Senate In Response to the World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacks

http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=235656

http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:UIqkP-ZH33gJ:clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm%3Fid%3D235656+%22you+are+either+with+America+in+our+time+of+need+or+you+are+not%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1

"...We will also stand united behind our President as he and his advisors plan the necessary actions to demonstrate America's resolve and commitment. Not only to seek out an exact punishment on the perpetrators, but to make very clear that not only those who harbor terrorists, but those who in any way aid or comfort them whatsoever will now face the wrath of our country. And I hope that that message has gotten through to everywhere it needs to be heard. You are either with America in our time of need or you are not..."

1. On September 12, 2001, Senatrix Clinton spoke from the well of the Senate: "...We will also stand united behind our President as he and his advisors plan the necessary actions to demonstrate America's resolve and commitment. Not only to seek out an exact punishment on the perpetrators, but to make very clear that not only those who harbor terrorists, but those who in any way aid or comfort them whatsoever will now face the wrath of our country. And I hope that that message has gotten through to everywhere it needs to be heard. You are either with America in our time of need or you are not..."

2. On October 10, 2002, Clinton spoke to the Senate in favor of a use-of-force resolution authorizing the invasion of Iraq, saying: "The facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt.”

3. On December 15, 2003, when it was clear there were no large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Clinton’s support was unwavering. "I was one who supported giving President Bush the authority, if necessary, to use force,” she told the Council on Foreign Relations. "We have no option but to stay involved and committed.”

4. On April 20, 2004, Clinton told CNN’s Larry King that she did not "regret giving the president the authority,” noting that Saddam Hussein "had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade.”

5. In October 2005, amid growing anti-war sentiment, Clinton still told the Village Voice: "I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal . . . I don’t think it’s the right time to withdraw.”

6. By November 2005, Hillary was softening her stance, saying in a letter to constituents: "If Congress had been asked [to authorize the war], based on what we know now, we never would have agreed.”

7. On December 18, 2006, Clinton went even further, saying on the "Today” show: "I certainly wouldn’t have voted that way.”

8. On January 13 of this year, Clinton spoke from Baghdad about President Bush’s call for a troop surge: "I don’t know that the American people or the Congress at this point believe this mission can work.”

9. On January 17, Clinton called for a cap on the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, and suggested withholding funds for the Iraqi government.

10. Finally, on January 27, Clinton hit the campaign trail in Iowa and demanded that the president "extricate our country from this before he leaves office.”

One sunny day in 2008, an old man approached the White
House from across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he'd
been sitting on a park bench.

He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, "I
would like to go in and meet with President Hillary
Clinton." The Marine replied, "Sir, Mrs. Clinton is
not President and doesn't reside here." The old man
said, "Okay," and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White
House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go
in and meet with President Hillary Clinton". The
Marine a gain told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday,
Mrs. Clinton is not President and doesn't reside
here." The man thanked him and again walked away .

The third day, the same man approached the White House
and spoke to the very same Marine, saying "I would
like to go in and meet with President Hillary
Clinton." The Marine, understandably agitated at this
point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the
third day in a row you have been here asking to speak
to Mrs. Clinton. I've told you already several times
that Mrs. Clinton is not the President and doesn't
reside here. Don't you understand?"

The old man answered, "Oh, I understand you fine, I
just love hearing your answer!"

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said,
"See you tomorrow."

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/172ykfbf.asp

Quoted from The Weekly Standard magazine 1/22/07:

Last December, in an interview on NBC's Today show, host Meredith Vieira asked Clinton why she had not repudiated her vote on Iraq. "Well, you know, obviously, it was wrong to believe this president," Clinton said. "That's tragic to say because people's lives are at stake. He should have let the inspectors do their job."

Vieira jumped in. "But were you wrong to take that vote, to make that vote?"

"Well," Clinton said, "you know, you have to go and look at the situation as we knew it then, and I take responsibility for that vote. Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn't have been a vote and I certainly wouldn't have voted that way."

In other words, if it were up to Hillary Clintonista, Saddam Hussein would still be providing training camps and weapons to terrorists. Iraq's involvement in terrorist attacks while SH was in power is well-documented (first attack on World Trade Center, attack on US embassy in Nairobi killing hundreds, etc.), not to mention his commiting mass murder, torturing thousands of people. If it were up to the Democrats, Saddam Hussein wuld still be dictator, working on WMD, and the people of Iraq would still be slaves to the state. If it were up to Democrats, the USSR would still be threatening the U.S. with "mutually assured (nuclear) destruction".

Sounds like the Wall Street Journal endorses Hillary.

"Hello, Miss Hillary. What's it going to be today? More troops in Iraq, or less? Support Iraqi troops taking over, or cripple them?"

• October 10, 2002. Mrs. Clinton addresses the Senate on the use-of-force resolution. "The facts that have brought us to this fateful vote are not in doubt," she declares, citing Saddam's record of using chemical weapons, the invasion of Kuwait, and his history of deceiving U.N. weapons inspectors. "As a result, President Clinton, with the British and others, ordered an intensive four-day air assault, Operation Desert Fox, on known and suspected weapons of mass destruction sites and other military targets," she continues, adding that Saddam "has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members."
While she expresses her preference for working through the U.N. if possible, she adds, "I believe the authority to use force to enforce that mandate is inherent in the original 1991 U.N. resolution, as President Clinton recognized when he launched Operation Desert Fox in 1998."

• December 15, 2003. It is clear by now that no large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq. But Mrs. Clinton tells the Council on Foreign Relations that "Yesterday was a good day. I was thrilled that Saddam Hussein had finally been captured. . . . We owe a great debt of gratitude to our troops, to the President, to our intelligence services, to all who had a hand in apprehending Saddam. Now he will be brought to justice."
She adds, "I was one who supported giving President Bush the authority, if necessary, to use force against Saddam Hussein. I believe that that was the right vote." As for Iraq's prospects, she declares herself "a little optimistic and a little pessimistic . . . We have no option but to stay involved and committed."

• April 20, 2004. Mrs. Clinton tells Larry King: "I don't regret giving the President the authority because at the time it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States, and clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade." Asked whether she thinks she was "fooled," she replies: "The consensus was the same, from the Clinton Administration to the Bush Administration. It was the same intelligence belief that our allies and friends around the world shared about the weapons of mass destruction."

• October 2005. Antiwar fervor on the left is picking up, and activist Cindy Sheehan compares her to Rush Limbaugh after Mrs. Clinton tells the Village Voice: "My bottom line is that I don't want their sons to die in vain. . . . I don't believe it's smart to set a date for withdrawal . . . I don't think it's the right time to withdraw."

• November 2005. Mrs. Clinton posts a letter to constituents that marks her first dovish turn. "If Congress had been asked [to authorize the war], based on what we know now, we never would have agreed," she writes. But invoking retired General Eric Shinseki's estimate of more American troops necessary to pacify Iraq, she demands not withdrawal but a new plan: "It is time for the President to stop serving up platitudes and present us with a plan for finishing this war with success and honor--not a rigid timetable that terrorists can exploit, but a public plan for winning and concluding the war."

• August 3, 2006. Mrs. Clinton calls for Donald Rumsfeld to resign as Defense Secretary, asking for "new leadership that would give us a fighting chance to turn the situation around before it's too late."

• December 18, 2006. Her march left gains speed. On NBC's "Today" show, Mrs. Clinton renounces her war vote unequivocally for the first time: "I certainly wouldn't have voted that way."

• January 13, 2007. From Baghdad, Mrs. Clinton responds to Mr. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq to secure Baghdad: "I don't know that the American people or the Congress at this point believe this mission can work. And in the absence of a commitment that is backed up by actions from the Iraqi government, why should we believe it?"

• January 17, 2007. Mrs. Clinton calls for capping the number of U.S. troops in Iraq, saying she will introduce legislation to do so. And while she says she won't block money for the troops, she suggests withholding funds for the Iraqi government. It is precisely such a funds cut-off to the South Vietnamese government in 1975 that led to the final U.S. flight from Saigon.

• January 27, 2007. On the campaign trail in Iowa, Mrs. Clinton demands that President Bush "extricate our country from this before he leaves office." And she promises that, if elected, she will end the war quickly.

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