Free Republic

The Democratic presidential hopeful said last week the US could "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel. Tehran, which insists its nuclear programme is solely for power generation, denounced her words as "provocative and irresponsible".

AMERICANS have learned to take with a grain of salt much of the rhetoric in a campaign like the current Democratic donnybrook between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Still, there are some red lines that should never be crossed. Clinton did so Tuesday morning, the day of the Pennsylvania primary, when she told ABC's "Good Morning America" that, if she were president, she would "totally obliterate" Iran if Iran attacked Israel. This foolish and dangerous threat was muted in domestic media coverage. But it reverberated in headlines around the world. Responding with understatement to a question in the British House...

LANCASTER, Pa. - Hillary Rodham Clinton told a group of young veterans Tuesday that one lesson of the Iraq War is not to commit troops "unless you are prepared to go all the way and are prepared to be successful." Questioned politely about her plans to begin withdrawing troops within 60 days after taking office, the former first lady also said U.S. forces already have fulfilled the mission they were assigned. She said the Iraqi government has failed to create a stable political system despite the U.S. effort. "Does that mean we stay for 10 years, 30 years, 50 years?...

#It is no real surprise to learn that while John McCain is visiting our troops in Iraq, Hillary Clinton is back in America declaring that Iraq is a war that "we cannot win." She says that McCain's course of action would leave us in Iraq for another 100 years, compared to Hillary's plan to get us out by 2009. On McCain and George Bush, Hillary says, "They both want to keep us tied to another country's civil war, a war we cannot win ... That in a nutshell is the Bush/McCain Iraq policy. Don't learn from your mistakes, repeat them."...

Hillary Clinton’s 3 a.m. ad may have (or may not) have helped her win in Ohio. But it’s also backfiring in some quarters. Comic Larry David titles a Huffington Post piece on the subject “Does Anyone Want This Nut Answering the Phone?” I started rooting for her. It wasn’t that hard. Compromise comes easy to me. I was on board. And then I saw the ad. I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call…and I was afraid…very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don’t care if...

Mr. Keane nevertheless said he holds the former first lady in high esteem."Senator Clinton is very knowledgeable about national security and is probably going to be strong on defense," he said. "I have no doubts whatsoever that if she were president in January '09 she would not act irresponsibly and issue orders to conduct an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, regardless of the consequences, and squander the gains that have been made." Mr. Keane added that he could not imagine any president in the White House making that kind of decision.The senator's campaign differed with that assessment. "Senator Clinton speaks for...