Hillary Clinton: U.S. presidential election, 2008/On the war in Iraq

The following relate to Democratic 2008 presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and the war in Iraq.

Also see main article Hillary Clinton: U.S. presidential election, 2008.

Clinton v. Edwards v. Obama on war in Iraq/Iran

 * Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld, "Compare and Contrast: Hillary and Obama's Votes on Iraq," TPM Cafe/Election Central, March 29, 2007.
 * Eric Kleefeld,"Compare and Contrast: Hillary, Obama and Lieberman's Votes on Iraq," TPM Cafe/Election Central, March 30, 2007. (Note that Lieberman votes with Republicans, dispelling notion that Hillary is in "lock step" with Lieberman.)
 * Eric Kleefeld, "A Handy Chart of Hillary's and Edwards' Votes on Iraq," TPM Cafe/Election Central, April 6, 2007. (Note the number of Edwards' missed votes.)
 * eriposte, "The Leading Democratic Candidates - Clinton, Edwards and Obama - on Iraq and Iran," The Left Coaster, November 5, 2007.
 * eriposte, "How Senator Clinton Alone is So Devastatingly Wrong On Iran," The Left Coaster, November 6, 2007.
 * eriposte, "The Awesome Differences on Iran Between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton," The Left Coaster, November 9, 2007.
 * eriposte, "Clinton, Obama and Edwards on Training of Iraqi Forces," The Left Coaster, November 10, 2007.
 * eriposte, "A Short History of Recent U.S. Presidential Politics - Part 3: Bringing Honesty and Integrity Back to the White House," The Left Coaster, November 14, 2007.
 * Eric Kleefeld, "Hillary To White House: No Permanent Bases In Iraq," TPMElectionCentral, November 27, 2007.
 * David Kurtz, "Obama Against Permanent Bases in Iraq," Talking Points Memo, November 27, 2007.
 * eriposte, "12/4/07 NPR Democratic Debate: On Misleading and On Enabling George W. Bush," The Left Coaster, December 6, 2007.
 * Lauren R. Dorgan and Sarah Liebowitz, "Holbrooke says Clinton believed Iraq vote could prevent war. General gave world leaders same advice," Concord (N.H.) Monitor, December 19, 2007.
 * Matthew Yglesias, "Holbrooke's Secret Plan," The Atlantic, December 19, 2007.

Bill Clinton on war with Iraq

 * Eric Kleefeld, "Bill Clinton: I Opposed Iraq War From The Beginning," TPMElectionCentral, November 27, 2007.
 * "Fact Check: Bill Clinton On The Iraq War," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 27, 2007.
 * "Morning Joe failed to note Bill Clinton's statement against March 2003 invasion of Iraq," Media Matters for America, November 28, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Washington Post Channels Drudge," TaylorMarsh.com, November 29, 2007.
 * David Fiderer, "Chris Matthews Rewrites History about the Clintons and the Origins of the Iraq War," The Huffington Post, December 3, 2007.
 * "Fact Check: Sen. Edwards and Sen. Obama on Iran’s nuclear threat;" "Sen. Obama Shifts On Using American Forces In Iraq To Blunt Iranian Threat" and "Sen. Obama Shifts On Iran Negotiations," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, December 4, 2007.
 * Jeff Dinelli, "Richardson All Wrong About Hillary's Iraq Position," The Left Coaster, December 21, 2007.

No long-term agreements with Iraq

 * Eric Kleefeld, "Hillary Rolls Out Legislation To Oppose Long-Term Agreements With Iraq," TPMElectionCentral, December 6, 2007.

Being "Commander-in-Chief"

 * Marcella Bombarieri, "Tough talk drives Clinton effort. National security stance seen adding to image of strength," Boston Globe, August 12, 2007.
 * Scarecrow, "Boston Globe: Only Republican Men Can Keep You Safe," Firedoglake Blog, August 12, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Veterans, Clinton and Those Men Who Won't Vote for Her," TaylorMarsh.com, November 11, 2007.

Byrd, Clinton: sunset Bush's authority to wage war
On May 3, 2007, Clinton "endorsed legislation that would revoke the administration's authority to wage the war" effective October 11, 2007, Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman reported in the Washington Post. Clinton "took the Senate floor to join Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert C. Byrd (W.Va.) in offering a bill that would sunset the 2002 authorization of military operations in Iraq. It would take away the president's authority to wage war in Iraq five years to the day after it was granted, meaning Bush would be required to convince Congress to reapprove it in October."

"Clinton's endorsement of the sunset legislation represents a significant escalation in her opposition to the White House on war policy and signals an effort by Democratic presidential candidates -- including four sitting senators -- to assume higher profiles in the war debate. For Clinton, it is also an opportunity to address what has emerged as perhaps her greatest liability in the Democratic contest: her vote to authorize the war. "If the president will not bring himself to accept reality, it is time for Congress to bring reality to him," said Clinton, who has expressed support for a similar de-authorization, although not as a stand-alone bill," Murray and Weisman wrote.


 * See "Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq," Office of the White House Press Secretary, October 12, 2002.

Related external articles

 * Josh Catone, "Senators Clinton, Byrd call to 'sunset the authorization for the war in Iraq'," The Raw Story, May 3, 2007. See Clinton's remarks on Senate floor.
 * "Clinton, Byrd plan bill to end Iraq war," UPI, May 3, 2007.
 * Shailagh Murray and Jonathan Weisman, "Clinton Changes Tone on Iraq. Senator Favors Ending War Authority," Washington Post, May 4, 2007.
 * Nico Pitney, "Gates Contradicts Bush, Says ‘I Don’t Know’ If 2002 War Authorization Is Still Valid," Think Progress, May 9, 2007.
 * Mannix Porterfield, "Byrd, Hillary Clinton demand Iraqi war be de-authorized," MineralWellsIndex.com, July 18, 2007.

Funding the war in Iraq

 * Anne E. Kornblut and Dan Balz, "Clinton charges Bush is irresponsible on Iraq," The Washington Post (The Seattle Times), January 29, 2007.
 * Shailagh Murray, "Clinton to Back Iraq Deadline. In Shift, Senator Supports Measure Setting Withdrawal Date," Washington Post, March 10, 2007.
 * Dan Balz, "Clinton Decries Veto Threat, Urges Bush Compromise on Iraq," Washington Post, April 4, 2007.
 * Russell Berman, "Clinton: Democrats Don't Want Blame for Iraq War Shortages," New York Sun, April 26, 2007.
 * Shailagh Murray, "Clinton, Obama to Back Vote to Cut Off Funding for Troops in Iraq," Washington Post, May 16, 2007.
 * Michael McAuliff, "Iraq votes set to fail - with Bam & Hil backing," New York Daily News, May 16, 2007.
 * "Senate Approves Iraq Funding Bill," Think Progress, May 24, 2007. Both Clinton and Obama voted "no".
 * Helen Kennedy, "Prez hopefuls join together - to hurl mud. Giuliani vs. Hil, then Bam vs. McCain as left & right get downright nasty," New York Daily News, May 26, 2007.

Pre-war intelligence
On April 27, 2007, speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate, in comments part of the debate before the passage of an emergency war-funding bill, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) dropped the bombshell that in 2002-2003, in the lead-up to the war in Iraq, he and other members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence were sworn to secrecy and could neither reveal nor talk about information to which the Committee was privileged and to which the American people were not.

"Five of nine Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted for the measure as did all eight Republicans." Clinton was not a member of the Intelligence Committee.

Related external articles

 * Sean Lengell, "Durbin kept silent on prewar knowledge," Washington Times, April 27, 2007.
 * SilentPatriot, "Sen. Durbin Drops Bombshells on the Senate Floor," Crooks and Liars, April 28, 2007.
 * Marcy Wheeler, "No Senators Knew," The Next Hurrah Blog, September 5, 2007. re weapons of mass destruction

Obama attacks Clinton for Iraq vote
"Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) tried Tuesday to gain the high ground on Iraq over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), his chief rival for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, by charging that the nation’s leaders 'got it wrong' by going to war," Mike Allen wrote October 2, 2007, in The Politico.

Although Obama "did not name Clinton in his remarks about Iraq, but his allusion was clear," Allen wrote.

Voting record

 * 2002: Clinton "voted for the October 2002 resolution authorizing the Iraq war, while Obama (Ill.), then a state senator, publicly opposed the war."
 * 2004: Clinton told Tim Russert on Meet the Press, August 29, 2004, that she agreed with Jay Rockefeller, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who said "Congress would not have authorized that war—we would not have authorized that war—with 75 votes if we knew what we know now." Clinton said "There would not have been a vote, Tim. There would never have been a vote to the Congress presented by the administration. There would have been no basis for it."
 * 2004: Obama said "that he was not sure whether he would have voted against the resolution had he been in the Senate."
 * 2005-present: Obama's "voting record has been virtually identical to Clinton's. 'Senator Obama voted $301 billion in funding. So did Senator Clinton, ... Senator Obama voted against a definite withdrawal date. So did Senator Clinton.'" See Obama's June 21, 2006, Floor Statement on Iraq Debate.

"On substantive questions of foreign policy, one of Barack Obama's most effective -- and perhaps only -- methods of distinguishing himself from Hillary Clinton has been touting his opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Though Obama's opposition was expressed in a twenty minute speech on the floor of the Illinois state legislature, the credibility his anti-war stand has granted him is well-deserved, and it should remain a central issue in the primaries," Max Blumenthal wrote April 2, 2007, in The Nation.

"Given the way Obama has voted on Iraq-related bills since his arrival to Congress, however, any attempt by the junior senator to cast himself as a genuine anti-war candidate is disingenous. Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld have compiled a side-by-side study of Obama and Hillary's votes on Iraq-related bills and what they found is startling.

"Of 69 votes related to Iraq, Obama differed with Hillary on only one: He voted for the confirmation of Gen. George Casey and she voted against it. In no way does Sargent and Kleefeld's study negate the importance of Obama's oppositon to invading Iraq, but it does add some nuance to an otherwise simplistic debate," Blumenthal wrote.

Related external articles

 * Lynn Sweet, "Sweet column: Obama was against war funding, now he's undecided," Chicago Sun-Times, January 15, 2007.
 * Lynn Sweet, "Sweet column: Obama floats Iraq plan after Clinton puts out proposal. Obama rapid response," Chicago Sun-Times, January 18, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Obama's Date Certain," The Politico, January 30, 2007.
 * Heretic, "Obama on the Iraq war," TheYoungTurks.com, January 26, 2007: "Obama was not in the senate at the time the vote was taken and nothing about his voting record suggests he would have done anything remotely as bold as voting no. Commentators who make this statement should be called on it every time."
 * Greg Sargent, "Obama Introducing Bill Mandating Withdrawal Of All Troops From Iraq By March 2008," TPM Cafe, January 30, 2007.
 * Lynn Sweet, "Once opposed setting 'date certain'," Chicago Sun-Times, January 31, 2007.
 * Jackie Calmes, "Obama’s War Dance," Washington Wire/Wall Street Journal Online, January 31, 2007.
 * Michael R. Gordon and Patrick Healy, "Clinton Says Some G.I.'s in Iraq Would Remain," New York Times, March 16, 2007. Note: Obama "has said that if elected president, he might keep a small number of troops in Iraq."
 * Richard Johnson, "Bill Rips Times' Hill Bashing," Page Six / New York Post, March 16, 2007.
 * Patrick Healy, "Obama Disputes Bill Clinton’s Take on War Views," The Caucus Blog/New York Times, March 16, 2007.
 * Michael McAuliff, "Hil: Fast pullout a 'mistake'. Says some troops should be left in Iraq to fight Al Qaeda," New York Daily News and "Iraq 2009 = Afghanistan 1992?" Mouth of the Potomac Blog/New York Daily News, March 16, 2007. Interview with HRC.
 * Dan Balz, "Clinton, Obama Camps Spar on War," Washington Post, March 20, 2007.
 * Jake Tapper and Jonathan Greenberger, "Words of War: Clinton Camp Muddies Obama's Anti-War Stance but Record Is Clear," Associated Press (ABC News), March 20, 2007.
 * Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld, Comparison of Hillary and Obama votes on Iraq," Election Central Blog/TPM Cafe, March 30, 2007.
 * Max Blumenthal "Obama = Hillary?" The Nation, April 2, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Obama Faces Battle Over Iraq War Opposition," The Politico, April 4, 2007.
 * Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., "Hillary’s War," New York Times, May 29, 2007.
 * William A. Arkin, "Clinton 1, Obama 0," Washington Post, July 26, 2007.

Clinton plan to end the war
On February 17, 2007, Senator Clinton introduced the "Iraq Troop Protection & Reduction Act of 2007", which "endorse[s] the plan she outlined several weeks ago that would cap the level of U.S. troops in Iraq at the number prior to [Bush's] escalation plan, and begin the long overdue phased redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq beginning in 90 days." 


 * "The Iraq Troop Protection & Reduction Act of 2007 presents a comprehensive approach to Iraq that halts the President's escalation policy and provides an alternative strategy in Iraq with the goal of stabilizing the country so American troops can redeploy out of Iraq. Senator Clinton's legislation puts real pressure on the Iraqi government, requiring the Iraqis to make political progress or lose funding for their military and reconstruction, require the Bush Administration to begin a phased redeployment and convene an international conference within 90 days or a new Congressional authorization would be required to remain in Iraq. Finally, the legislation would prohibit the use of funds to send troops to Iraq unless they have the proper equipment and training. If the President were to follow the provisions in this legislation then the United States should be able to complete a redeployment of troops out of Iraq by the end of his term."

Related external articles

 * Clinton: War in Iraq, Official Senate Website.
 * "'HillCast' On Iraq," Times-Union Blog (Albany, NY), February 17, 2007.
 * Jim Wolf, "Clinton urges start of Iraq pullout in 90 days," Reuters (Boston Globe), February 17, 2007.
 * Shailagh Murray, "Clinton to Back Iraq Deadline. In Shift, Senator Supports Measure Setting Withdrawal Date," Washington Post, March 10, 2007.

On preemptive war

 * In October 2002, Clinton said: "My vote is not, however, a vote for any new doctrine of pre-emption or for unilateralism, or for the arrogance of American power or purpose – all of which carry grave dangers for our nation, for the rule of international law and for the peace and security of people the throughout the world ... it is a vote that puts awesome responsibility in the hands of our President and we say to him -- use these powers wisely and as a last resort."&mdash;Floor Speech of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, October 10, 2002.


 * In February 2007, Clinton said: "I have taken responsibility for that vote. It was based on the best assessment that I could make at the time, and it was clearly intended to demonstrate support for going to the United Nations to put inspectors into Iraq. ... When I set forth my reasons for giving the President that authority, I said that it was not a vote for pre-emptive war."&mdash;Cited by John DiStaso in Manchester Union Leader, February 9, 2007.

Related external articles

 * John DiStaso, "Hillary: I Didn't Vote For 'Pre-emptive War'," Manchester Union Leader reposted at The Politico, February 12, 2007.
 * David Brooks, Op-Ed: "No Apology Needed," New York Times, February 15, 2007. Subscription required.
 * Blake Fleetwood, "Why Hillary Might Not Be Lying," The Huffington Post, February 15, 2007.
 * "Clinton argues ending Iraq war more important than repudiating her 2002 vote," Associated Press (USA TODAY), February 17, 2007.
 * Patrick Healy, "Clinton Gives War Critics New Answer on ’02 Vote," New York Times, February 18, 2007.
 * Opinion: "Don’t hold Iraq war vote against candidates," The Nashua Telegraph, February 18, 2007.
 * John Aravosis, "NYT's David Brooks: Hillary doesn't need to apologize," AMERICAblog, February 18, 2007.