War Opponents Dispute Clinton's Account Of Levin Amendment

[Barack_America]

From Huffington Post:

War opponents say Sen. Hillary Clinton is misleading in her explanation about why she voted in 2003 against a bill that would have stalled America's invasion of Iraq.

During Thursday night's debate, the New York Democrat was asked why, if she did not believe the President was insistent on war, she didn't simply vote for a resolution that would have asked the United Nations to approve authorization of force against Saddam Hussein. Clinton responded that such a resolution -- which was sponsored by Michigan Senator Carl Levin -- would have made the president's authority "subordinate" to the United Nations.

"I have the greatest respect for my friend and colleague, Senator Levin," she said. "The way that amendment was drafted suggested that the United States would subordinate whatever our judgment might be going forward to the United Nations Security Council. I don't think that was a good precedent. Therefore, I voted against it."

This, war opponents say, is a stretch. Indeed, the Levin amendment - which was defeated by a vote of 24 to 75 - allowed the government to pursue an invasion of Iraq even if the United Nations voted against such a course of action. Congress, the bill read, should "not adjourn" before it "promptly considers proposals related to Iraq if the United Nations fails to adopt such a resolution."

Levin himself said as much in an October speech on the Senate floor. "My resolution affirms that, under international law and the U.N. Charter, the United States has at all times the inherent right to use military force in self-defense, affirming the fact that there is no U.N. veto over U.S. military action," he said.

There's also a (Freudian?) typo in the concluding paragraph.

Last night, Senator Clinton was not asked a follow up to the question about the Levin amendment. Bush she repeated a statement she has repeatedly made on the campaign trail. "If I had known then what I know now," she declared, "I never would have given President Bush the authority. It was a sincere vote based on my assessment at the time and what I believed he would do with the authority he was given."

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So Hill, why did you vote against the Levin Amendment? Couldn't have had anything to to with political ambition, could it?