Hillary -Iraq War Resolution should not disqualify her

[MojoMojoMojo]

Heres an interesting read.Hillarys 2002 speech regarding the IWR.
IMO her vote is the main reason she lost support to Obama.
Its obviously Obamas opinion as well because he has been mentioning her vote at every public speaking event for the past two years.
CLINTON:"Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn't have been a vote," she said in her usual refrain before adding, "and I certainly wouldn't have voted that way."

"CLINTON: Well, obviously, I've said many times that, although my vote on the 2002 authorization regarding Iraq was a sincere vote, I would not have voted that way again.

I would certainly, as president, never have taken us to war in Iraq. And I regret deeply that President Bush waged a preemptive war, which I warned against and said I disagreed with."


http://clinton.senate.gov/speeches/iraq_101002.html

"If we were to attack Iraq now, alone or with few allies, it would set a precedent that could come back to haunt us. In recent days, Russia has talked of an invasion of Georgia to attack Chechen rebels. India has mentioned the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. And what if China were to perceive a threat from Taiwan?

So Mr. President, for all its appeal, a unilateral attack, while it cannot be ruled out, on the present facts is not a good option.Others argue that we should work through the United Nations and should only resort to force if and when the United Nations Security Council approves it....
While there is no perfect approach to this thorny dilemma, and while people of good faith and high intelligence can reach diametrically opposed conclusions, I believe the best course is to go to the UN for a strong resolution that scraps the 1998 restrictions on inspections and calls for complete, unlimited inspections with cooperation expected and demanded from Iraq.I know that the Administration wants more, including an explicit authorization to use force, but we may not be able to secure that now, perhaps even later. But if we get a clear requirement for unfettered inspections, I believe the authority to use force to enforce that mandate is inherent in the original 1991 UN resolution, as President Clinton recognized when he launched Operation Desert Fox in 1998....
Even though the resolution before the Senate is not as strong as I would like in requiring the diplomatic route first and placing highest priority on a simple, clear requirement for unlimited inspections, I will take the President at his word that he will try hard to pass a UN resolution and will seek to avoid war, if at all possible ....
My vote is not, however, a vote for any new doctrine of pre-emption, or for uni-lateralism, 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 throughout the world.
War can yet be avoided, but our responsibility to global security and to the integrity of United Nations resolutions protecting it cannot. I urge the President to spare no effort to secure a clear, unambiguous demand by the United Nations for unlimited inspections.
So it is with conviction that I support this resolution as being in the best interests of our nation. A vote for it is not a vote to rush to war; 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. And it is a vote that says clearly to Saddam Hussein - this is your last chance - disarm or be disarmed.

[Smith_3]

1. yaddayaddayadda...

Frankly, I don't want to hear it. She voted for the war, because it was the option that posed the best career prospects.

I don't want to hear her explanations now, unless its an admittance that she made a mistake and nothing further.

[MojoMojoMojo]

3. Hurry dont be late to your cult meeting

[izzie]

10. Most of Congress also did the same.

Has to be hard not to go along and you can bet she was looking at staying in office. The next hard job has to be to say you did not dare not to go along. My God we have people in this country saying you are un-Am. for not having on a flag pin as if it one thing about being an Am.

[Radical Activist]

2. But now she defends the vote.

So does she regret it or not? Another day another Hillary.

[MojoMojoMojo]

4. How does she defend it?She stated it was a mistake .

Anyway read the speech its interesting.

[Radical Activist]

5. In that quote, but not in the most recent debates.

More recently she defended her vote for the resolution as not being a vote for the war and she expressed no regret.

[MojoMojoMojo]

9. Thats what the 2002 speech states,its a vote for inspection

[Radical Activist]

12. Inspection? Do we need to read the title again?

No, it was a war powers resolution. Bad spin.

I guess you have no comment about her going from voting for the war, to expressing regret at her vote, and then back to defending her vote, as you're now doing. It must be hard to keep track of her evolving positions.

[lligrd]

6. Ha, If Only It Were That One Vote

instead of the many votes capitulating to * every whim for more power. I have no idea why she really voted that way but the options seem to be:

She was an idiot and believed *'s intelligence (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) that many of us already knew to be false and believed that Iraq had weapons that could actually deliver a blow to us (note that option would make her doubly stupid and you would have to believe both to think invading a sovereign country was the only choice and was prudent).

She voted the way she did because she though it was the politically savvy thing to do. (Meaning she thought we were all idiots and feel for the above scenario and voting against it would doom her career.)

She thought it was okay to give the Presidency all this power because she assumed she would win in 2008 and inherit the power. (I find this to the most plausible.)

Tell me which of the options gives me any reason to vote for her.

[sandnsea]

7. It's her continuing support for winning the war

that disqualifies her, not the vote.

[autorank]

8. Let's accept that for a moment. Does this disqualify her?

From her first co-presidency:

Reuters reprinted in Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/072100-03.htm


Published on Friday, July 21, 2000 at 1:23 PM ET by Reuters
UN Says Sanctions Have Killed Some 500,000 Iraqi Children

BAGHDAD - A senior U.N. official said Friday about half a million children under the age of 5 have died in Iraq since the imposition of U.N. sanctions 10 years ago.

Anupama Rao Singh, country director for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), made the estimate in an interview with Reuters.

``In absolute terms we estimate that perhaps about half a million children under 5 years of age have died, who ordinarily would not have died had the decline in mortality that was prevalent over the 70s and the 80s continued through the 90s,'' she said.

A UNICEF survey published in August showed the mortality rate among Iraqi children under 5 had more than doubled in the government-controlled south and center of Iraq during the sanctions.

Baghdad said the UNICEF survey proved that the sanctions were killing thousands of children every month and called for an immediate end to the embargo.

Rao Sigh blamed malnutrition for the high mortality rate among children.

``Nutrition was not a public health problem in Iraq in the 80s. It emerged as a major problem in the 90s and it increased steadily till about 1996,'' Singh said.


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Right there on all the big decisions. Didn't they notice the deaths?

We don't get to kill people, period. Read the book, says so in plain print.

[gerrilea]

11. Good Article, Had Hillary not voted for it, she would have been

Destroyed by the media as not being "for the troops", doesn't anyone here even remotely remember our most recent past?

And to all you people that think she shouldn't have voted for it, stuff it.

AS the former 1st lady and part of a Presidential Administration, she understands that you have to "Walk quietly and Carry a big stick", which means you shouldn't have to use it, like *ush did. And she's said that time and time again, but it's easier to say she should have never voted for it and blame her for all the ills in the world.

HILLARY DID NOT ORDER OUR MILITARY TO ATTACK IRAQ, *ush did, blame him for it no one else.

How people want to blame others for someone else's mistakes is foolish, this is like you blaming me for bank robberies just because I deposit money into them?!