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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHillary Clinton on Iraq: ‘I got it wrong.’
Hillary Clinton on Iraq vote: I still got it wrong. Plain and simple.
By Philip Rucker
June 5 at 5:43 pm
Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her strongest language yet about her 2002 Senate vote to authorize military action in Iraq, writes in her forthcoming memoir that "I still got it wrong," CBS News reported Thursday afternoon.
In "Hard Choices," Clinton, a former secretary of state and former U.S. senator who is exploring a 2016 presidential campaign, writes: "[M]any Senators came to wish they had voted against the resolution. I was one of them. As the war dragged on, with every letter I sent to a family in New York who had lost a son or daughter, a father or mother, my mistake become (sic) more painful."
Clinton continues, "I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn't alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple."
CBS News obtained an early copy of Clinton's book, not scheduled for release until next Tuesday, and published excerpts on its Web site Thursday afternoon.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/06/05/hillary-clinton-on-iraq-vote-i-still-got-it-wrong-plain-and-simple/
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Time to forgive and forget....
mylye2222
(2,992 posts)Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)keep in mind we nominated Kerry even though he made the same mistake.
It's odd how he gets a pass, but she doesn't.
Perhaps her gender has a lot to do with it.
mylye2222
(2,992 posts)And Kerry too, made his mea culpa.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)gcomeau
(5,764 posts)JI7
(90,110 posts)Hillary Clinton would have got the nomination if Obama didn't run in 2008. but in her case there were a lot of people who thought it was positive that she was a hawk.
i think in her case people thought she would have been smarter and done things more effectively than Bush.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)for 12 fuckin' years. Now she has suddenly been overwhelmed by shame and remorse, and needs to be reborn. She's having all sorts of second thoughts these days, like when she suddenly rediscovered the poor just before going on to her two $200K-a-pop speeches to the Bankster Elite.
To steal a line from someone, "It takes a pillage."
bbgrunt
(5,281 posts)hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Bandit
(21,475 posts)Unless another Democrat or Liberal beats her out in the Primaries she will get my vote. America could do worse...
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I am highly unlikely to vote for her in the Primary.
AZ Mike
(468 posts)She did a soft couching against others who got it wrong, but still owned it all her own.
I find it hard to jump firmly into Hilary's camp (though I would if she were the nominee), but this is certainly commendable. It's not "forgive and forget" for me, but I do note the straightforwardness of her statement.
Rider3
(919 posts)If one is given bad/wrong information to make a decision, they should not be blamed if that decision is wrong. George W. Bush is the one who was wrong. He knew the truth but lied anyway in order to get the war he wanted.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Hell, one of the first things he did once he got in the White House was bomb Iraq. For 12 years before Junior's war, Iraq had been one of the most surveilled, most sanctioned, most bombed country in the world. Anyone who sincerely believed George bu$h's lies about the military "threat" from a country like that was a gullible fool at best.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)And not just any old wrong - wrong on an issue that counts as most life and history changing as any - war.
alsame
(7,784 posts)we felt about her vote.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)So stay away from jobs where your impaired judgment might cause disaster.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)that the way to tell when republicans are lying is simply to observe their mouths.
If their mouths are open, they are lying.
We need a president who fully understands that this is an immutable law of the universe.
Skittles
(157,089 posts)she is a VERY intelligent woman - she KNEW it was wrong but she voted what she perceived to be better for her career
BeyondGeography
(39,841 posts)A welcome and clear statement, imo. As for her career, she paid a very dear price for that vote. If she had voted against IWR, Obama probably wouldn't have even run against her. If he had in that instance, he would have gotten nowhere.
alsame
(7,784 posts)she paid that matters
[IMG][/IMG]
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Cue the DLC brigade congratulating Hillary for admitting she was wrong.
Hillary, just go. We need change, not more nepotism.
BeyondGeography
(39,841 posts)Voting for IWR doesn't confirm that for me.
alsame
(7,784 posts)calculated political vote or she had very poor judgment. Both are very serious to me, especially considering the consequences. I don't think she'll deliberately create an Iraq-type war, but she is a hawk, IMO.
I'm in NY and did not vote for her for Senate in 2006 and not in the 2008 primary. I hope I have better choices in 2016.
BeyondGeography
(39,841 posts)The costs and results of Bush's wars have put the public in a very strong non-interventionist mood. Look at Syria last summer; basically zero support for a military strike. Obama has certainly picked up on the mood, which I think happens to suit him.
Hillary's voters are not the audience for saber rattling; in fact where is the audience for it? Sometimes the people still save politicians from themselves and I think this is one of those times.
alsame
(7,784 posts)arm the Syrian rebels, she was overruled by Obama.
On whether to arm Syrian rebels: "I returned to Washington reasonably confident that if we decided to begin arming and training moderate Syrian rebels, we could put in place effective coordination with our regional partners."
"[T]he risks of both action and inaction were high. Both choices would bring unintended consequences. The Presidents' inclination was to stay the present course and not take the significant further step of arming rebels. No one likes to lose a debate, including me. But this was the President's call and I respected his deliberations and decision. From the beginning of our partnership, he had promised me that would always get a fair hearing. And I always did. In this case, my position didn't prevail" ....
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clintons-hard-choices-bergdahl-benghazi-and-more/2/
BeyondGeography
(39,841 posts)which is a big reason why I supported Obama last time around. But we are still talking about responses that are more limited in scope than, say, a direct strike against Assad, which I think would have happened in Bill's day.
Look, people who know me know I was fiercely anti-Hillary in 2008 and IWR was the main reason why. This discussion should tell her supporters that she would benefit from a challenge from the left because there is still a lot of genuine discomfort with her that she needs to at least somewhat alleviate if she is to have all of the momentum she will need to be elected should she run.
JI7
(90,110 posts)supporters were still fans of hers and would have easily supported her if he wasn't in the race.
BeyondGeography
(39,841 posts)One thing I do know is Obama is a cautious politician and he would have had a much tougher decision to run if she had voted against IWR. Without the antiwar white left firmly in his corner he would have had a much tougher chore in Iowa and might never have earned credibility with black voters, who backed Hillary until he won in Iowa.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)She voted for War because she thought it was the right thing to do politically.
Of course she regrets it now.
Run away, Hillary. This country does not need you.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)to the highest levels of the next Democratic administration. Clinton, Kerry, Biden, all "yes" on Iraq, all with top foreign policy jobs.
And even before that, it was a requirement to be nominated to the Democratic ticket for president in 2004. Kerry and Edwards of course both voted for that resolution.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)What information would that be, I wonder? Gosh, if only millions of people had somehow tried to make their voices heard above the tom-tom beat of the war drums, and let our elected officials know that they were being duped, snookered, misled, even lied to.
But we didn't do that, did we? Not a word against invading Iraq was spoken, and now, 11 years later, we all share in the blame and the shame for not being more vigilant. Plain and simple.
Ri-i-i-i-ight.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I've said this quite a few times, but I was some pregnant housewife sitting at home and *I KNEW*. It's the whole reason I came to DU. I mean, yeah, I'm in Canada and we had real news at the time in comparison, and our PM was against it, but it's not like Hillary Clinton wouldn't have had that same information.
I still think it was a political move for her, nothing more and it was badly miscalculated. And if she was truly regretful, she would've dialed it back a long time ago.
LLD
(136 posts)I knew Bush was lying his ass off as well as many on the left. Excuses that's all.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)madaboutharry
(41,068 posts)"I thought I had acted in good faith and made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I wasn't alone in getting it wrong. But I still got it wrong. Plain and simple."
I don't buy it. I think her vote on Iraq was craven politics. Plain and Simple.
Will I vote for her if she is the nominee? You bet.
Will it be a vote I feel good about? Not at all.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)The response she previously gave to the same question.
I still don't want her to get the nomination, but this admission makes it easier seeing myself vote for her if she DOES win the nomination.
Boom Sound 416
(4,185 posts)Not sure why it took 12 years.
Not sure I want you take another 12 years to figure it out after 2016-20
factsarenotfair
(910 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Vattel
(9,289 posts)And she got it wrong in thinking the president has the right to torture. And she got it wrong when she urged arming Syrian rebels. Etc. She is too hawkish, period.