Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Hillary Clinton's Iraq Vote

The Presidential campaign has caused the candidates to reexamine their position on the war in Iraq in the present tense and past tense. Sen. Barack Obama has said that he would not have voted for the war, if he were in the senate. Sen. John Edwards has written an op-ed in the Washington Post, in which he opens with the words "I was wrong." The question on Democratic primary voters is why hasn't Presidential front runner Hillary Clinton apologized for her vote.

Sen. Clintons position for the past several months is that she made the right vote at the time. She said "My decision is influenced by my eight years of experience on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue in the White House, watching my husband deal with serious challenges to our nation. I want this president, or any future president, to be in the strongest possible position to lead our country in the United Nations or in war," explaining her position on the war.

Some believe that Sen. Clintons belief was not a political move but a philosophical belief which she holds deeply. Michael Crowley of The National Republic writes, about an October 10 meeting that Sen. Clinton had with the Council on Foreign Relations. There, in the midst of race for Senate, she took a Presidential position on Foreign Policy.

She discussed that the U.S. should lead coalitions and alliances against such things as poverty, AIDS, and repression. The Senator outlined her belief in the use of force as follows;
There is a refrain ... that we should intervene with force only when we face splendid little wars that we surely can win, preferably by overwhelming force in a relatively short period of time. To those who believe we should become involved only if it is easy to do, I think we have to say that America has never and should not ever shy away from the hard task if it is the right one.
This statement sounds like a Republican to me. I think her vote in 2002 was justified according to the information presented to her. I think it takes a strong person to standby there vote, and that is what she is trying to do rather then back peddle. By no means does this mean I support Senator Clinton, but I do believe she has done the right thing in this situation. Unlike Senator Barack Obama, I would have voted for the war but I believe it has become a mismanaged war by our President, furthermore I believe it is our responsibility to the Iraqi people to fix the problems that we have created in that country. Which is both in our interest and there interest.

What do you think?

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