Why Should Hillary Apologize On Iraq?

Refusal To Recant '02 Vote May Serve Clinton Well In The Long Run

(CBS)  By CBSNews.com Senior Political Editor Vaughn Ververs

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When celebrities like Mel Gibson or Britney Spears run afoul of public sentiment, they head straight to rehab in the hopes that their various sins will be forgiven by the public in whose hands such careers rest.

America, the thinking goes, has a soft spot for humble redemption.

In this fast-paced 2008 presidential election, a segment of the Democratic Party is insisting on their own litmus test for forgiving candidates who have supported the Iraq war in the past. It's a simple request made by staunch opponents of the war who will likely play a large role in tapping the eventual Democratic nominee. They simply want to hear "sorry."

This plea for penance is most directly affecting a handful of hopefuls who served in the U.S. Senate in 2002 when Congress voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq — Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. All voted to give President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq and thus far three of them have renounced their votes in some manner, either by direct apology or by calling that vote a "mistake."

Edwards, now out of the Senate and running for president full-time, got ahead of the trend last fall when he penned an op-ed for the Washington Post on the subject.

"It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake," he wrote in November. Dodd and Biden have since followed suit. Other Democratic hopefuls, most notably Barack Obama, have no vote to apologize for.

But Hillary Clinton, to the consternation of many in her party, just won't say the words "sorry" or "mistake." The question continues to be asked as she campaigns across key early primary states — and to dominate the media coverage of her events.

When Clinton made her first trip to New Hampshire earlier this month, voters took it directly to her.

"I want to know if right here, right now, once and for all and without nuance, you can say that war authorization was a mistake," said one man at a town-hall style meeting in Berlin.

Such exchanges were widely reported, as were her answers, which amounted to this: She would not have voted the same way now, President Bush is responsible for the mistakes made and she would like to end the war — but that's easier said than done.

In a return visit to the state this past weekend, according to reports, Clinton was asked point-blank why she would not apologize for the vote.

[btans1]

Rep. or Dem.... samey same My problem with them is that most of them are plain stupid...What eles would you call someone who voted to send the cream America's youth to a war that was at best illadvised and at worst illmoral...whether you were "led astray" or are just an IDIOT the result is too many empty spaces at the dinner table...

[cristyb01]

Hillary has accurately described what happenned. She was given false or misleading information. Based on that information she made the only decision possible. She has nothing to appologize for. The one who owes an apology to the american people is the current president and his staff.

[randalds]

She's really a female version of Hugo Chavez (in a bad pant suit).....she's socialist to the core.
Posted by bigwhtpony at 10:36 AM : Feb 23, 2007

I like her pantsuit, esp from the back (nice as*s for an older chick!). Besides as a fellow Socialist I should be supporting her, but I'm not. She's pandered far too (just like that as*shole McCain on the right) to get my support in the primaries.

[hawksprings]

"Patriotism and honor mean nothing to these people."

And neither does honesty.

[bigwhtpony]

So was Nancy Pelosi, with her TEN YEARS on the Intelligence Committee LYING???
Posted by HawkSprings at 10:10 AM : Feb 23, 2007

Nicely done. Air Pelosi is a hippy throwback from the Haight-Ashbury 60's who will sell her sould (and has) for political gain for her party and for herself.

Patriotism and honor mean nothing to these people.

[bigwhtpony]

Hitlery should apologize for trying to pass herself off as a moderate "centrist." She's really a female version of Hugo Chavez (in a bad pant suit).....she's socialist to the core.

[hawksprings]

So was Nancy Pelosi, with her TEN YEARS on the Intelligence Committee LYING???

"I come to this debate, Mr. Speaker, as one at the end of 10 years in office on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was one of my top priorities. I applaud the President on focusing on this issue and on taking the lead to disarm Saddam Hussein. ... Others have talked about this threat that is posed by Saddam Hussein. Yes, he has chemical weapons, he has biological weapons, he is trying to get nuclear weapons."

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (Democrat, California)
Addressing the US Senate
October 10, 2002
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/
cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=H7777&dbname=2002_record

[hawksprings2]

So was John Kerry LYING:

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003 | Source

[hawksprings]

Jason, YOU are proving my point exactly!

All we hear from the Left and the Media is that Bush LIED about WMDs and Iraq.

Before we went in the Dembots all said Iraq had WMDs and Saddam needed to be stopped.


So is Ted Kenneday a Liar?

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002 | Source

[jasonmcj]

To Hawksprings:

You are missing the point (which I think GOP does intentionally), which is: Democrats DIDN'T go to WAR, waste billions of dollars, lose all international creditability, and most importantly, we did not create MORE terrorists.

That all happened on GOP watch.

I'll wait for the ad hominem attacks, since it is all GOP has left.

[hawksprings]

Tell us, Dembots, read these quotes from your fearless leaders about Iraq and tell us, were they all lying too?

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
- President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998 | Source

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program."
- President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998 | Source

"We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction."
- Madeline Albright, Feb 1, 1998 | Source

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
- Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998 | Source

[jasonmcj]

Attention delusional soccer moms: You are not enough to elect Hillary.

All of you middle-aged working moms, (and usually only you) that hold placards and scream like Beatle fans at rallies is so funny to realists.

Hillary can not win, go with another candidate now while you still can. Hillary can only make things worse for Dems and America.

[hawksprings]

Tell me something libs, was Hillary, Bill, Pelosi, and the other dembots lying back in the late 90's when they were all saying how Iraq and Saddam had WMDs?

All it takes to find DOZENS of quotes from Democrats talking about Iraq's WMDs is a quick google on "Clinton quotes on Iraq".

But you won't do that will you, because it contradicts your twisted view of the facts.

If Bush was lying about Iraq, then so was Pelosi, the Clintons, and the rest of the Dembots.

.

[jasonmcj]

She did NOT do the right thing. WMD? so what...Iraq was a sovereign nation and even with bad intelligence, it was obvious that al Qaeda has no ties to Saddam Hussein.

All polticians lie to some extent, so what, but Hillary is a calculating pathological liar, very bad, much like the current adminsitration.

Iraq was revenge for Bush, plain and simple. Hillary is just another Bush.

[jasonmcj]

Hillary, what a clown

Go Barry!!!

[cathaleen]

Hillary should not apologize for her vote on the Iraq war because she voted on the false info she was given. In essence she did the right thing.

We all know now is was wrong but if she apologizes
(when given the facts then, she was correct) will anyone every trust her vote again. It doesn't make much sense = it's water under the bridge.
Let's move on and elect her President.

[bluenavy1]

Now that I posted my remarks on Senator Hillary Clinton I like to say that as a Vietnam War veteran we made agrave mistake by walking out of that war, we should have instead totally bomb out north Vietnam as we did in Japan and Germany in WW11, but we didn't, President Kennedy would have not pulled our troops out of Vietnam ending the war as it was done by President Johnson and President Nixon whom always held up his two peace fingers as such we cannot do the same in Iraq, the people of Iraq need our help, the insurgents are killing those innocent people every day. The people of Iraq want a democratic society as we have in America so as they can have a freedom of choice especially the women of Iraq, We as Americans have to try are best to see that they achieve this, if we just walk we will look like fools throughout the world, just ask our troops as they see what is happening in Iraq to the people and most of our military personnel that I have spoken to agree that we must stand fast in Iraq and not just walk away. Yes we must find a way to laeve Iraq but not on the souls of the Iraq people. Thomas J. Pyatt, Bay Shore Long Island New York, County of Suffolk, Life member of AMVETS(American Veterans) E. Islip, American Legion, Brentwood and Veterans of the Vietnam War, King Pk.

[bluenavy1]

I am a republican and I don't believe Senator Hillary Clinton should apologize for her vote on the Iraq war because her vote was correct at the time with the messages that were received from the Bush adminstration of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. 90% of the american public as well as an over welming majority of both the house and senate voted for and approved this war knowing the facts told to us at the time. There was no remorse at the time that we entered into the war in Iraq by the american public, congress or the senate so as such we should not be ecuting Senator Clinton for her vote and no there is no reason in her apologizing for her vote for the war. If the american public still thinks she should than the 90% of the american public, congress and the senate should all apologize first sice a majority of all of us approved of President Bush discission on the war as we all so it at the time. Also the majority if not all of the persons running for president also approved of the war. Yes we made a mistake but knowing what we all knew at the time there was no mistake made so no apologies are necessary from anyone including Senator Clinton. Tom Pyatt, Bay Shore, Long Island New York, County of Suffolk.

[tuckerndfw]

Hillary Clinton, like most American politicians, laps at the boots of AIPAC, Israel's subversive agency in the US.

Hillary's vote then was in response to AIPAC's demand that the US overthrow Saddam Hussein. Saddam was providing financial assistance to victims of Israel's war crimes. And, that cannot be tolerated.

If Israel is to succeed with her ethnic cleansing, she must he allowed to remove all non-Jews from the region, without interference from her neighbors.

AIPAC is demanding the US attack Iran, so we can expect Hillary to support attacking or invading Iran.

Hillary shouldn't apologize, she should move to Israel, renounce her US citizenship (no "dual citizenship") and run for political office as a member of the Likud or some other extremist right wing war mongering Israeli political party.

As should any other American who puts Israel's interests before those of the US.

[naverd-2009]

I love Hillary Clinton. It would be great if she was president. However, I think that she should start out with the hard core truth. The main reason that she voted for the war, because if she hadn't, in the wake of 911, she would looked like freshman senator that was not in support of the President. I'm don't work in Washington, and I'm not in politics, but I knew that going to war with Irag was completely and totally wrong. I find it hard to believe that a person of her intellect didn't know the same thing. She was simply afraid of being dixie chicked.