Posted on 01/29/2007 2:11:52 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(CBS News) DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that President Bush has made a mess of Iraq and it is his responsibility to "extricate" the United States from the situation before he leaves office.
It would be "the height of irresponsibility" to pass the war along to the next commander in chief, she said.
"This was his decision to go to war with an ill-conceived plan and an incompetently executed strategy," the Democratic senator from New York said in her initial campaign swing through the early-bird caucus state of Iowa.
"We expect him to extricate our country from this before he leaves office" in January 2009, the former first lady said.
The White House condemned Clinton's comments as a partisan attack that undermines U.S. soldiers.
About 130,000 American troops are in Iraq and Mr. Bush has announced he was sending 21,500 more as part of his new war strategy.
Clinton held a town hall-style forum attended by about 300 activists, giving a brief speech before taking questions for nearly an hour. Pressed to defend her vote to authorize force in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, Clinton responded by stepping up her criticism of President Bush.
"I am going to level with you, the president has said this is going to be left to his successor," Clinton said. "I think it is the height of irresponsibility and I really resent it."
Mr. Bush describes Iraq as the central front in the global fight against terrorism that began after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "The war on terror will be a problem for the next president. Presidents after me will be confronting ... an enemy that would like to strike the United States again," he recently told USA Today.
One questioner asked Clinton if her track record showed she could stand up to "evil men" around the world.
"The question is, we face a lot of dangers in the world and, in the gentleman's words, we face a lot of evil men and what in my background equips me to deal with evil and bad men," Clinton said. She paused to gaze while the audience interrupted with about 30 seconds of laughter and applause.
Meeting later with reporters, she was pressed repeatedly to explain what she meant. She insisted it was a simple joke.
"I thought I was funny," Clinton said. "You guys keep telling me to lighten up, be funny. I get a little funny and now I'm being psychoanalyzed."
She told reporters that evil men included al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who remains at large. "Isn't it about time we get serious about that?" she said.
The Politico.com's Ben Smith said Clinton was well received on her first trip to Iowa.
"People were surprised. She has this great advantage, people expect her to be a diva," said Smith. "But she's very good at these settings. She's very human. She talks a lot about being a woman and at the same time is hard on the Bush administration."
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports Clinton is polling well behind John Edwards in Iowa in a field that now includes nine Democrats. It is even more crowded on the other side. In a surprise announcement, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday became the tenth Republican to join the race.
Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani, one of the early GOP favorites, took a "pre-announcement" fund-raising trip to the other small state with a big say New Hampshire.
He told supporters this race is about bridging the political divide.
"It is not just about ideologies or political parties, it's about who can do it better for our city, our state and our country," Giuliani told GOP activists in Manchester.
The Politico's Jonathan Martin said Giuliani received "a very positive response. Mayor Giuliani still retains the positive glow from 9/11. He was a celebrity candidate and people flock to him. He still has that sort of star power that brings a lot of folks out to see him at events."
Just like her quote of being experienced in dealing with "evil men".......what a fool she is.
But it's still pretty funny!
Clinton To Bush: Clean Up Your Mess
Bush to Clinton: You mean, the mess Bill left?
Regards,
Star Traveler
I've got news for Hillary: A U.S. presence will not be gone from Iraq for a long time. My cousin has served a tour and has been called back to return in August. She tells me that it takes months just to get equipment over there. She also tells me that the U.S. military has set up some permanent facilities. We've still got a presence in Europe, Korea, Japan etc.
That whole thing about what in her background makes her prepared to deal with bad and evil men -- I couldn't believe my ears when she said that. Of COURSE she was talking about Clinton, it wouldn't have been funny and everybody wouldn't have laughed if she hadn't been. It was as big a gaffe as the "an Ah think y'all know whut a'm talkin' 'bout" thing she said in Harlem. I couldn't see why, even in jest, it was smart to say that the man she is STILL married to is a bad and evil man.
Rush hit it out of the park as usual. He said the correct answer to her rhetorical question is: Feminism.
Has anyone asked her for an opinion on the mess her husband left in Bosnia and why he didn't remove US forces that were part of the NATO stabilizations force there before he left office?
And the troops will be home from Kosovo before Christmas. Do you know how many people think we are no longer there?
And the troops will be home from Kosovo before Christmas. Do you know how many people think we are no longer there?
Clean up your mess!
Yes, Bush needs to get all the US troops out of Iraq before he hands over the keys of the White House to Hillary, just like Truman got all the US forces out of Germany, Japan, and Korea before handing things over to Ike, and Johnson got everyone out of Vietnam before handing things over to Nixon, and Clinton got our troops out of Bosnia and Kossovo before leaving office.
That youtube link needs to be spread far and wide.
Hillary is such a lying, stinking hypocrite it's vomit-inducing. That video paired with the exquisitely strong statements against Saddam, including WMD and passing WMD off to other terrorists, made by her husband's admin is utterly damning.
So, which President mislead Hillary? It's gotta be both Clinton and Bush or neither. Talk about cherry-picking intelligence!
Does Hillary really want to be allied with Code Pink with their slogan against the war "pull out now"? That's one way to turn off the male voter.
You would think that Hillary would have had a better background of why and how she voted on Iraq from the previous 8 years. No way should this woman be president.
She 'resents it'. Welcome to our world. Bush has spent his whole presidency cleaning up thier messes.
It really sucks that this sack of sh*t was in my neck of the woods. A thieving crack addict has more credibility that this wench does - a fact that is cheerfully ignored by the drooling knuckle-dragging socialists who support her.
The C-word is the first one that popped into my head also...
Burger must have missed that little bit of information. He's been a busy burglar I'm sure.
I for one will not live under the queens rule. I will move first.
I suspect the clip will vanish from YouTube quickly.
translation: Hilary Clinton admits she is incompetent and weak on national defense.
This is not a complaint, it is a confession.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.