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September 24, 2007
Hillary: Cut Iraq Funding to force 'Change'
Rick Moran
The only way you could have avoided Hillary Clinton yesterday was if you turned off the TV.
The Democratic presidential front runner was on no less than 5 of the Sunday morning politico gab fests, answering questions about Iraq, health care, and her historic candidacy as the first woman candidate with a serious shot at the White House.
But it was on Iraq that Hillary made headlines.
Congress should stop funding the Iraq war to force President Bush and the Iraqi government to "change course," Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said Sunday on Face The Nation.
"No matter how heroically and dedicated the performance of our young men and women and their officers are in Iraq - which it has been - they cannot referee successfully a sectarian civil war,"
Clinton told Bob Schieffer. "So I voted against funding last spring. I will vote against funding again in the absence of any change in policy." President Bush has said that, by setting deadlines for withdrawal and cutting funding, Congress will embolden America's enemies. Clinton, however, said, "The idea that our having a policy that reflects the reality on the ground will embolden enemies, I think is off base. They have been emboldened by the policies pursued by this administration."
The junior Senator from New York pointed to continued nuclear development by Iran and North Korea - and reported cooperation between Syria and North Korea - as evidence of U.S. enemies growing stronger. This has been the Democratic party's major talking point on Iraq all year - that there has been no "change" in war strategy or policy despite the obvious fact that the additional troops sent to Iraq as part of the surge as well as the radical change in counter-insurgency tactics and strategy represent a seismic shift in the Administration's approach to the war. Nevertheless, it is significant that Clinton has said that she will continue to vote to cut funds for the war.
This places her candidacy in stark contrast to all the Republican candidates who have pledged to continue the mission in Iraq. What that might mean by this time next year is anyone's guess. If things are going better in Iraq, Clinton will probably tack back toward the center on Iraq - something she has proved to be an expert at doing since she started running. On the other hand, if the war is not going as well she will be well positioned to take advantage of what will probably be a bi-partisan effort to cut funding for Iraq.
Clinton may be the most calculating politician in America since...her husband's presidency. Clearly, she has learned at the feet of the master of political straddling.
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