Clinton Cites Hagel To Defend Her 2002 Iraq Vote -- But Is She Right?

Primary Monitor:

he New York Times checks up on Hillary Clinton's recent invocations of Chuck Hagel and finds the record doesn't match the rhetoric:

Clinton repeated the claim Sunday during an interview on "Meet the Press," saying "Chuck Hagel, who helped to draft the resolution, said it was not a vote for war." . . . But the talking point appears to misconstrue the facts....

...For more on Clinton and her Iraq vote, see Ambassador Richard Holbrooke's comments to the Monitor, Clinton's response when she was here and Joe Lieberman's account when he was here. For what it's worth, a New York Times magazine piece on Hagel nearly two years ago suggested that Hagel, who voted for the Iraq resolution despite strong misgivings, had persuaded himself that doing so could help Colin Powell (and thus reduce the chance of war). Indeed, Hagel's speech explaining his vote was much more pessimistic than Clinton's.

Read the whole story: Primary Monitor

Comments

[eshalom]

02:30 PM on 01/15/2008

Let's pause, here, all of you who are so eager to bash Hillary Clinton and take a look at the facts pointed out in Media Matters.Org today about how the "NY Times falsely suggested that Hagel and Clinton took different votes on Iraq war resolution."

Here's the link:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200801150001

I would suggest to all HuffPost readers a daily reality check at Media Matters.Org to help you sort out the truth from the propaganda.

[ALMAL]

09:54 AM on 01/15/2008

As one naive muslim would dream that US ,after thousands killed in 9/11,will catch Osama,and will try to put him behind the bars in the international courts for 5-10 years,that would be a great example for terrorists,free soup forever.
They are ready to blow up themselves,and if lucky anybody near.
So ,i think Hillary was right,and Osama was wrong.
Obama was wrong too.
I'm immigrant and i was patriot at that time. posted 01/13/2008 at 17:39:10
posted 01/14/2008 at 21:00:31

[Macready]

06:33 AM on 01/15/2008

and she compounds bad judgement with lies . . . clearly not presidential material . . . wake up hillary supporters is this really who you want in the WH???

[MRb1000]

02:37 AM on 01/15/2008

Hillary Clinton is not a leader. She cannot stand by her word. What is she talking about. We all knew that vote would send us to war with Iraq. I had just retired from the military at that time. We all knew we where going. Just ask anybody who served. She is playing the American people for fools. If you believe this one, America is stupid.

[researcher]

01:53 AM on 01/15/2008

lots of money in wars for the corporate elite.

that is the purpose of capitalism profits and more profits.

people are mere warm bodies to increase what: profits.

profits are important but so are people. must find a middle ground between savage capitalism and cradle to grave support.

[moonjumper]

12:05 AM on 01/15/2008

Surprise, Surprise

[SEQUOIABISON]

08:17 PM on 01/14/2008

Hagel Smagel.

Basically Hillary claims she voted for the “Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002” to force Suddam Hussen to allow inspectors back into Iraq.

But there seems to be something wrong with that explanation, she cast her vote in the senate on October 11, 2002, on September 17, 2002 Suddam had already agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors into Iraq “without conditions”.
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/09/16/iraq.un.letter/

I firmly believe that Hillary like Bush actually wanted to have a war with Iraq and they were simply looking for a justification.

As a senator from NY she is beholden to the biggest Israeli lobby AIPAC and they of course wanted a war and an American outpost in Iraq to keep other Arab countries quiet while they continued their manifest destiny of conquering biblical land that they claim once belonged to Israel.

We are now getting a lot of flim flaming about her reasoning for casting that vile vote, but the bottom line is she gave a pathological liar authority to go to war with Iraq.

Personally I will be supporting the guy who got it right about that war in the first place, Barack Obama.

“I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships born”
Barack Obama, October 2002, Chicago.

Obviously Hillarys claim to superior experience did not improve her judgment.

The Clintons ran in 1992 on a platform of universal healthcare but failed to implement it even though they had a democratic majority in congress for several years, do we really need more failures and catastrophic poor judgment?

[leftLibertarian]

07:44 PM on 01/14/2008

One would have to be either very naive or stupid to give the chimp the authority to change a light bulb let alone authority to wage war, or how ever else you want to interpret it.

[NCYvonne]

07:43 PM on 01/14/2008

NO. SHE IS NOT RIGHT! There was no Hagel resolutions so she could not have voted for what he co-sponsored. Also, Bill went on Larry King and said the same thing then added that Hagel was against the Iraq war from the "get-go" and the only Republican to vote against it. WRONG AGAIN. Hagel voted FOR it and Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) was the only republican to vote against the War. Bill knows this. He's just so used to lying.

REMEMBER: BILL CLINTON WAS DISBARRED FOR PERJURY!!

[Bendersky]

06:32 PM on 01/14/2008

"...a New York Times magazine piece on Hagel nearly two years ago suggested that Hagel, who voted for the Iraq resolution despite strong misgivings"

Jesus F*cking Chr*st!! I mean, I like Hagel, but how come every time one reads about a politician voting for something "despite having strong misgivings" the American people get sold down the river? Are there any pols out there who have strong misgivings and then say, "...therefore I've decided to vote my conscious and not support this fanatical,little nimrod president in his war mongering"?

In the lead up to the war, my friends and I were discussing the potential outcomes and aftermath of our Bush's wrecklessness. It followed what we figured would happen to a "T," as I know is true for thousands of other antiwar freaks out there. So why couldn't our sleazoid congresspeople figure out who they were dealing with in the White House or to what lengths they would go to for power and money?

Hillary, there is simply no excuse for your vote, and everything you do to justify it makes you look more and more slippery. You've already passed over your best line of defense. It goes something like this: "I'm sorry. I made a mistake. I was trying to come from good intentions. Now lets move on and fix this thing."

Now everything you do just seems like self-serving, CYA "elect me anyway."

[midtown]

06:09 PM on 01/14/2008

From teh NYT articel for those who aren't going to read it:

It was the White House proposal, not Mr. Hagel’s, that Mrs. Clinton supported, explaining in an Oct. 10, 2002, speech on the Senate floor that it was time to tell Saddam Hussein that “this is your last chance — disarm or be disarmed.”

[fourex]

06:09 PM on 01/14/2008

Bill, this Hillary spin is your 'fairytale'. Look at any comment or speech by Hillary in 2002. You'll find her to the right of all Democrats and Joe Liberman on the Bush Iraq war that killed tens of thousands of innocents. In 2004 she still claimed no regrets for her support.

[EspressoAtNoon]

05:15 PM on 01/14/2008

Hillary and Bill, I'm learning, are the most deceptive and dishonest spinners in Washington. She cannot tell the truth or make any honest admission whatsoever.

I just can't even comprehend why anyone would vote for her. I detest dishonest people who put their politics above truth, honesty, and integrity. Obama and Edwards are not perfect, but Hillary is literally the scum that you find on the bottom of barrels on fishing piers.

Out of principal I could NEVER vote for Hillary. I'd have the same disgust as if I'd voted for Rudy Giuliani - she's at the same place he is - bottom of the barrel.

I'll vote independent, green, or stay home if she gets the nomination.

[lizardbox]

05:04 PM on 01/14/2008

NYT Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/us/politics/14checkpoint.html?ex=1358053200&en=b386d2788e598bdc&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

[dantanna]

04:48 PM on 01/14/2008

this woman is no different than the typical politician who will sell his/her soul to the devil just to sit in that oval office. they will lie to anyone who will listen in hopes that the audience will not check what they say against the fact; unfortunately for our country, many, most dont and they are deceived by people like hillary clinton... easily.