Clinton Camp: Obama Opposed The War, But What Has He Done Lately?

The Clinton camp has issued a memo criticizing Obama's work on national security issues at the beginning of this week's 5th anniversary of the Iraq War:

To: Interested Parties From: The Clinton Campaign Date: March 17, 2008 RE: Just Words for Five Years

Over the last few weeks, the question of who is most ready to be Commander-in-Chief has rightfully dominated the presidential campaign. Who is ready to take the 3am call? Who has a record of action on national security issues? Who is ready to be president on day one?

Senator Clinton has worked to answer these questions by presenting her record to voters and enabling them to judge her based on the record she has amassed during her 35 years of public service - as a first lady who traveled to 82 countries and as a U.S. Senator who sits on the Armed Services Committee.

Lacking a comparable record, Senator Obama has premised his campaign on just words, most notably the resounding speech he delivered in October 2002 against the Iraq war.

But with the fifth anniversary of the invasion upon us, the onus is now on Senator Obama to demonstrate what he did to act on that 2002 speech when he got to the U.S. Senate.

Hillary has long argued that what matters in this campaign isn't what we've said but what we've done. Are words backed with action?

This week, the Clinton Campaign will continue to discuss which candidate is ready to be Commander-in-Chief on day one. We will urge Senator Obama to show that he hasn't simply amassed five years of words, that his record on ending the war is one of action.

Senator Obama gave an anti-Iraq speech in 2002 that he removed from his website in 2003, calling it "dated." When he got to the Senate, Senator Obama failed to take advantage of the opportunity provided by his new position and did little to turn his words into action until he became a White House candidate. In fact, he voted for over $300 billion in funds for the war and waited 18 months to speak on the Senate floor about Iraq, delivering a speech AGAINST the Kerry amendment that set a hard deadline for withdrawal.

When he took over the subcommittee that oversees NATO and Afghanistan and had a chance to follow up on the part of his 2002 speech that argued that Iraq diverted attention from Afghanistan, he failed to hold a single hearing. And as a candidate, he regularly touts a plan to set a hard end date for Iraq that has now been dismissed by one of his foreign policy advisers as just words.

Voters need to know whether they can count on their candidates to act on the ideas they tout on the stump. While Senator Clinton has acted on the words she uses on the campaign trail, Senator Obama's words aren't backed by action.

At the end of the day, the true test for a president is not the speeches he or she delivers - it's whether he or she delivers on the speeches.

Comments

[tea in the harbor]

What Hillary has "Done"' was to vote in favor of a war without bothering to read the available intelligence. Regardless even of whether it was right or wrong, a vote without reading the NIE shows an unfathomable arrogance! To assume a decision of this magnitude can be made without researching every available scrap of information, without even every rumor being scrutinized is inexcusable. If she applies the same diligence as President it will be she, and not McCain that will bring us Bush III!

[pikakeskin]

Would you rather have an "Obamirage" for POTUS?

[ErikW65]

That is the Clinton meme on Obama, isn't it. That Obama is not what he says. He might even have a hidden agenda, right?
It's a complex ad hominem attack that is no doubt the product of a highly paid political strategist.

[BlogAngel]

If you saw Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 or read Joe Wilson's letter of explanation of that vote, you would see that the intelligence doc was delivered in the middle of the night with no time for anyone to read it thoroughly. As with all bills, Senators received a rundown on the document by their aides. Even Sens. Kerry and Kennedy defended Sen. Clinton's not reading the full text since they didn't either. Hillary did, in fact, heavily question Pres. Bush and got promises from him that the doc wasn't meant to take us to war but to give him the power to AVOID war by putting pressure on the UN and Iraq. He lied, of course.

Sen. Obama has said that he doesn't know how he would have voted IF he had voted and, of course, he later opposed the pull-out. You'll also find on the Web video of Obama praising Don Rumsfeld and Bush's nominees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxPA37n0oOU

[ErikW65]

Bush promised her. She believed him. That shows bad judgement. I've never heard the "no time to read it" excuse. That should come as some surprise to Sen. Bob Graham, who had time to read it and urge Hillary to do the same, because it contained reports that strongly dissented from the view that Iraq had WMD.

Peter Zimmerman, scientific advisor to the Senate foreign relations commitee, said of the classified NIE afterwards, "'Boy, there's nothing in there. If anybody takes the time to actually read this, they can't believe there actually are major WMD programs."

[jkminwa]

If the document was delivered in the middle of the night, immediately before a scheduled vote, and she didn't have time to read it, she could have said, "Let's postpone the vote...sin­ce the document was delivered last night, I haven't had a chance to read this document that purports to support declaring war, THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION A SENATOR CAN BE ASKED TO MAKE." I wasn't in the Senate, but I knew what the authorization was intended to authorize. Rather than rationalize her decision, she could be honest about her vote and apologize for her mistake. Instead, she voted in support of the Kyl-Lieberman resolution, which could be used in a similar fashion to justify an attack on Iran.

[Obamamo]

Stop carrying water for Hillary Lieberman Clinton. Enough is enough! We are sick and tired of being treated like idiots, you want to vote for McWar Clinton, go ahead and buy her lies and double talk. Her job is to gather information prior to any vote, anything else is BS and exuses.

We will not allow Hillary Lieberman McWar Clinton to steal the nomination, and if the DNC want to veto people's voice then you can just forget about the Democratic Party.

[Plank]

Hillary voted for the war but was hoping the Bill wouldn't pass.

[efranklin]

It's not Barack's fault that the Bush-Clinton-McCain triple threat had got us into the Iraq quagmire before Obama got into the US Senate. Once the bus was in the ditch, there were only so many ways to get it out. Advantage Obama.

[darlamc]

SeaChange for Hillary in NC. We need Hillary supporters from around the country to participate in this grassroots movement. If you are a youtuber- please enter your inspirational video supporting Hillary. This is in response to moveon.org's independent expenditure supporting Senator Obama, that will generate millions of dollars in free press.

Be a part of this SeaChange for Hillary, not because someone is offering you a check for $20,000.00­, instead, do it because you are moved by what Hillary has to offer by becoming President of the United States of America.
www.politicalamnesia.blogspot.com

[DofG]

In a speech in Pittsburg yesterday, Mrs. Clinton extol our present occupatiion in Iraq. (par.) "We have given (to the Iraqis) the greatest gift that one can give to another- the gift of democracy.­" After a half million dead and a destroyed infastructure, one would not think that the Iraqis would not have accepted such a gift in advance. This is the tragedy of "matter of fact" nationalistic arrogance, deceitful and self serivng. In that spirit Sen. Clinton has revealed that the Iraq War was our "moral" prerogative!

[kishaaann]

She aint one to talk.. He put out the Iraq War De-escalation Act Jan 2007. What has she done.

http://obama.senate.gov/issues/iraq/

[NeverRepublican]

Take a look at both of their voting records concerning the war. They are identical. Explain that.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

There is nothing wrong with either Senator funding the war. Every single Democratic Senator has voted to fund the war at least once. Harry Reid had stated that stopping funds was not going to happen, and would not be effective in stopping the war. Why should any Senator deny vital equipment and life saving body armor to the troops, when there is no way George Bush is going to bring the troops home? It would only be used against Obama, Clinton and every other Senator who voted against the funding. I don't blame any of them for voting yes on the funds, but I do blame Clinton for voting for another possible war with Kyl/Lieberman, giving Bush the military loophole to use force against Iran. What kind of judgment is that, in the bloody wake of the Iraq war vote? What kind of judgment is it to vote against the ban of cluster bombs as Clinton did? Why did she flip flop on torture? Why didn't she bother to read the NIE? During the Senate debate over the Iraq resolution, Hillary Clinton was the only Democrat (bear in mind that includes Lieberman) to sign off on all of Bush & Co.'s claims about Iraq.

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

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2007/09/28/2007-09-28_hillary_flipflop_on_torture_inspired_aft.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/hillary-cluster-bombs-ar_b_28990.html

Clinton is a neocon:

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8495

Bush trusts Clinton with his Iraq legacy:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20080127/ai_n21218524

[geriak]

Obama has not followed through on his rhetoric that stated he was against the war from the start. Hard to tell when he has voted for full funding - speeches against the kerry withdrawal amendment and finally to be responsible for the Afghanistan sub committee and held not one hearing! What an empty shirt! I never hear anything that says what he is going to do for the people. We can all come together and starve!

[jfromga]

that' s the funny thing about cartographers, turn your back for just a second and they move Afghanistan to Europe.

[krayyy]

ugh, not sure how clinton thinks putting out a memo attacking things that clinton has also done will help.

[savertime]

The Clintons don't deserve a third term. No one does. This dynasty thing we've got going on is baffling the rest of the world and me! We are still reeling under the legislation pushed through by Bill Clinton. NAFTA, Banking Deregulation, Welform Reform (that reduced the rolls but created four more problems), media monopolies ( a few corporations control what we know). The loss of democratic seats at all levels of of government. Scandal after scandal after scandal. Why the hell would anyone think we should or can go back to the nineties triangulation, lies, secrecy, neopotism and governing like republicans. If we want republican legislation, we could just vote republican; we don't need psuedo democrats.

Yes, I want to see a woman in the White House, but it musts be the right woman; not someone who feels it is her entitlement. Maybe Hillary could run on the McCain ticket, since Bill thinks there is very little difference between them.

.

[truthyguy]

What has he done lately?

He has run for president where he can be effective in ending the war. And he has done so against a person whose "experience" consists of being married to a former president.

Next time you go to the doctor - ask to be treated by the doctor's spouse because the waiting time is substantially shorter and (I am sure) you will get the same quality treatment.

[sandals]

The question should be what have you done Hillary? You didn't even read the NIE! You sent our men and women into an unjust war and look were we are now.
Have you enjoyed your profiteering from this illegal war?
When you talk about transparency than why don't you show us your tax records since you have been in the Senate, the earmarks, what are you hiding?
You keep talking about how you have been vetted, you are ready on day one what about day 36?
Hillary look us in the eye and tell us you were wrong, I notice you never look anybody in the eye.
So once again Hillary what have you done to stop this war. I know Obama put the time line on the bill that the cowards in congress failed to pass.

[jedley]

What has Obama done?? He has galvanized about 30 million young people who had heretofore never given a damn about politics, who had never asked questions about why the government does what it does, and who now represent a very real threat to "business as usual".

When Hillary says she'll end the war, she means she'll create the appearance of it by withdrawing some troops, but will nonetheless continue the imperialist project to control the region until the oil runs out, continue building military bases, continue antagonizing Iran and Syria in order to justify future wars, and continue trumpeting the 'terrorist threat' to justify spending.

When Obama says he'll end the war, he means he'll STOP THINKING THAT WAY, not only truly ending the war, but spending the hundreds of billions thereby saved on alternate sustainable fuel sources, education, healthcare.

When he talks about ending politics as usual, he means it literally. Banks and corporations are able do what they do only because they've always enjoyed the collusion of the government. Obama intends to end that. It'll probably get him assassinated, but make no mistake about it: that's his aim, and we would be foolish, Democrats and Republicans alike, not to help him help us all.

[mcfried]

Why does she keep lying about the subcommitee, Afganistan is under Kerry's watch and NATO in Afganistan would be an issue for the whole commitee, I believe they have held some hearings. This is getting obscene. Hill why no earmarks is it because of all your defense contractor buddies. Oh that right you're against the war in Iraq even though you voted for it, same with your Iran vote I suspect.

[BrooklynLager]

A better question is: do we really want to go through another "I was for the war before I was against it" candidate?

[NeverRepublican]

You mean..."I was against it, BEFORE I had to a chance to vote on it as a US Senator?"

Obama has the IDENTICAL voting record as Clinton when voting on the war. Why? And ...what's the difference between them on that? there isns't any.

Clinton / Edwards '08

[BlueBoomer]

...AND he failed to even show up for the BIDEN-Gelb Iraq Senate resolution vote AND the Kyl-Lieberman Iran resolution vote last September.­.. Ironically, he was exhorting members of a Congressional Black Caucus crowd to be "people of action and not just words"!...­Just before he passed the campaign donation plate... And his failure to do ANYTHING AT ALL in his position as chairman of the UN/Afghanistan SFR Sub-Committee is inexcuseable.

While I am not a fan of Hillary either, at least we know who she is and what she is...no ugly surprises.­.. given how little BO has done to demonstrate that he walks the walk, I fear that if he were elected, we would end up with an electorate that may have been wildly enthusiastic about him (as Elliot Spitzer's constituents were), BUT may wind up with "Buyer's Remorse", just as they have... BARAK OBAMA is a shadow man who has aligned himself very closely with characters that are questionable at best, while touting himself as the "better judgement" candidate.­..IMHO, no so much.

Barak Obama has been so busy running for the "bosses" job, he hasn't paid attention to his current job... Guess the good news for us if he's elected would be that there is no "bigger boss" job for him to run for instead of doing his job as POTUS... scant comfort!

[CeeCee]

Wow! You all just don't want to hear anything bad about your precious Obama, do you? Instead of being nasty and rude about Senator Clinton, tell me: What did Obama do about the war he so opposed when he got into the Senate? Apart from voting FOR more funds for the war, that is???

[eridees]

Funds for the war is also attached with the caveat of support for the troops. You know, for things like food, clothing and equipment. CeeCee, if you were in the Senate you would do the same. To not support a bill would say your against the troops. Think about it.

[BlueBoomer]

AND funds for live-saving MRAPs, which Senator BIDEN ensured was included in a special amendment.­. Biden voted for those funds with no apologies, stating that there were some things worth losing elections over, and our troops' safety was one of them... Sad to say, the one-dimensional media/american public made sure his pledge was fulfilled.

Barak Obama (and Hillary, for that matter), slipped into Senate chambers late on the night of the last big vote and surruptitiously cast their vote, as if they hoped no one would notice (and to wait and see which way the wind was blowing with their colleagues first.)

So, on every point of REAL ACTION, Barak Obama has come up short...wh­at makes it more inexcuseable for him than for Hillary is that SHE has fulfilled HER current Senatorial responsibilities more so than he has AND her actions more closely align with her rhetoric.

Too bad there was so much media kool-aid being consumed last year... We COULDA HAD JOE BIDEN instead of all of this polarizing, "minority" bullshit.

[jedley]

Of course he voted for more funding.

If someone pushes your sister out of a boat, much as you despise the act, you still throw your sister a rope.

Voting for funding is not voting FOR the war, it's ensuring that the poor bastards who got pushed out of the boat by the Bush Cheney cartel - in this case, American soldiers - don't drown.

[krayyy]

ceecee can take a schoolyard tone and restate the title of this article, heavy stuff ceecee, keep up the great work. (i can do the schoolyard tone too, but it doesn't really help much does it? try looking at the facts and not spin)

[KaAp]

What has he done lately? Beaten the polyester pantsuit off of you babe