Clinton Goes on Offense Over Iraq War Policy

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Hillary Clinton went on offense Wednesday, casting Democratic rival Barack Obama as all talk when it comes to ending the Iraq war and slamming John McCain for a stay-the-course approach.

Making it a three-fer, the New York senator also criticized President Bush for his administration's policies.

Following up on day-long testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker, Clinton tried to shift the '08 campaign focus back to foreign policy from the economy and attempted to claim the mantle as the one ready to take on the heavy load.

"Senator Obama ... says he will end the war, but his top foreign policy adviser said he won't necessarily follow the plan he has been talking about during this campaign," Clinton said Wednesday at a town hall meeting in Aliquippa, Pa., following up with a dig tailored to Pennsylvania voters.

"That's the choice -- one candidate will continue the war and keep troops in Iraq indefinitely, one candidate only says he will end the war and one candidate is ready, willing and able to end the war and to rebuild our military while honoring our soldiers and our veterans," she continued. "A great Pennsylvanian, Benjamin Franklin, once said, 'Well done is better than well-said' ... actions speak louder than words."

She again called the troop surge a "failure" and called on Bush to define the "end game" in Iraq.

Clinton and Obama both pressed Petraeus on Tuesday to move toward withdrawing troops, though the top U.S. commander in Iraq resisted any talk about timetables. McCain, meanwhile, praised the military for post-surge progress in Iraq over the past year and warned against a premature withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Clinton said McCain "basically reiterated his commitment to the course that we are on in Iraq." She presented herself as the only candidate who would "end the war safely and responsibly" and repeated her pledge to prepare for troop drawdowns within 60 days of taking office.

McCain defended his position on FOX News Wednesday, saying: "This is still a tough fight. There's still plenty of difficulties ahead. That is why General Petraeus portrayed a very balanced view yesterday of the situation on the ground, and I think most Americans trust him. I certainly do."

Obama's campaign also returned fire, tweaking Clinton for posing a "tired and discredited attack ... that won't end this war that she voted to authorize and won't change the fact that she has repeatedly misled the American people about her Iraq record."

"Barack Obama is the only candidate who had the judgment to oppose the war from the very beginning, not just from the beginning of a campaign for president," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement as his boss campaigned in Philadelphia's suburbs ahead of the April 22 primary.

But Clinton is hitting on what could be a disconnect between Obama and his advisers on Iraq. Foreign policy adviser Susan Rice, for instance, told reporters in February that Obama's plan to end the war in 2009 is not absolute, and that he reserves the right to revisit troop levels in Iraq upon taking the oath of office. Former adviser Samantha Power told the BBC that Obama's exit plan is a "best-case scenario."

The New York Sun reported Friday that Obama adviser Colin Kahl also wrote in a policy paper that the United States should transition to an "over-watch" force of between 60,000 and 80,000 troops by the end of 2010.

Like with Power, the campaign has contended that Kahl's remarks are not representative of the campaign platform.

In his remarks at the Petraeus-Crocker hearing on Tuesday, Obama said no one wants a "precipitous withdrawal," and asked whether the U.S. could declare the Iraq operation a success if the current status quo continued but troops had been drawn down to 30,000. Crocker responded that he "can't imagine the current status quo being sustainable with that kind of precipitous drawdown."

In a primary race where the two Democrats are largely gearing their message toward Pennsylvania's labor interests by highlighting their opposition to foreign trade deals and pitching plans for economic growth, foreign policy frequently drives debate. Pennsylvania's 158 pledged delegates make up the largest prize remaining on the primary calendar.

Clinton and Obama sparred Tuesday after Obama reportedly said he had more foreign policy experience than she.

"I don't know, I'm speechless. I mean, you know, making an assertion like that belies the facts and the record," Clinton told FOX News.

FOX News' Mosheh Oinounou contributed to this report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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