Iraq Is Also Clinton’s War
by tristero
Hillary Clinton was one of the 29 Democratic senators who voted to authorize that baloney [Iraq] war.
It seemed very clear to me at the time that Clinton was going to vote for it not because she personally agreed with it; she probably thought it was a bad idea, privately. Rather, it seemed that she had determined that, politically, the war was unstoppable, that Bush had enormous popular support, and therefore there was no reason to fight a battle that could only be lost, no matter how obviously nutty Bush’s plans were to most of the world.
I was so freaked out that I did something I hadn’t done since college: I joined a protest outside Clinton’s Manhattan office. No dice. Then, I emailed every single person I knew to send me a letter opposing the war. I printed them all out and overnight fedexed them to Clinton’s office in DC.
In addition, Michael Moore circulated a petition that read in part:
We call on the Democrats in Congress to oppose a war on Iraq, to vote “No” to Bush’s war cries. We pledge to never again vote for any Democratic member of Congress who supports George W. Bush’s war against Iraq. To the Democrats in Congress, we give you fair warning: You are either with us, or you are fired.
I signed this petition without hesitation. But nothing I, nor anyone else could do, could get her to change her mind. After the vote, in response to my letter-writing campaign, I received a form letter filled with gobbledygook and some of the most twisted rationalizations I have ever read.
And the war came.
I should state the obvious. Clinton is clearly brilliant and a master politician, both assets for an American president. Also, I am under no illusions that politicians as ambitious as the Clintons think like me, i.e. in terms of principles rather than opportunities to obtain power. No one who is in serious contention for the presidency thinks otherwise.
That said, there are limits. By voting for the Bush/Iraq war resolution – and only in the most technical sense was that not a blank check approval of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Whole Sick Crew’s war plans – Clinton supported what is obviously – and was so at the time – one of the most dangerously stupid policy decisions any American president ever made.
I did not support Clinton in 2008 for the presidency. As for 2016, unless there is a serious chance that a Republican would beat her, I will honor my signature on Moore’s petition.
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