Obama for America

Clinton: I Didn’t Think I Was Voting For The War

OCTOBER 2002: I WAS VOTING TO AVOID WAR: Clinton: Authorizing Military Force In Iraq "Would Be More Likely To Avoid War." Clinton defended her vote backing military action against Iraq saying it was a message to the United Nations and President Bush, not just Saddam Hussein. "I ultimately decided voting for the authorization would be more likely to avoid war than not," Clinton said. "The idea there was a regime . . . with this kind of weaponry and this kind of intention could not be ignored. I [voted] saying to the president, 'We expect you to do everything you can to work with the [U.N.] Security Council.'" [Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 10/12/02]

MARCH 2007: I WAS VOTING FOR COERCIVE INSPECTIONS: Bill Clinton: Hillary Voted For "Coercive Inspections," Not War. In response to a question from one about explaining Hillary Clinton's Iraq vote to undecided voters, Clinton said he had re-read the Iraq resolution, and that Hillary Clinton had voted only for "coercive inspections." Clinton justified his wife's refusal to apologize for her vote by explaining that she was acting out of concern that future presidents might need similar language authorizing "coercive inspections to avoid conflict." [The Hill, 3/23/07]

APRIL 2007: I WAS VOTING FOR COERCIVE DIPLOMACY: Hillary Clinton Called Her Iraq Vote one for "Coercive Diplomacy." According to USA Today, speaking of her Iraq vote, "Clinton says that vote was not a misjudgment, but a vote for 'coercive diplomacy' -- a stick to get weapons inspectors into Iraq — and it's a tool she says presidents must have. 'When somebody disagrees with me, or if they want somebody who has apologized for their judgment about the use of coercive diplomacy and the role that that plays in furthering American national interests, they have other people to vote for,' she said." [USA Today, 4/12/07]

APRIL 2007: I WAS VOTING FOR INSPECTORS: Hillary Clinton: When I Voted For The War I Believed I Was "Giving The President Authority To Put Inspectors In Iraq." At an event in New Hampshire, Clinton faced a young woman who said she had traveled from New York to ask the senator whether she had read a 92-page intelligence document before her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war. "I was thoroughly briefed on it. I was briefed on it," Clinton said repeatedly, as the woman tried to interrupt her. "I think it's such a difficult thing to go back in time and say what everyone was thinking." She added, "What I will say is I believed that what we were doing was giving the president the authority to put inspectors in Iraq. That's what we were told privately. That's what we were told publicly." [Associated Press, 4/15/07]

JUNE 2007: I WAS VOTING FOR INSPECTORS AND WAS FOOLED: Clinton Said She Was Duped By President Bush; Said That She "Did Not Count On" President Not Allowing Inspectors To Finish Their Job. Asked if she regretted not reading the National Intelligence Estimate before voting for the war in Iraq, Clinton said, "I was thoroughly briefed. I knew all the arguments. I knew all of what the Defense Department, the CIA, the State Department were all saying. And I sought dissenting opinions, as well as talking to people in previous administrations and outside experts. You know, that was a sincere vote based on my assessment that sending inspectors back into Iraq to determine once and for all whether Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and using coercive diplomacy was not an unreasonable act. What I did not count on, and what none of us did who voted to give the president authority, is that he had no intention to allow the inspectors to finish their job. [Hillary Clinton, NH Debate, 6/3/07]

IN NEWS REPORT AFTER NEWS REPORT: VOTE WAS CONGRESS BACKING WAR

"Congress Backs War On Iraq; Bipartisan Vote Gives Bush Broad Power; President Lauds Clear Message Sent" [Los Angeles Times, 10/11/02]

"Congress OKs War Bill ; Dems Join Vote To Back Bush On Iraq" [New York Post, 10/11/02]

"Congress OKs War Power; The resolution lets Bush use force in Iraq" [Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/11/02]

"Iraq Resolution Approved; Congress Gives Bush A Free Hand To Wage War" [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 10/11/02]

"Bush Wins War Vote" [Boston Herald, 10/11/02]

"Congress OKs War On Iraq; Days Numbered For 'Outlaw State,' President Bush Says As He Gets Approval To Attack With Or Without U.N." [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/11/02]

"Bush Gets Authority For War On Iraq" [Newark Star Ledger, 10/11/02]

"A Step Closer To War; House, Senate Approve War Powers" [Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 10/11/02]

"Iraq Attack OK'd On Hill Solid Support In Senate, House" [New York Daily News, 10/11/02]

"Congress Signs Off On War; A Lopsided Vote Gives The President The Go-Ahead To Use Military Force Against 'The Continuing Threat' Of Saddam Hussein" [Grand Rapids Press, 10/11/02]

"Congress Gives Bush War Powers" [Hartford Courant, 10/11/02]

"War Looming With Vote; Decision Likened To Gulf Of Tonkin" [Knight Ridder, 10/11/02]