Bernie: Hillary's Iraq War Vote Is Fair Game

[Ichingcarpenter]

Hillary Clinton has yet to live down the vote she cast to back the Iraq War as a senator in 2002—a vote that helped President Obama beat her in the 2008 democratic primaries. On Thursday, her 2016 rival Bernie Sanders stopped short of saying that her vote should disqualify her from being president. But there was a "but."

"I'm not here to criticize the vote she cast years ago," Sanders, the most progressive candidate in the democratic field, told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington, DC. "But what does that mean in terms of your judgment in assessing information?"

His answer didn't go as far as another 2016 Clinton challenger, former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, who doesn't believe that "anybody should be president of the United States that made that mistake." Sanders' take was more forgiving: "Everybody makes bad votes in their lives and I don't think anyone is 'disqualified.'"



http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/06/sanders-clinton-iraq-war-vote

[Scuba]

1. Not just her vote, her speech too.

[marym625]

9. +1000. ok, + a gazillion

Absolutely horrible speech.

[sabrina 1]

13. I remember that as if it was yesterday. THAT was such a shock to me, naive as I was back then

I was simply speechless.

And then I cried. After hearing Sen Byrd's historical speech and then hers, I lost all hope that this terrible war could be stopped.

And yes it make her unqualified imo. Which is why I supported Obama because his judgement was far superior on that war. Though now I wonder how he voted had he been in the position to do so.

[aspirant]

2. It's not just a vote 13 years ago,

it's a continuous war that is escalating even today.

The gift of freedom with unending war, beheadings, death and destruction all over the Middle East and Africa, that's some gift.

This is where Bernie must take the gloves off and ram this devastating vote home.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. We freed the souls of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi souls. nt

[sabrina 1]

14. And we freed millions more of them to flee that great gift of 'freedom' we gave them, to go

live in refugee camps in Syria, where we have freed them again to flee from there to go, well, wherever they can. We freed the Libyans also who are drowning at sea as the same people in Europe, who helped us give them this wonderful gift, let them drown as they try to escape the wonderful gift we gave THEM.

That vote should haunt every one of them for the rest of their lives. They were hoping people would forget. Well watching the suffering and horror ongoing as a result of the bad judgement, to put it mildly, of millions of human beings it would unethical for people of conscience to reward such a terrible decision.

A leader needs to have good judgement and they need to have the foresight necessary to exercise that judgement. Bernie passes that test with flying colors.

[Paka]

4. Votes & Facts are fair game.

Issues are at the very root of this campaign. Opinions after the fact are worthless.

[A Simple Game]

5. I could forgive her if it was bad judgment but it wasn't, her vote was purely political.

There was no concern for right or wrong with regards to Iraq, there was only right or wrong for her political career. She was even wrong about that.

If at the time of the vote I could learn the truth about weapons of mass destruction and foresee the harm caused to the region then someone with a Senator's access to information has no excuse for a bad vote in this case. The number of lives in this country and others that were ended or ruined and are still being ended and ruined by that vote can not be ignored. And all for political gain.

[LiberalArkie]

8. She and others were just trying to be more to the right than the administrations.

They can't seem to get over Reagan and Nixon calling them anti-war, peaceniks and other names. Now they have to prove that they more pro war than the republicans.

[sabrina 1]

15. To an extent I agree. You can forgive someone for making a terrible decision, one that has caused

unimaginable suffering to millions of people that is still ongoing which many of us ordinary people were able to predict. But you don't give such a person a job where they can make such a terrible mistake again.

I want leaders who have the good judgement to make the RIGHT decisions at critical moments as Bernie has demonstrated so many times.

I will never forget how it felt when I saw Democrats 'trusting' the liars who led us and the now the entire ME down this horrific road.

[ShawnRIN]

6. Lets blame Hillary for the War in Iraq...

...or representing her large Middle Eastern constituency.

[DhhD]

7. Lets blame Hillary Clinton for the hopes of a Marshall Plan after the War in Iraq. The

Marshall Plan that Jeb Bush wants to rename The Bush Plan if he is elected President. IMHO Clinton has been riding the ME fence or a long time; since the 1990's, knowing the war contracting would never end. We will be hearing about her next wobble very soon I suspect.

[Cheese Sandwich]

10. The Gift of Freedom™

If Hillary sends me any gifts I'm calling the fire department they can open it with that little remote control robot

[TBF]

12. ...

[TBF]

11. That gift of "freedom" to freely practice the capitalism -

freedom to rip people off, freedom to build up a huge military, freedom to go after resources in other countries to suit your own corporate needs, etc ...

[Cheese Sandwich]

16. The freedom to enjoy your cozy new terrorist hellhole

Enjoy the Gift of Freedom, Iraq, and don't say we never did anything for ya!

[AtomicKitten]

17. I am convinced if either Hillary or any of the GOP wins the White House,

... we're looking at perpetual war.

Bernie is the ONLY one I trust to end this mess.

[AtomicKitten]

18. It's the worst foreign policy mistake in the history of this country.

She will be held accountable.

I don't want either Clinton anywhere near the White House again.