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Clinton, Obama Spar Over Iraq Withdrawal Comments
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ShareMarch 07, 2008 2:40 PM
ABC News' Teddy Davis, Jennifer Parker, Sunlen Miller, Eloise Harper and Talal Al-Khatib Report: Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., sparred Friday over comments made by Obama's former senior policy adviser, Samantha Power, concerning Obama's Iraq withdrawal policy.
In an interview yesterday with the BBC, Power said that Obama's plan to get combat troops out of Iraq in 16 months is a "best case scenario."
"It would be the height of ideology, you know, to sort of say, well I said it therefore I'm going to impose it on whatever reality entreats me," Power told the BBC.
Senator Obama told a crowd in Casper, Wyoming that he doesn’t want people to be confused by his time frame for withdrawing troops from Iraq, he said, by Clinton’s interpretation of his former aide's comment to BBC.
"I was opposed to this war in 2002. If it has been up to me we would have never been in this war. It was because of George Bush with an assist from Hillary Clinton and John McCain that we entered into this war," Obama said Friday.
"A war that should have never been authorized, a war that should have never been waged. I've been against it 2002, 2003, 2004, 5, 6, 7, 8. And I will bring this war to an end in 2009. So don't be confused. Don't be confused when Senator Clinton is not even willing to acknowledge that she voted for war. She said she voted for diplomacy despite the title that said authorization to use US arms forces in Iraq. I don't want to play politics on this issue because she doesn't have standing to question my position on this issue," Obama said.
On a conference call with reporters earlier Friday Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Obama has been "crystal clear with the American people that if and when he is elected president, we will be out of Iraq in - as he said, the time frame would be about 16 months at the most where you withdraw troops. There should be no confusion about that with absolute clarity."
Plouffe's also pointed to a comment by Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.), an ABC News consultant and one-time Clinton adviser, telling the New York Sun "he is convinced Mrs. Clinton would hold off on authorizing a wide-scale immediate withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq."
Clinton today distanced herself from Keane's remark.
"He is doesn't work for my campaign he is not an adviser, he is one of the many military veterans whom I respected whom I am very pleased to have offer advice from time to time. He is not within the campaign," Clinton told reporters Friday.
Clinton decried comments Samantha Power made about Obama's Iraq policy, saying she was "told about something that one of Senator Obama's top foreign policy aides told the BBC recently about Iraq."
"While Senator Obama campaigns on his plan to end the war, his top advisors tell people abroad that he will not rely on his own plan should he become president. This is the latest example of promising the American people one thing on the campaign trail and telling people in other countries another. We saw this with NAFTA as well," Clinton said.
"He has attacked me continuously for having no hard exit date and now we learn that he doesn't have one -– in fact he doesn't have a plan at all according to his top foreign policy adviser," she said. "He keeps telling people one thing while his campaign tells people abroad something else I'm not sure what the American people should believe but I would refer you to the BBC interview in which the top foreign policy adviser is speaking about senator Obama and Iraq," Clinton said.
In response to Clinton's remarks, Plouffe said, "Sen. Obama has said that one of his first, you know, sort of moments upon entering the Oval Office would be to sit down with his Joint Chiefs of Staff and make it very clear that a withdrawal is going to begin, and it needs to be done rapidly," he said.
"We need to quickly move to withdraw troops so that we can more effectively focus on some of the threats we're facing in Afghanistan and other parts of the world," Plouffe said.
Although Plouffe forcefully sought to distance Obama from Power's BBC interview on today's conference call with reporters, Obama himself told CBS' 60 minutes in February that he would reserve the right as commander-in-chief to reassess the situation in Iraq.
"And you pull out according to that time table, regardless of the situation? Even if there's serious sectarian violence?" CBS's Kroft asked.
"No, I always reserve as commander in chief, the right to assess the situation," Obama replied.
March 7, 2008 in Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (85)
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he has a set timetable for withdrawl and I have heard/read/seen nothing that indicates that HE has said anything different.
Posted by: Louis | Mar 7, 2008 4:07:31 PM
Federal archivists at the Clinton Presidential Library are blocking the release of hundreds of pages of White House papers on pardons that the former president approved, including clemency for fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich.
The archivists' decision, based on guidance provided by Bill Clinton that restricts the disclosure of advice he received from aides, prevents public scrutiny of documents that would shed light on how he decided which pardons to approve from among hundreds of requests.
Clinton's legal agent declined the option of reviewing and releasing the documents that were withheld, said the archivists, who work for the federal government, not the Clintons.
The decision to withhold the records could provide fodder for critics who say that the former president and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, have been unwilling to fully release documents to public scrutiny.
More in USAToday online!
Posted by: PoliticalWatch | Mar 7, 2008 4:15:04 PM
Wow J Dowd. Let's hold her to something 43 years ago. She was doing her job, nothing more. She didn't have to like it. I am sure her views have changed considerably since 1975. I know mine have.
Obama was 13 in 1975 and studying at a Madrassa school. Should we hold that against him too?
Posted by: Jay | Mar 7, 2008 4:20:35 PM
Sorry , should have read 33 years ago, Hillary IS brilliant, but even she could not have been a lawyer at 17...
Posted by: Jay | Mar 7, 2008 4:22:50 PM
senator clintons answers are to tell everyone and anyone whatever they want to hear
is that what this country needs?
again?
It was the Clinton campaign who approached the Canadian gov on wink wink Nafta --
It was Hillary Clinton the NYSun wrote up last week as assuring generals privately she would not get out of Iraq
This nation gave Bush four more years in 2004 - you get the government you deserve
remember that -
Posted by: alison | Mar 7, 2008 4:33:41 PM
THIS WILL BE THE DOWN FALL OF SENATOR OBAMA MOST OF THE TIME HE CONTRADICT ON WHAT HE SAY. HOW CAN AMERICAN PEOPLE BELIEVE IN HIM FOR ALL YOU KNOW HE HAS NOT PLAN AT ALL.
Posted by: Sam Lim | Mar 7, 2008 4:58:54 PM
What is about Hillary Clinton, who happens to be a woman presidential candidate that gets you right wing, two-time Bush voters hopping? Isn't it time for you to look for a different drummer to -- your way didn't work. Let's welcome someone that uses both sides of the brain for a change. Yes, that would be Hillary. Stop the petty griping, please.
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Mar 7, 2008 5:07:06 PM
The National Archieves has over 36,000 boxes of documents,and millions of papers to go thru so isnt it easy to sit back and say that Clintons blocking the release of them.The archieves are also short staff because Bush cut the funding,but hay if it bothers you so deeply you can always donate to the National Archieves.
Posted by: girlinvt | Mar 7, 2008 5:07:25 PM
Let the Democratic process roll-out without two-time Bush voter interference. You folks need to give it a rest for eight years, your chosen method was a stark failure.
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Mar 7, 2008 5:10:06 PM
Um, the papers aren't blocked or waiting for approval for release from anyone save HRC. Who is once again playing the victim. I wonder how that will work when dealing with world leaders.
Posted by: Louis | Mar 7, 2008 5:12:27 PM
Even in Obama's incredibly short time in the public eye we have seen him back pedal or waffle on several major issues. First he pledged to go with public financing, now he's going to wait and see. Then he attacks NAFTA but tells the Candains not to be concerned. Now he's not privately committing to an Iraq timetable although he publicly says he is. Which of these 2 candidates exactly will say or do anything to get elected?...could it be the freshman senator from Illinois who rails against our Afghanistan/Iraq policy but didn't hold hearings because he "was too busy running for president".
Posted by: hopesprings52 | Mar 7, 2008 5:13:43 PM
Louis you mentioned as far as you know Obama had same policy. Here's just for you and it's from Washington Post:Obama's legislation, offered on the Senate floor last night, would remove all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The date falls within the parameters offered by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which recommended the removal of combat troops by the first quarter of next year.
"The days of our open-ended commitment must come to a close," Obama said in his speech. "It is time for us to fundamentally change our policy. It is time to give Iraqis their country back."
Posted by: Dogsoldier | Mar 7, 2008 5:18:39 PM
Obama is just not ready. Not ready to go beyond hope, change, and hopin' for change. Not ready to be Commander in Chief. Not ready to establish our foreign policy. Not ready to negotiate with our friends, much less our enemies. And now, he is apparently not ready to manage his own campaign team.
Posted by: Chris NY, NY | Mar 7, 2008 5:23:01 PM
Power was Obama's leading foreign policy advisor. Thank God this info is coming to light before it was too late to stop the Obama train. For many of us, it confirms some of our worst suspicions. There is a strong sense that there is so much Obama is just trying to keep under wraps until after the election.
Posted by: hopesprings52 | Mar 7, 2008 5:23:58 PM
Hello, is anyone in charge of the Obama campaign? I cannot believe that after a little setback on tuesday that his whole campaign is starting to unravel. He has not been looking to presidential the last few days and is actually starting to look very weak.
Posted by: jim | Mar 7, 2008 5:41:47 PM
Acutally the obama train begins cracking down... He MUST win PENN, otherwise, he will be forced ether to take veep or out... By then, people knows what he is capable of and no one likes to drag more to let Rep make fun of Dems....
Obama MUST win PENN...he was rejected constantly by most of blue states, the base of Dems...
Posted by: Truth | Mar 7, 2008 5:42:11 PM
I just saw Charles Gibson on TV last night, interviewing Barack Obama, and I was astonished to hear Mr. Gibson pandering to Mr. Obama, saying that by all rights he should already be his party's nominee, and he should be resting right now, instead of having to continue to compete. I have never before witnessed ABC News being so flagrantly partisan in their approach to "news". Not only did Mr. Gibson interview ONLY Mr. Obama, he suggested that Hillary Clinton was depriving him (Obama) of his rightful prize. This is outrageous. ABC owes Hillary Clinton an "equal time" interview, and a comparable accolade.
Posted by: Yaldabaoth | Mar 7, 2008 5:49:47 PM
I mean really, what can we believe from Obama? I thought he would probably be an ok President but the more he speaks the more confused I really am. My state doesn't vote until May and unless his campaign drastically shapes up he will not get my vote.
Posted by: Jeff | Mar 7, 2008 5:51:07 PM
Jeff, I don't think you need vote on May. Obama will be over on April 22 if he can't win PENN... By then, he again proves he can just only win red and black states, he is constantly rejected by the most blue states - the base of Dems...
Posted by: Truth | Mar 7, 2008 5:55:20 PM
Democrats -- prepare yourselves for a choice. On the one hand, you have a bag of hot air. On the other, you have an empty suit.
Choose wisely!
Posted by: Surelock Homes | Mar 7, 2008 5:56:01 PM
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