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Hillary: U.S. out of Iraq by January 2009 
Calls it 'height of irresponsibility' to pass war to next commander in chief

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that President Bush should withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq before he leaves office, asserting it would be "the height of irresponsibility" to pass the war along to the next commander in chief.

"This was his decision to go to war with an ill-conceived plan and an incompetently executed strategy," the Democratic senator from New York said her in initial presidential campaign swing through Iowa.

"We expect him to extricate our country from this before he leaves office" in January 2009, the former first lady said.

The White House condemned Clinton's comments as a partisan attack that undermines U.S. soldiers.

About 130,000 American troops are in Iraq and Bush has announced he was sending 21,500 more as part of his new war strategy.

Clinton held a town hall-style forum attended by about 300 activists, giving a brief speech before taking questions for nearly an hour. Pressed to defend her vote to authorize force in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, Clinton responded by stepping up her criticism of Bush.

"I am going to level with you, the president has said this is going to be left to his successor," Clinton said. "I think it is the height of irresponsibility and I really resent it."

Bush describes Iraq as the central front in the global fight against terrorism that began after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "The war on terror will be a problem for the next president. Presidents after me will be confronting ... an enemy that would like to strike the United States again," he recently told USA Today.

One questioner asked Clinton if her track record showed she could stand up to "evil men" around the world.

"The question is, we face a lot of dangers in the world and, in the gentleman's words, we face a lot of evil men and what in my background equips me to deal with evil and bad men," Clinton said. She paused to gaze while the audience interrupted with about 30 seconds of laughter and applause.

Meeting later with reporters, she was pressed repeatedly to explain what she meant. She insisted it was a simple joke.

"I thought I was funny," Clinton said. "You guys keep telling me to lighten up, be funny. I get a little funny and now I'm being psychoanalyzed."

She told reporters that evil men included Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden, who remains at large. "Isn't it about time we get serious about that?" she said.

During the town hall meeting, she tried to make clear that she thinks she would be a chief executive with enough fortitude to confront any danger facing the country.

"I believe that a lot in my background and a lot in my public life shows the character and toughness that is required to be president," Clinton said. "It also shows that I want to get back to bringing the world around to support us again."

The meeting was scheduled for a downtown restaurant but was switched to a pavilion at a nearby park when it became clear that hundreds of people planned to attend.

At virtually all her stops in this early nominating state, she ran into questions about her Iraq vote. She says Bush misled Congress and she now wants a cap on the number of troops, as well as beginning a "phased redeployment" of troops from Iraq.

The White House said it was disappointing that Clinton was responding to Bush's new war strategy "with a partisan attack that sends the wrong message to our troops, our enemies and the Iraqi people who are working to make this plan succeed."

"The height of irresponsibility," spokesman Rob Saliterman said, "would be to cap our troop numbers at an arbitrary figure and to cut off their funding."

Clinton does not support cutting funding for American troops, but does favor that step for Iraqi forces if the Baghdad government fails to meet certain conditions.

Clinton defended the role that Congress has played, saying newly empowered Democrats are beginning to build pressure on Bush to act, but the public needs to be patient.

"We are at the beginning of a process," Clinton said. "It's a frustrating process, our system is sometimes frustrating."

In making the case for her candidacy, Clinton cites her years as first lady, when Bill Clinton was president for two terms, and two winning campaigns for the Senate.

"I believe that my qualification and my life experience equip me to hit the ground running in January of 2009," Clinton said. "I have a unique perspective having been in the White House for eight years and understanding the challenge that comes from trying to govern our great country."

Clinton said he will run hard in Iowa's leadoff caucuses, an early contest her husband skipped when he sought the nomination in 1992. That year, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin was in the race and Democratic rivals opted not to challenge him in his home state.

"My participation in the Iowa caucuses is the only thing in politics that I will do that Bill has not done," she said.

As if to say it is a guaranteed thing she is going to be in the White House and she doesn't want the responsibility of fighting the war on terror. I guess she wants to be President only in name.

That reminds me of a joke.............. ;D

Hillary Clinton called Bill into her office one day and said, 'Bill, I have a great idea! I know how we can win back middle America and secure my presidential victory in 2008'.

'Great, but how do you propose we go about that, asked Bill? Well, Hillary responded, we'll go down to a local Wal-Mart, get some cheezy clothes and shoes like most middle Americans wear and then we'll stop at the pound and pick up a Labrador.

When we look the part we'll go to a nice old country bar in middle America, and we'll show them that we really enjoy the Countryside and show admiration and respect for the hard working people living there".

A few days later, all decked out and with the requisite Labrador at heel, they set off from New York in a westerly direction. Eventually they arrived at just the place they were looking for.

With dog in tow they walk into the bar. They stepped up to the bar,the Bartender took a step back and said, " aren't you Bill and Hillary Clinton ?" Hillary answered, "yes we are, and what a lovely town you have here. We were just passing through and Bill suggested that we stop and take in some local color."

They then ordered a couple of drinks from the bartender and proceed to drink them down, all the while chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen.

All of a sudden, the bar room door opens and a grizzled old farmer comes in. He walked up to the Labrador, lifted its tail and looked underneath, shrugged his shoulders and walked out the door. A few moments later, in came another old farmer. He walked up to the dog, lifted its tail, looked underneath, scratched his head and then left the bar.

Over the course of the next hour or so, anoth er four or five farmers came in, lifted the dog's tail, and went away looking puzzled.

Eventually Hillary and Bill could stand it no longer and called the bartender over. 'Tell me' said Hillary, 'why did all those old farmers come in and look under the dog's tail like that? Is it some sort of old custom?' 'Good Lord no,' said the bartender. 'Its just that someone has told them that there was a Labrador in this bar with two butts!".

 ;D ;D ;D ;D

LOL that was funny.


But to the original post I love this
It really is Hilary...it is very frustrating that we have a system that allows party lines to get in the way of public interest.  It is frustrating that more Americans do not stand up and yank politicians from office when they step out of line of the Will of the People.  It is frustrating that Democrats think that we should put an end to terrorism but expect it done in a week and only costing $2.  Ignorance is bliss they say...but it is downright devastating when that ignorance is in a public office.

Yeah the public and the people in office need to be patient and realize that the war on terroism is not going to be over in a day.  It wont even be over in a decade.  I hate to say it but one big problem with my generation and the one to come is that we do not know what war is really like.  We have been blessed and cursed with conflicts like Grenada, Falklands, Bosnia, Kuwait, etc.  Things that we saw resolution in a matter of weeks.  We forget that the Soviet Union was in Afghanistan for 10 years.  We barely even saw that on TV.  We have not been exposed to a real war.

I say that as both a blessing and a curse because it is a blessing that the World has not had to deal with another great war.  But a curse in that we are a nation that thinks our conflicts should be served up like the drive thru at McDonalds...quick. 

Oh well nuff said.  Hilary will bark and she will get Democratic Nod...and more than likely could become the first female president...then we will be cast into the pits of dispair and torment and she allows everyone to do whatever they want, surrounds herself with male interns and does the Bill thing while Bill gets Monica back in the Whitehouse.  And we will have 4 years of no one doing anything that is of any constructive value.

But there will be destructive values galore.