Opinion: Hillary and the Left
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She started out strong. The trouble, not surprisingly, came when Hillary Clinton turned to Iraq.
At her much-anticipated appearance today at a large conclave of liberal activists in Washington, she earned bursts of applause as she denounced the Bush administration on several fronts, including its aggressive use of wiretapping in waging the war on terrorism. ‘Our Constitution is being shredded,’ she said.
Finally, she broached the topic virtually everyone in the audience awaited. A year ago, speaking to the same group, Clinton was heckled when she said she did not want to set timetables for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. This time, with her stance more in line with her listeners, she received a more positive reception. Still, it seemed at best an uneasy truce.
The Times’ Peter Nicholas was there and he reports that the crowd liked it when she said ‘the best way to support out troops is to finally start bringing them home.’
But she sparked some boos when she blamed Iraqi leaders for failing to ‘make tough decisions.’
A handful of protestors held up signs saying, ‘Lead us out of Iraq now.’
Clinton said, somewhat ruefully, ‘I love coming here every year.’
She also said, ‘I see the signs. ‘Lead us out of Iraq now.’ That’s what we’re trying to do.’
At that, the audience clapped.
After Clinton finished, Mary Gable, 38, of Washington, summed up for Nicholas the continuing discontent within parts of the liberal community about Clinton and the Iraq issue.
Referring to Clinton’s vote in 2002 authorizing the war, Gable said, ‘If she at least apologized and said she made a mistake. I would feel much better. But when she talks about, ‘Well, the Iraqis must take control and it’s up to them to get their act in order,’ I feel we’re the ones who bombed them. We’re the ones who caused the problem. It’s up to us get the heck out of there immediately.’
-- Don Frederick