In hindsight

[°Leprechaun]

I hope she addresses this issue. I don't believe that she has ever said that her vote was a mistake. She can be forgiven for making a mistake, but she should admit her mistake.

Of course, I vote yes.

[Crumpets]

I don't think she made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War given the information the Bush administration had provided to Congress using Colin Powell and other trusted officials as puppets. She did make a mistake not giving credence to dissenting opinions, not immediately distancing herself from the vote the moment it became clear there were no WMDs in Iraq, and in not making her decision-making process more transparent.

As much as Democrats want to eat their own for voting "yes" on Iraq. The ultimate responsibility lies with Dick Cheney and the Department of Defense for cherry-picking poor evidence to support their already-chosen line that Saddam was developing WMDs. To suggest anything else is to distract from the main instigators who still have yet to be held accountable.

[Mehmentum]

I don't think she made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War given the information the Bush administration had provided to Congress using Colin Powell and other trusted officials as puppets. She did make a mistake not giving credence to dissenting opinions, not immediately distancing herself from the vote the moment it became clear there were no WMDs in Iraq, and in not making her decision-making process more transparent.

As much as Democrats want to eat their own for voting "yes" on Iraq. The ultimate responsibility lies with Dick Cheney and the Department of Defense for cherry-picking poor evidence to support their already-chosen line that Saddam was developing WMDs. To suggest anything else is to distract from the main instigators who still have yet to be held accountable.

While I agree with you, hindsight generally means: 'That given what we know now, would you have done the same thing?'

So I don't hold her Iraq war vote against her.  But in hindsight, she should have voted differently.   

[Maxwell]

Mistake even given the information was true.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I don't think she made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War given the information the Bush administration had provided to Congress using Colin Powell and other trusted officials as puppets. She did make a mistake not giving credence to dissenting opinions, not immediately distancing herself from the vote the moment it became clear there were no WMDs in Iraq, and in not making her decision-making process more transparent.

As much as Democrats want to eat their own for voting "yes" on Iraq. The ultimate responsibility lies with Dick Cheney and the Department of Defense for cherry-picking poor evidence to support their already-chosen line that Saddam was developing WMDs. To suggest anything else is to distract from the main instigators who still have yet to be held accountable.

No, every member of Congress that voted for the authoritation shares the responsibility. That goes for Hillary, as well as Biden or Kerry.

And I have a very hard time believing she was stupid enough to actually believe all that crap. Whatever one may say about Hillary, she's certainly not stupid. She's just a politician: it was purely opportunistic vote for something that was "popular" back then.

Look, I can understand argument that it was a mistake, but not an irredeemable mistake. After all, every single member of Congress in 1964 (except for Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening) voted for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, but most eventually corrected their ways. But it was still a big mistake and those who voted for the resolution shares some responsibility.

[retromike22]

I was going to make a comment about bumping threads from 2007 but oh well.

[Crumpets]

I don't think she made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War given the information the Bush administration had provided to Congress using Colin Powell and other trusted officials as puppets. She did make a mistake not giving credence to dissenting opinions, not immediately distancing herself from the vote the moment it became clear there were no WMDs in Iraq, and in not making her decision-making process more transparent.

As much as Democrats want to eat their own for voting "yes" on Iraq. The ultimate responsibility lies with Dick Cheney and the Department of Defense for cherry-picking poor evidence to support their already-chosen line that Saddam was developing WMDs. To suggest anything else is to distract from the main instigators who still have yet to be held accountable.

No, every member of Congress that voted for the authoritation shares the responsibility. That goes for Hillary, as well as Biden or Kerry.

And I have a very hard time believing she was stupid enough to actually believe all that crap. Whatever one may say about Hillary, she's certainly not stupid. She's just a politician: it was purely opportunistic vote for something that was "popular" back then.

Look, I can understand argument that it was a mistake, but not an irredeemable mistake. After all, every single member of Congress in 1964 (except for Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening) voted for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, but most eventually corrected their ways. But it was still a big mistake and those who voted for the resolution shares some responsibility.

I agree that they share some responsibility, and I agree that Hillary is absolutely a politician who was considering how the vote would "look" when she made it. I disagree with the implication that she didn't actually believe there was evidence of WMDs and voted for the resolution anyway because of popular opinion. Nobody no matter how bitterly partisan would vote to support a war if they legitimately thought the whole justification was completely made up unless they had some other reason to support the war cough*oil*cough and I don't think Hillary did at the time.

[Likely Voter]

For the record, Hillary has stated her vote was a mistake. Firstly in her 2014 book 'Hard Choices' and also this year on the campaign trail.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/06/05/hillary-clinton-on-iraq-vote-i-still-got-it-wrong-plain-and-simple/

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/hillary-clinton-iraq-war-vote-mistake-iowa-118109.html

[Frodo]

Yes, she has admitted it several times already.  It's not her fault if you don't pay attention. 

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Mistake even given the information was true.

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

Yes, she has admitted it several times already.  It's not her fault if you don't pay attention. 

I note that she has admitted that this is a mistake, and she shouldn't be pilloried for her vote, in that it was a President putting forth a call for bi-partisan support for a military action against a nation that we had already had one conflict with and which did not like us, in the wake of 9/11.  That would be the vote of a person who had normal intelligence seeking to do what they believed was the right thing.

That being said, there's NOTHING in Hillary Clinton's long record of public life that reflects her as a person of UNCOMMON WISDOM, or UNIQUE ACCOMPLISHMENT.  Bernie Sanders DID get it right from the start, as did a few others.  On what major issue has Hillary been right where others were slow to see her remarkable wisdom?  I can't think of a one.  While I believe that Benghazi has been over-politicized, I see nothing in her management of that matter, or of her entire tenure as Secretary of State that reflects someone who deisplayed insight and proactivity that was remarkable and difference-making.  As a Senator, Amy Kloubachar has done far, far more than Hillary Clinton in a quiet, workmanlike manner and presents competance without baggage.  She's just been there, utilizing her status and her husband's status, but accomplishing little more than voting correctly as a Senator and taking acceptable positions as Secretary of State.  She's not the clown that Michelle Bachmann and Herman Cain are, but she's MEDIOCRE.  Period.

[Famous Mortimer]

I can't believe people don't remember crap that happened 10 years ago.

The Iraq War debate wasn't "does Iraq have WMDs or not?" Everyone thought Iraq had WMDs. Even Howard Dean. Even Gerhardt Schroeder.

The Iraq War debate was "are Iraq's WMDs worth going to war over? Is Saddam likely to use them?"

That was the debate.

It was clear to any intelligent person that the answer was no.

Even WITHOUT the benefit of hindsight, her vote was wrong.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I don't think she made a mistake in voting for the Iraq War given the information the Bush administration had provided to Congress using Colin Powell and other trusted officials as puppets. She did make a mistake not giving credence to dissenting opinions, not immediately distancing herself from the vote the moment it became clear there were no WMDs in Iraq, and in not making her decision-making process more transparent.

As much as Democrats want to eat their own for voting "yes" on Iraq. The ultimate responsibility lies with Dick Cheney and the Department of Defense for cherry-picking poor evidence to support their already-chosen line that Saddam was developing WMDs. To suggest anything else is to distract from the main instigators who still have yet to be held accountable.

No, every member of Congress that voted for the authoritation shares the responsibility. That goes for Hillary, as well as Biden or Kerry.

And I have a very hard time believing she was stupid enough to actually believe all that crap. Whatever one may say about Hillary, she's certainly not stupid. She's just a politician: it was purely opportunistic vote for something that was "popular" back then.

Look, I can understand argument that it was a mistake, but not an irredeemable mistake. After all, every single member of Congress in 1964 (except for Wayne Morse and Ernest Gruening) voted for the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, but most eventually corrected their ways. But it was still a big mistake and those who voted for the resolution shares some responsibility.

I agree that they share some responsibility, and I agree that Hillary is absolutely a politician who was considering how the vote would "look" when she made it. I disagree with the implication that she didn't actually believe there was evidence of WMDs and voted for the resolution anyway because of popular opinion.

I meant more "she believed Saddam was a threat and use of force was necessary" thing. And I still don't think she actually bought that.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Yes, she has admitted it several times already.  It's not her fault if you don't pay attention. 

I'd take that a little more seriously if she hadn't voted for Iran war (the Bush administration declined to take advantage of the warmongering that Clinton allowed them there) and supported arming the "moderate" Syrian rebels, going as far as to criticize Obama for that. Her actions have led to the creation of ISIS, and it's not just her vote for the Iraq war that she made without reading the intelligence report like the chair of Senate intelligence commite urged everyone to. Of course Bob Graham voted no.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I can't believe people don't remember crap that happened 10 years ago.

The Iraq War debate wasn't "does Iraq have WMDs or not?" Everyone thought Iraq had WMDs. Even Howard Dean. Even Gerhardt Schroeder.

The Iraq War debate was "are Iraq's WMDs worth going to war over? Is Saddam likely to use them?"

That was the debate.

It was clear to any intelligent person that the answer was no.

Even WITHOUT the benefit of hindsight, her vote was wrong.

True that. We need someone who has shown some real leadership. Gore led on the Internet and Global Warming. Kerry led on the Iran Contra scandal. Clinton hasn't showed real leadership on anything.

[°Leprechaun]

So why exactly are so many Democrats so excited about Clinton?
I've always believed that a lot of it had to do with the fact that we
have never had a female POTUS.
A lot of it has to with the problem that there isn't a lot of competition.
A lot can happen in the next sixth months, but right now Sanders seems
to be the candidate most likely to defeat her.
I wouldn't rule him out yet. Many people thought that she would beat Obama
in 2008. During the campaign many things could bring her down.
She may very well be our next president. True.
But her election in 495 days is still far from a certainty.
Whether Sanders would do well, were he to get the nomination, remains to be seen.

[Beet]

Will you at least admit that the premise by which you started this thread is incorrect?

[°Leprechaun]

Will you at least admit that the premise by which you started this thread is incorrect?

Yes. I didn't realize that she said that her vote was a mistake. It did take her a
long time to do this and I wonder how political it was.

I certainly am glad that she has changed her position however political it may have been.

[°Leprechaun]

By the way, I don't think it is a good idea for Congress to give the POTUS a blank check to go to war; so yes, at the time of her original vote she made a serious mistake.
We should not go to war without a declarlation of war from Congress.
If this is ever going to be the case in the future we will go to war less.
Of course, I don't even buy the 'just war theory' in the first place.

[Famous Mortimer]

While there's something positive to be said for someone who admits they were stupid, it's still better to vote for someone who never did anything stupid in the first place.