First off, let me get it out of the way and say that I am an Obama supporter. I am ALSO 99% sure that I will vote for Hillary in the general election if she is the nominee. There is, however, one nagging doubt (hence the 1 percent) that I have and with that in mind, I thought I'd try something new and give Hillary supporters a chance to defend their candidate before making my final conclusions.
The issue has to do with Hillary and her relationship with the Neocon front line. Any of us who have opposed this war and lost sleep pouring over the facts to find Bush's real motivation in fighting are bound to know the following two names: The American Enterprise Institute and The Project for the New American Century. They are more than likely able to recite in rote how the PFNAC wrote a letter to the President in 1998, long before the collapse of the two towers and the collective soul searching that would be manipulated and orchestrated into a nationwide penchant for blood, advising, nay begging him to take action against Saddam Hussein before "the world's safety was put at risk." They will know the names that signed that letter, names like Rumsfled, Cheney, Bolton. And they will know who the letter was addressed to: sitting president William Jefferson Clinton.
Now. I understand that Bill did not act on their wishes. I am aware that the neocons were all over him, labelling him as the reason Saddam was able to rebuild his arsenal of WMDs right under our nose. But I can't for the life of me believe that Hillary was not aware of the letter and the way its authors slowly wormed their way into Bush's cabinet. The way they talked in private (and some times even in public) about "remapping the Middle East" and building a "Pax Americana." Much has been made of how Hillary didn't read the NIE before voting to authorize the invasion and I can almost forgive her, seeing as she was well briefed on its contents. But HOW, HOW, knowing what she did, could she have ignored the power grab that was taking place and not recognized the invasion for what it really was. That single letter was the evidence I used most often for arguing that the justification for the war was disingenuine. It is the smoking gun. And I can accept that most of the Democrats were out of the loop and caught unawares. But not Hillary. No way. In my mind, that makes her seem like an enabler in the closest thing to a coup we've had in the history of this country. An enabler in the atrocity that has haunted us for the past SEVEN YEARS.
So here's my request to Hillary supporters. I WANT to believe. I WANT to have a democrat in the white house. But I would rather immolate myself than see another neocon in office. So reassure me. Give me concrete evidence that she has opposed these people in some concrete way. Justify her actions for me. This is an inner debate that, imho, should be taking place within EVERY INFORMED DEMOCRAT in this country.
I hope, for all our sakes, that there is an explanation.