This started out as a comment but deserves to be hung out there for target practice, where those who blithely parrot the canard that Hillary Clinton "voted for the Iraq war" — including just that specious claim today by the ironically self-serving prevaricator, Jeb Bush — can take their best shots in defiance of the Congressional Record, the documented reporting of what transpired inside the Bush White House (read: "It's a slam-dunk!"), the execrable Dick Cheney leaning on intelligence community analysts for cherry-picked 'intel', the stylishly-shod Condi Rice with her "mushroom cloud" in tow and the proudly published rantings of Project For A New American Century (PNAC) — co-founded by Jeb Bush! — whose alumni festooned the George W. Bush administration.
(Who can forget Paul Wolfowitz licking his hand, smoothing down his hair and assuring Congress, "The oil revenue of that country could bring between 50 and 100 billion dollars over the course of the next two or three years. We’re dealing with a country that could really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon.")
Excerpts follow from the Floor Speech of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on S.J. Res. 45, A Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq, dated October 10, 2002. (emphases are mine)
(hop the squiggle)
Behold:
"If we were to attack Iraq now, alone or with few allies, it would set a precedent that could come back to haunt us. In recent days, Russia has talked of an invasion of Georgia to attack Chechen rebels. India has mentioned the possibility of a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan. And what if China were to perceive a threat from Taiwan?
"So Mr. President, for all its appeal, a unilateral attack, while it cannot be ruled out, on the present facts is not a good option..."
"My vote is not, however, a vote for any new doctrine of pre-emption, or for uni-lateralism, or for the arrogance of American power or purpose -- all of which carry grave dangers for our nation, for the rule of international law and for the peace and security of people throughout the world..."
"War can yet be avoided, but our responsibility to global security and to the integrity of United Nations resolutions protecting it cannot. I urge the President to spare no effort to secure a clear, unambiguous demand by the United Nations for unlimited inspections.
"And finally, on another personal note, I come to this decision from the perspective of a Senator from New York who has seen all too closely the consequences of last year's terrible attacks on our nation. In balancing the risks of action versus inaction, I think New Yorkers who have gone through the fires of hell may be more attuned to the risk of not acting. I know that I am.
"So it is with conviction that I support this resolution as being in the best interests of our nation. A vote for it is not a vote to rush to war; it is a vote that puts awesome responsibility in the hands of our President and we say to him - use these powers wisely and as a last resort. And it is a vote that says clearly to Saddam Hussein - this is your last chance - disarm or be disarmed.
"Thank you, Mr. President."
... following which, Junior
promptly ordered Hans Blix and the U.N. weapons inspectors —
who'd found NOTHING — out of Iraq, abandoning the hunt for bin Laden in Afghanistan so he could unleash his most excellent "shock and awe" on Iraq, fulfilling the wildest dreams of his
PNAC-infested administration...
an organization co-founded by Br'er Jeb which had been lobbying unsuccessfully for invasion of Iraq for more than a decade preceding 9/11! Both Presidents George H.W.
and Bill Clinton had
blown them off, but Junior showed up just in time to have his buttons pushed by the slithering Dick Cheney and the likes of Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld after the Twin Towers fell.
Apparently, recorded history is only a minor obstacle for Jeb when he's lying through his choppers... after wrapping his arms around Junior and perhaps the most egregious abuse of our military by a U.S. President in modern history, an abuse that's largely responsible for igniting the entire Middle East.
I could almost write one of Hillary's campaign commercials.
... in fact, I think I just did.
Those who accuse Clinton of "trying to have it both ways" should brush up on their reading skills, focusing on the compound sentence and the concept of "nuance"... and imagine themselves looking into the eyes of New Yorkers while they were still sorting out their dead (if they could find them) and explaining why October, 2002 was a good time to make one's bones as a doctrinaire pacifist while representing them in the Senate.
... and be sure to thank what's left of "mainstream journalism" for managing — so far — to keep Jeb Bush's direct, formative involvement in his brother's debacle in Iraq a closely-guarded secret, while nibbling ever so gently only around his curious political decision to support that debacle today.