Hillary Clinton plans Iraq war vote do-over

[TeamJordan23]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/06/18/2007-06-18_hillary_pitches_new_iraq_war_vote.html?ref=rss

Hillary pitches new Iraq war vote
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Clinton is asking her fellow senators to sign on to her and Sen. Robert Byrd's plan for an Iraq war vote do-over.

In a letter to all 98 other senators provided to the Daily News yesterday, Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Byrd (D-W.Va.) say Congress should haul President Bush back for a new war vote when the Senate debates the 2008 military spending bill in the next few weeks.

The letter, sent Friday, argues that the 2002 vote for the war, which Clinton backed, is hopelessly out of date.

"That authorization, which references the government of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction, is no longer relevant," they say.

[arcos]

1. It already was out of date when Hillary voted for it... nt

[ixion]

2. yep, you said it

[BeyondGeography]

3. Sorry seems to be the hardest word

"That authorization is no longer relevant," is so much catchier.

[LiberalEsto]

4. We need an Election 2000 Do-Over

I mean it. There was so much blatant criminal activity by the rethugs in that election. Too bad the rethug-stacked supreme court won't allow it.

[jefferson_dem]

5. Just another step in her lame makeover effort.

Sorry, Hillary. You fucked up. Deal with it...and so will we.

[jmp]

6. They would have a point.

If the Dems hadn't just re-authorized the war by funding it.

[blm]

7. Isn't that what Sen. Kerry, Feingold were saying over a year ago when civil war was apparent?

You and your team of pro-Iraq war players undermined them at every turn then, Hillary and you took to the senate floor to decry their mission.

But the primaries turned harder for you than expected, so now you will restructure yourself and legislation to benefit your candidacy for appearances sake, but not for anything REAL and substantive.

[welshTerrier2]

8. this STILL fails to address an "Exit Strategy"

fine, take yet another vote that DOES NOT address the issue of when the madness will end.

it's time to bring the troops home. if Hillary's DO OVER vote does not pass, then what? Zero funding? 3 months of funding? 6 months? permanent bases? no permanent bases? Big Oil gets their Oil Law? Hillary adds language to guarantee that Iraqi oil only can be used for the benefit of the Iraqi people? all offensive operations have to cease IMMEDIATELY? bring the troops home as quickly as their safety allows with no other conditions? we leave a "residual" force to carry on an unauthorized war? no residual force?

the point is that a symbolic vote at this late stage of the process is tokenism. leadership demands that all of the above questions get resolved NOW. the issue is funding. CUT OFF FUNDS FOR CONTINUED OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS AND BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW.

Hillary's DO OVER is just more politics. It accomplishes nothing and ducks the real issues. If she hadn't voted for the war in the first place, maybe she wouldn't need legislation to undue her tragic mistake.

[HooptieWagon]

9. Gee, Hillary

Can 3500+ US Troops and 600,000 Iraqis get a do-over, too?

[Peace Patriot]

10. Why don't they just rescind it? Period. Nope, a REWRITE! Look out!

Tell all the Iranian babies, and pregnant women, and the elderly, and young soldiers defending their country, and moms and dads, and innocent business people and professionals and leaders, to get ready to be incinerated.

The War Party is at your door.

----------------------------------

70% of the American people oppose the current war and want it ended. A whopping 84% (!) opposes any U.S. participation in a widened Mideast war (poll posted here at DU last summer).

Do the math. 70% opposed, and the current war is ESCALATED and $100 billion more stuffed into Dick Cheney's retirement fund. But with 84% opposed, Jeez, we could get Armageddon.

A real bargain--for all our taxpayer dollars poured into Diebold/ES&S "trade secret" voting machines.

[Peace Patriot]

12. A bit of wisdom from the past...

I cast my first vote for president in 1964. I voted for the guy who was sold to me as the "peace candidate"--LBJ. What I got for my vote was 2 million people slaughtered in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, including over 55,000 U.S. soldiers.

Lesson: Beware of Democrats bearing peace.

Bitter, sad, tragic, but true.

You want change? Start by getting rid of Diebold/ES&S "trade secret" vote counting. That is the key that will unlock the gate to our long, long road back to democracy.

It is because the Vietnam War remains in living memory that Diebold/ES&S "trade secret" vote counting was fast-tracked across the country, at the same time, in the same month (October 2002) as the Iraq War Resolution. $3.9 billion in boondoggle funding to steal our votes electronically, and blockade all reform.

A lot of things wrong with our election system. But that is the killer. They can tweak the results anywhere, any time, without detection, to keep the war going and to consolidate enormous fascist/corporate gains in policy.

They escalated the war, back in 1964, by lying to us. That doesn't work any more. 56% of the American people opposed THIS war from the beginning (Feb. '03), in large part because of Vietnam. So they had to think of something else--some other way to shove an unjust war down our throats. Presto! Let Bushite corporations "count" all the votes WITH SECRET CODE!

It determined the 2004 presidential election--and many 2004 Senate and House elections. It determined the present Congress, despite the people--in their anger--trying to outvote the machines, and succeeding in some cases. It will determine our presidential candidates in 2008, since Diebold/ES&S "trade secret" vote counting also controls the primary elections. We will once again be given the "choice"--as in 1968--of a Democratic War or a Republican War, take your pick. It will insure the (s)election of a pro-war president (D or R, doesn't matter--D would be clever, to stave off protests for a while), and another pro-war Congress (also possibly disguised as D's, as the present one is).

Vietnam deja vu all over again. This time we didn't believe the lies, so they set up a system to steal our votes--a system that the Democratic Party leadership has been protecting from the beginning, and continues to protect.

[Totally Committed]

11. Can we please move on to an exit strategy???

We need to push this administration to set a date for complete withrawal ASAP.

A do-over will only be symbolic.

TC

[JNelson6563]

13. So, like a mulligan?

Hmmm.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3636435540043947603