Hillary Clinton Flip Flops over Iraq

Posted on 1/8/2008 2:20:00 PM

Will Hillary Clinton being elected as the first lady president of the United States in 2008? She is, after all, an astute political player, has the charm, and, what's more, enjoys considerable support amongst the Democratic base.

The question is, whether Hillary Clinton will win the votes. She has before her the task of convincing the electorate that she can offer the country a strong, focused, and consistent leadership. However, the complete volte-face that she has exhibited regarding her stand on the Iraq war could well prove to be a prickly hurdle in this attempt.

In 2002, Clinton resolutely supported President Bush's call for war on Iraq. About a year later (after allegations of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were proven false), Clinton still stood her ground, saying that America had "no option but to stay involved and committed".

By the end of 2005 however, Clinton started to change her tune on Iraq. Had she known what she knew today, she conceded, she would never have voted for war. Earlier this year, she criticized President Bush's plan for more troops in Iraq, saying "I don’t know that the American people or the Congress at this point believe this mission can work." She displayed further uncertainty when, a day after she supported continued military presence in Iraq in an interview on June 19, 2007, she called for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Such uncertainty does not bode well for the likely future President of the United States.