By Ronald Baygents, KUNA
Washington : Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama discussed their plans for withdrawing US troops from Iraq during their debate in California on Thursday night.
Obama emphasized his judgment in never supporting the war in the first place, and Clinton pledged to get as many US troops out of Iraq as quickly as possible should she be elected president of the United States.
In a cordial debate that was the first one-on-one exchange between history-making US presidential candidates, New York senator Clinton said she would begin to withdraw US troops from Iraq within 60 days of taking office a year from now.
She said she hoped to pull one to two US brigades out of Iraq per month, but that the withdrawal “had to be done right.” In a setting in which for the first time it was apparent that the Democratic nominee for US president would be either a woman or an African-American, the political opponents aimed their heaviest criticism at Republican President George W. Bush and likely Republican nominee John McCain, instead of each other.
Asked if all US troops would be out of Iraq within 16 months of her becoming president, Clinton, the former first lady, said, “I hope it will be.” Illinois Senator Obama said he would make sure the United States was “as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in.” “I will end this war,” Obama said, and not establish US military bases in Iraq.
He noted that McCain, a strong supporter of the year-old US troop surge in Iraq ordered by Bush, has suggested that the United States might have a presence in Iraq for 100 years.
“We have got a big problem in Afghanistan, Pakistan …” Obama said, as well as problems in Latin America and with China.
“The cost of the Iraq war is undermining our long-term security,” he said, and the president should “set a date certain” that would signal to the Iraqis — “Sunnis, Kurds and Shiites” — clarity. “They have to know we are serious about this (withdrawal) process,” Obama said.
Clinton, 60, said the Iraq issue is not only about bringing home US troops but also dealing with the approximately 100,000 US civilians in Iraq, as well as Iraqis who sided with the United States and must be protected.
Members of the Iraqi government must be told “they are out of time,” Clinton said. “They must begin taking care of their own country.” She criticized Bush for making plans to leave 130,000 or more US troops in Iraq after he leaves office, and said he should finish the war he started.
Obama, 46, said the US force structure must be in a position to “take out terrorist bases” in Iraq, and that the United States must not get into “mission creep” in which US forces are staying in Iraq in order to deal with Iran.
Obama, who unlike Clinton opposed authorization for the war in 2002, said, “It was a profound strategic error to go into this war in the first place.” He said he would be the candidate who could offer the clearest contrast to McCain in the general election because he can say that “I never supported this war in the first place.” The debate took place in Los Angeles five days before “Super Tuesday,” when 22 states, including California — the largest US state — will cast ballots in primaries and caucuses across the country.
Unlike the squabbling that took place on Wednesday night between Republicans McCain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney during their California debate, Clinton and Obama were complimentary of one another and civil throughout.
Clinton said Bush has given Iraqis “the illusion that we will be there indefinitely,” and she said Iran and Syria will be in a difficult position if the United States leaves Iraq, as those countries “could get drawn into sectarian positions there.” She repeated her plan for passing US legislation that would prevent Bush from binding the United States to Iraq by disallowing establishment of permanent US military bases there.
Asked about their “judgment” on the Iraq issue, Clinton said she voted for the war authorization in 2002 because former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein appeared to pose a threat with weapons of mass destruction at the time, that “a credible case” was made by Bush, and that she thought Bush would use the authorization to bolster the role of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq.
Obama countered that “everyone understood at the time” that they were voting for an authorization to use US military force in Iraq. While Clinton emphasized that she has the experience and “gravitas” to become president on “day one,” Obama said, “You have got to be right on day one” — a pointed reference to his stand against the war from the beginning.
Asked about the success of the Bush-ordered US troop surge in Iraq in quelling violence, Obama said he wants to see progress in Iraq, and US troops brought home safely with “this mission completed honorably.” Democrats need to nominate a candidate who can rebut Republicans who will tell Clinton that “you supported this” war, Obama said, and that he is the best candidate on that front.
In answer to a citizen who wondered how Clinton could represent change when the United States has had a Bush (former President George H.W. Bush, father of the current president), then a Clinton (former President Bill Clinton), then a Bush, and would now have a Clinton again if she is elected, Hillary Clinton said, referring to her husband, the former president, “It did take a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, and it might take a Clinton to clean up after the second Bush.” Most of the rest of the debate focused on health care issues and illegal immigration.