The Iraq War, Clinton, & NOW's Endorsement

lilcheese — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:39:00 -0600

Last week Senator Edward Kennedy (MA) endorsed Barack Obama for president. The National Organization of Women (NOW) responded to Kennedy's endorsement by releasing a statement affirming the feminist organization's support for Kennedy, but reaffirming support for Clinton.

"Though the National Organization for Women Political Action Committee has proudly endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, we respect Sen. Kennedy's endorsement," the statement read.

Back in March NOW released a statement endorsing Clinton. The statement declared that the U.S. "needs strong, experienced and principled leadership to restore faith in our government and repair its credibility at home and abroad, and to end the destructive policies that have eroded our civil liberties and increased injustice and inequality in our society." Later the statement claimed, "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is just such a leader."

Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) voted for the Senate resolution in 2002 which authorized the use of force to invade Iraq. In 2004 Clinton said she did not regret her affirmative vote. “No, I don't regret giving the president authority because at the time it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States, and clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem for the international community for more than a decade,” she said during a debate for Democratic presidential candidates.

In contrast, presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D, IL), then a U.S. representative, voted against the House resolution in 2002 which authorized the use of force to invade Iraq. In May he contrasted fellow Democratic candidate Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton’s (NY) position on the Iraq war with his by stating that "we had a fundamentally different opinion on the wisdom of this war. I don't think we can revise history when it comes to that."

Both Obama and Clinton consistently voted to fund the occupation of Iraq until both opposed the May 24, 2007 Senate resolution to give more funds to the U.S. military in Iraq because it did not contain a timeline for withdrawing troops. Obama and Clinton were two of ten Democrats who opposed the resolution.

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The Iraq War, Clinton, & NOW's Endorsement