WASHINGTON, 20 March 2008 — The fifth anniversary of the Iraq war dominated the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, as Hillary Rodham Clinton was speaking to war veterans and her rival, Barack Obama, slated what aides said was a major speech on the war.
Clinton’s meeting in Huntington, West Virginia, was the latest in a series of speeches on Iraq. On Tuesday, she told veterans in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that a lesson of the Iraq war was not to commit troops “unless you are prepared to go all the way and are prepared to be successful.”
Questioned about her plans to begin withdrawing troops within 60 days after taking office, the former first lady said US forces have already fulfilled their mission in Iraq. The Iraqi government, Clinton said, had failed to create a stable political system despite the US effort. The New York senator made her comments at a discussion to mark the anniversary of the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Obama delivered his Iraq message in Fayetteville, North Carolina, which he planned to follow up with another talk linking Iraq to the struggling US economy today in West Virginia. Both states hold primaries in May. He said the Iraq war has left the United States less safe yet has emboldened Al-Qaeda, the Taleban, Iran and North Korea.
In a speech not far from North Carolina’s Fort Bragg military base, the Democratic presidential hopeful told military families and local officials the war must end.
Obama criticized both Democratic rival Clinton and John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee. He said they talk tough on national security yet make decisions that leave the country less secure. Obama noted that he opposed the war from the start, speaking out against it when he was a state lawmaker.
