Mixed reaction to Clinton blaming Iraqis

In the Take Back America crowd, some expressed fear that the next president will be confronted with war in Iran, as well as one in Iraq.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D- Calif., who spoke on a panel discussion on national security, accused Bush of preparing for military action against Iran.

“It’s bigger than big, it’s frightening, and we had a vote in the House on ‘do we insist that the president come to the Congress before he takes any actions against Iran?’ It was voted down — so pay attention,” she warned. 

“There's no point in bringing our troops out of Iraq on a Monday if they are going to end up in Iran on a Tuesday,” chimed in  Woolsey’s fellow panelist Mel Goodman, a former CIA analyst and author of the book “Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk.”

“Iran’s actions against the British sailors and holding Americans in jail did not come out of a vacuum. We are conducting special operations in Iran. We are conducting covert action in Iran. You have a president who has talked about a $75 million appropriation for democratization in Iran,” — a reference that drew derisive laughter from the audience.

Clinton omitted the topic of Iran in her speech Wednesday, but she said Tuesday in her appearance before the American Federation of State, County and Municipal employees, “There is considerable evidence that weaponry and fighters are crossing the border (into Iraq) not just from Iran but from Syria and from other countries, as well. So we do have to try to choke off the weapons coming in and the fighters crossing the borders.”

But she didn’t call for military action, instead talking about “intensive outreach and diplomacy right now with Iran, and that is one area that I'm pleased that President Bush and Secretary Rice have moved toward.”

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