‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Sept. 23, 2007

MR. RUSSERT:  As we sit here this morning, Saddam rebuilding a nuclear weapons program, just not true; giving aid and sanctuary to al-Qaeda, debatable.  Your vote in the best interests of the nation.  Do you believe that your vote was in the best interest of the nation?

SEN. CLINTON:  Well, I cast a sincere vote based on my assessment at the time, and I take responsibility for that vote.  I also said on the floor that day that this was not a vote for pre-emptive war.  I thought it made sense to put inspectors back in.  As you recall, Saddam had driven out the UN inspectors in 1998 and the situation in Iraq was opaque, hard to determine, and I thought that it made sense to put inspectors back in.  Now, obviously, if I had known then what I know now about what the president would do with the authority that was given him, I would not have voted the way that I did.

But the real question before us today is what do we do going forward?  We are continuing to lose Americans in Iraq.  We are continuing to see the failure of the Iraqi government.  We see no change in real policy that moves us toward a political resolution from our own administration because I think even they have to admit that the tactical success that we’ve seen in al Anbar province and dealing with al-Qaeda in Iraq is not going to resolve the ongoing sectarian civil war that is besetting Iraq.  So I think, Tim, that, obviously, from my perspective what I’m focused on is what to do now, and I take that as seriously as I can, which is why I’ve said I will not vote for additional funding unless it is part of an overall policy to begin to deal with these other problems that we face in Iraq.

MR. RUSSERT:  But, Senator, besides the vote to authorize, there are three other important votes during that time period.  Here’s how Congressional Quarterly wrote about it:  “A Byrd amendment to assert Congress’ right to declare war was rejected,” you voted against that.  The amendment by Senator Durbin “that would have require Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program to be an ‘imminent’ rather than a ‘continuing’ threat,” you said no to that.  And an amendment by Carl Levin “that would allow Congress to vote on authorizing force only after President Bush had exhausted all options with the United Nations,” more diplomacy, you voted no on that.  You seem very determined at that time to march to war.

SEN. CLINTON:  Well, I also voted, Tim, to limit the president’s authority to a year.  That was another one of Senator Byrd’s amendments which I strongly supported.  It was not successful.  I have seen, obviously now, what has occurred by this president’s use of the authority that he was given, and I regret the way that he used authority.  But I think it’s important to recognize that the United Nations is a very important tool in international diplomacy, in peacekeeping to bring the world together.  But I do not want to give the United Nations a veto over actions taken by any president.

I believe you have to work with the United Nations.  And I saw my husband, when he believed it imperative to take action in Bosnia and Kosovo, unable to get congressional authority to act, unable to pull together the United Nations, but working with NATO to take action against ethnic cleansing.  Every situation is different.  At the time, I thought it did make sense to go back to the United Nations to put inspectors on the ground.  But I don’t believe it’s in the best interests of our country to give the United Nations what amounts to a veto over presidential action.  I think that the Congress and the president should determine what presidential action should be.

MR. RUSSERT:  Is it fair to say that the most important vote you cast in the Senate, in your own words, on authorizing the war in Iraq, was wrong?

SEN. CLINTON:  It’s fair to say that the president misused the authority that he was given, and if I had the opportunity to act now based on what I know now, I never would’ve voted that way.  But I think it’s important to take responsibility and then to try to deal with the situation that we face today. You know, we can talk about 2002 or we can look forward to what is a continuing involvement in a sectarian civil war with no end in sight, and I believe it’s imperative that we try to create a political consensus to move the president and the Republicans in Congress to extricating us from this civil war.  And I’ve said many times that if the president does not do it before he leaves office, when I am president I will.

MR. RUSSERT:  Let me show you an ad that has caused a lot of controversy in this debate about Iraq.  MoveOn.org took this ad out, “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?:  Cooking the Books for the White House.” Do you believe that General David Petraeus has betrayed the American people?

SEN. CLINTON:  Absolutely not.  He is a man of great honor and distinction who has served admirably.  I don’t condone anything like that, and I have voted against those who would impugn the patriotism and the service of the people who wear the uniform of our country.  I don’t believe that that should be said about General Petraeus, and I condemn that.  I didn’t think it should’ve been said about Senator Cleland or Senator Kerry.  I think it’s important that we end this kind of attacks on the patriotism of those who serve our country.

But let’s be clear about this:  This is not a debate about an ad.  This is a debate about the direction we should pursue in Iraq, and if we focus on an ad, even though we have all voted, in one way or another, to condemn it and believe that we should cease any such impugning and attacks on anyone who serves our country, then, again, we’re not focused on what the real problem is.

The real problem is a policy in Iraq that has failed, and unfortunately, it is clear that the president does not intend to change direction before he leaves office.  That means we will lose, as we have every month this year, more Americans than we lost last year.  And there is no end in sight, and the president has 15 months left.  And I really believe that the country is against his policy, a majority of the Congress is against his policy.  But a very concerted effort in the Senate by Republicans who continue to support the president has prevented us from implementing the kind of guidelines, benchmarks, timelines that actually reflect the reality on the ground.  And I’m going to continue to fighting for that in the Senate and when I’m president to begin moving as expeditiously and responsibly as I can to bring our troops home.

MR. RUSSERT:  Is it fair to--(clears throat) excuse me—is it fair to say, then, that this ad was an unhelpful distraction to the real debate about the war, and you wish that MoveOn.org had not taken it?

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