Hillary Disavows Her Iraq War Vote

Sen. Hillary Clinton has for the first time said she would not have voted to authorize the 2002 attack on Iraq if she had known then what she knows now.

Previously the likely presidential candidate in 2008 has said that if the Senate had all the information it has today — about Iraq’s weapons program and the current difficulties in pacifying the nation, for example — there would never have been a vote on the Senate floor.

During a Dec. 18 appearance on NBC’s “Today” show, Clinton repeated that refrain. But this time she added: “And I certainly wouldn’t have voted that way.”

Clinton’s change of heart regarding the war comes as she is facing an increasing threat from Sen. Barack Obama, who as a state official in Illinois, spoke out against the Iraqi invasion as Clinton was voting for it.

Two of her other potential presidential rivals, Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards, also voted to authorize the invasion, but then publicly declared they had made a mistake and called for troops withdrawals.

As recently as September, when Clinton was asked on ABC’s “Nightline” about supporters who wanted her to say she was sorry for voting for the war, Hillary stated: “I don’t think that’s responsible.”

And in June, Clinton was actually booed during a Washington appearance when she said it was wrong to set a strict timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.