Out of Iraq Caucus Members Step Up to Defend Clinton

Sixteen Democratic members of the Out of Iraq Caucus stepped up to defend Hillary Clinton’s record on the Iraq war, issuing an open letter Tuesday asserting Clinton is the ideal candidate to bring the war to a “responsible” end.

The letter came after Clinton accused Barack Obama, her Democratic presidential primary opponent, and John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, of pursuing flawed approaches to managing the forces in Iraq. The New York senator followed that up with a “bringing our troops home” campaign event Tuesday, where she was flanked by Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson and his wife, outed CIA agent Valerie Plame.

“We believe there is no higher priority for the next president of the United States than ending this war, and we believe there is no one better prepared and more committed to bringing this war to a responsible conclusion than Hillary Clinton,” Clinton’s congressional supporters said in the letter.

The authors — including Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, California Rep. Lynn Woolsey and California Rep. Maxine Waters — claimed Clinton offered the most comprehensive strategy for Iraq and had stiffly challenged the Pentagon to plan for troop withdrawals.

“We support Hillary Clinton because she is the candidate with the stature, strength, and experience needed to end this war as quickly and responsibly as possible,” the caucus members wrote.

Clinton on Tuesday said a well-planned troop withdrawal is the only path to a political solution in Iraq. She was preceded by endorsements from Wilson and Plame, who said that after years of “character assassination,” she learned from Clinton that their fight wasn’t about them but how to conduct the debate and find the leadership to get the U.S. out of Iraq.

In her speech Monday, Clinton claimed McCain would just prolong President Bush’s strategy for as long as “100 years.” She said Obama only followed through on his 2002 speech opposing the war in Iraq when he started to run for president, and that his commitment to swiftly bringing the troops home is uncertain.

In response, Obama said Monday that it’s “not enough to stand up and say you’re ready on day one, you need to be right on day one.” He said Clinton voted to authorize war and so has lost the authority to complain about its execution.