Taking fire from rivals, Clinton defends vote on Iran resolution
WASHINGTON - Senator Hillary Clinton of New York yesterday defended her approach on Iran as appropriately aggressive diplomacy, saying she was not advocating a "rush to war" by her Senate vote declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.
But she faced criticism from her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination during a two-hour debate hosted by National Public Radio and Iowa Public Radio, one day after a report by federal intelligence agencies that Iran stopped trying to develop nuclear weapons in 2003.
"Among the Democratic candidates, there's only one that voted for this resolution. And this is exactly what [President] Bush and [Vice President Dick] Cheney wanted," former North Carolina senator John Edwards said of Clinton at the debate in Iowa, the site of the nation's first presidential caucuses, Jan. 3. "Senator Clinton has said she agrees with George Bush terminology that we're in a global war on terror, then she voted to declare the military group in Iran a terrorist organization. What possible conclusion can you reach other than that we are at war?" Edwards added.
Before the new report, Clinton's September vote on the nonbinding Iran resolution already had been the subject of attacks from fellow Democrats who contend she is enabling the Bush administration toward a potential military conflict with Iran.
But the New York lawmaker said her vote bolstered "aggressive diplomacy" in the region and gave no room for Bush to justify military action. "If we thought that anything in that resolution gave even a pretense of legitimacy to President Bush taking any action, we wouldn't have voted that way," Clinton said of fellow Democrats who voted for the resolution.
Locked in a tight race in Iowa, the Democratic contenders have stepped up their attacks on one another. Clinton - who recent polls indicate is in a virtual dead heat in Iowa with Edwards and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois - has been especially critical of Obama, questioning his credibility and experience.
But without the theater of a televised debate, the candidates were unusually civil yesterday, peppering their responses with such rejoinders as "I agree with Barack" or "as Chris said," in reference to Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut. Repeatedly, the rivals declared their respect for one another by name - and except for the issue of the Iran vote, largely agreed on the limited agenda NPR offered for discussion.
On immigration, the contenders agreed that Americans should not be asked to turn in people they suspect to be in the country illegally. "We're not going to deputize a whole bunch of American citizens to start grabbing people or turning them in," Obama said.
Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio concurred. "We don't encourage vigilantism in this country," he said.
But Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, and Obama all said employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers should be held accountable.
On the matter of potentially harmful foreign products, the contenders took a hard line, saying the United States needs to stop the importation of dangerous toys and other materials from China.
"We don't do anything near enough to try to prevent dangerous products and material from coming into our country," Clinton said. "We need tougher standards across the board."
Dodd said he would not buy his young daughters any toys from China for the holidays this year, then quipped he would buy only Iowa-made products for them. Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware said he would "end - flat ban - the importation of those toys" if he were elected president.
All the candidates said the United States needs to get tougher with Beijing on human rights and trade, using America's leverage as China's biggest market to address such issues as China's manipulation of its currency.
And Americans might have to pay more for consumer goods to support American jobs, Kucinich said. "It's either 'buy America,' or 'bye-bye, America,' " he said. 