Giuliani slams Clinton over Iraq, ad

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

Republican Rudy Giuliani continues to seek maximum mileage out of the fallout from the progress report of General David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.

In the battle of front-runners in the presidential polls, Giuliani this afternoon pummeled Democrat Hillary Clinton over her stands on the Iraq war and her questioning of Petraeus.

After having placed a full-page ad in The New York Times today defending General David H. Petraeus and accusing Clinton of a "character attack," Giuliani posted his first online ad on his campaign website with more of the same.

In the spot, he calls on Clinton to apologize for telling Petraeus during Senate hearings this week that his testimony about progress in Iraq required "the willing suspension of disbelief." The ad also challenges Clinton to condemn "a venomous ad" placed by the antiwar group MoveOn.org that charged Petraeus with "cooking the books for the White House."

The one-minute, 50-second ad, titled "She Changed," opens with footage of Clinton, in 2002, as she prepared to vote to authorize the Iraq war, describing the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, as a threat to use weapons of mass destruction. It charges that she has changed her position on the war.

"Just when our troops need all our support to finish the job, Hillary Clinton is turning her back on them," the ad's narrator intones. "General Petraeus and the brave men and women now serving under him deserve an apology. And our nation deserves better. Senator Clinton, do the right thing. Apologize for your comments and condemn the MoveOn.org ad."

Clinton's campaign has brushed aside the attacks, saying her focus will remain on ending the war. "It's hardly surprising that Mayor Giuliani is running the first negative ad of the '08 campaign, given his inability to justify his unqualified support for President Bush's failed Iraq strategy," Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer told the Associated Press.

The exchange could be a preview of the bare-knuckled campaign to come if Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and Clinton, the New York senator, win their respective nominations.

The spot shows Clinton speaking before she voted in 2002 to authorize the war, and charges that she has changed her position. It also blasts her telling Petraeus during Senate hearings this week that his testimony about progress in Iraq required "the willing suspension of disbelief," and for not condemning an ad by the antiwar group MoveOn.org that charged Petraeus with "cooking the books for the White House."

"Just when our troops need all our support to finish the job, Hillary Clinton is turning her back on them," the ad's narrator intones. "General Petraeus and the brave men and women now serving under him deserve an apology. And our nation deserves better. Senator Clinton, do the right thing. Apologize for your comments and condemn the MoveOn.org ad."

In response to Giuliani's attacks, Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer told the Associated Press, "It's hardly surprising that Mayor Giuliani is running the first negative ad of the '08 campaign, given his inability to justify his unqualified support for President Bush's failed Iraq strategy."

It could be a preview of the bare-knuckled campaign to come if Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and Clinton, the New York senator, win their respective nominations.