Record contradicts Clinton on war vote

NY Times/Houston Chronicle:

Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton have repeatedly invoked the name of Sen. Chuck Hagel, a longtime critic of the Iraq war, as they defend Clinton's 2002 vote to authorize the war.

In interviews and at a recent campaign event, they have said that Hagel, R-Neb., helped draft the resolution, which they said was proof that the measure was more about urging Saddam Hussein to comply with weapons inspections, instead of authorizing combat.

Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., repeated the claim Sunday during an interview on Meet the Press, saying that "Chuck Hagel, who helped to draft the resolution, said it was not a vote for war."

"It was a vote to use the threat of force against Saddam Hussein, who never did anything without being made to do so," Clinton said.

But the talking point appears to misconstrue the facts.

In October 2002, Hagel had in fact been working with Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind., on drafting a resolution that would have authorized the war.

But while those negotiations were under way, to the disappointment of some congressional Democrats, the Bush administration circumvented their effort and reached a separate agreement with Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., then the House minority leader.

That agreement resulted in a bill, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Joe Lieberman, now an independent from Connecticut, which was slightly less restrictive than the proposal that Hagel had been helping develop.

In the original proposal Hagel had backed, force was authorized only to secure the destruction of Iraq's unconventional weapons, not to enforce "all relevant" U.N. Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq, which was the language in the version that ultimately passed.

It was the White House proposal, not Hagel's, that Clinton supported, explaining in a speech on the Senate floor that it was time to tell Saddam that "this is your last chance — disarm or be disarmed."

The repeated references to Hagel by the Clintons make it clear that they are trying to distance her from the Bush administration's handling of Iraq, by associating her with a persistent critic of the war. Bill Clinton has raised the claim at least twice, including in an April 2007 interview on Larry King Live and, most recently, at a campaign event in New Hampshire.

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Why any politicians would want to associate themselves with Chuck Hagel raises a question as to their judgment. This appears to be just part of the typical Clinton politics of deceit and fraud. No profiles in courage in this picture. It probably want matter much. If she gets the nomination the Democrats will embrace the deceit and defend it. It is a reminder of what you do not liek about the Clintons.

BTW, I did not see this story on the front page of the Times, so I am using the Houston Chronicle version.