"Iraqis were given the greatest gift, the gift of freedom" --Hillary

[Bonobo]

"The Iraqis were given the greatest gift that one human can give to another human -the gift of freedom"

Hillary Clinton, 2008

Is this as important as the visit to the Vatican, voters?

[Autumn]

1. Iraqis and the world were given ISIS. Be careful what you vote for

and who you trust should be the lesson learned here. But not.

[Broward]

2. Disgusting. Is this who we really want representing the Dem Party?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

34. She said the Iraq war had been good for business

[Avalux]

3. Still parroting neocon propaganda 7 years after Shock and Awe (or, the delivery of democracy).

[Scuba]

39. Bingo! Sounds just like her buddy/brother George W. Shrub.

[riderinthestorm]

4. We had to bomb the village to save it... I've always hated this rationale for warmongering

[Hoyt]

5. Why did you leave out the rest of the quote.

2008

"Around the world we have to restore American leadership and our moral authority and that begins by ending the war in Iraq and bringing our troops home," Clinton said, per ABC News' Eloise Harper. "I know that we can starting within 60 days have a plan to begin responsibly and safely withdrawing our young men and women.

"And I believe that at the same time that we have to make clear to the Iraqis that they have been given the greatest gift that a human being can give another human being – the gift of freedom. And it is up to them to decide how they will use that precious gift that has been paid for with the blood and sacrifice and treasure of the United States of America."


Clearly, she's saying it was a mistake, but Iraqis should make the best of their current situation since you can't go back. It's a hard truth after george war bush invaded and occupied an innocent nation, but the truth none-the-less in 2008.

[uppityperson]

6. Quotes need context and the full thing. Invading Iraq was wrong and has resulted in DAESH

[Hoyt]

7. Don't disagree with the consequences. But what Clinton said in 2008, was true and good advice.

In fact, my late wife worked knew some Iraqis who had an engineering firm here. She talked to them right after george war bush invaded Iraq and asked their opinion. They said, "bush has unleashed hundreds of Saddams and we will never be able to go return to our country."

[panader0]

10. So, if what she said was true

does that mean Iraqis are now free?

[Hoyt]

17. I think it does mean Iraqis didn't/couldn't stand up and protect their country as we left.

That's a shame.

I think her statement was pretty clear, don't lose this opportunity. Unfortunately, they did. It was probably inevitable. I think Iraqis weakness and absence of a viable military was probably one reason george war bush chose them. The irony is that if they had nukes or a viable military, we probably would not have invaded them.

[Martin Eden]

8. Context in this case doesn't change the meaning of the stand-alone statement

Context or not, she is still characterizing our invasion & occupation of Iraq as giving the gift of freedom to Iraqis.

Nevertheless they are just words, political rhetoric. Actions and policies are what matters most, though words can be revealing.

[Hoyt]

9. No, she's saying invading/occupying was an awful mistake, but at this point they should make

the best of the situation and use their relative "freedom" wisely. It's not a flippant, oh you are so lucky hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed kind of thing, as you guys are trying to make it. But I don't expect you to stop.

[Fumesucker]

11. Gosh, I'm sorry I burned your house down with your kids inside because Dubya fooled me

But hey, look at the bright side, your new home and family will be that much better.

[Hoyt]

14. Another mischaracterization.

[Fumesucker]

15. Dubya didn't fool her?

Do you think that makes it better?

[Martin Eden]

21. Words have meaning

I don't see the words "awful mistake" in the full quote. The closest she comes to implying what you interpret as the meaning is "restore American leadership and our moral authority" -- but that doesn't change the meaning of "give" and "gift" and "freedom."

I think it's accurate to conclude in this context the "gift" of "freedom" is something the Iraqis did not have under Saddam Hussein. How then was this "gift" bestowed, and who was the giver of the gift?

Furthermore, if it's such a precious gift, why was giving it such an awful mistake?

[hootinholler]

12. Seems to me like she has a knack for

Playing both sides, as the full quote demonstrates.

Paragraph one is all dovey and then the hawk swoops in, in paragraph two.

[rgbecker]

24. BINGO!

One thing you can say about the Clintons: They are career politicians, good at it and making millions doing it.

[libtodeath]

16. I voted to blow your country apart and kill your loved ones but just damn you are lucky!

[Hoyt]

19. That's only what she said if you read slowly pointing at each word as you mouth it.

She actually did not vote to blow their country apart, nor did Kerry or a lot of other good Democrats. She voted to give george war bush the leverage he, and many others, thought he needed to force weapons inspections.

[libtodeath]

22. Bull shit and you know it or ought to

shrub was going to war and anybody that thought they were voting otherwise is lying or deluded.

[Hoyt]

23. Maybe you can point us to a post or blog or something where you took that position in 2002/2003.

All these people are saying they knew it back then, but I've not seen very many who can prove they are anything but Monday morning quarterbacks. I think most people at the time thought the resolution would be used as intended to force Saddam to give weapons inspectors what they needed to either certify there were no WMDs, or identify them and put Iraq under sanctions and inspection until they were eliminated.

I agreed with Carter as Powell was set to go to the UN: "The solution, Carter added, is "a sustained and enlarged inspection team, deployed as a permanent entity until the United States and other members of the U.N. Security Council determine that its presence is no longer needed."

[rgbecker]

25. Inspectors were there until they had to leave to keep from being blown up by American bombs.

They couldn't find any WMDs, not because they couldn't do their searches, but because, as we soon verified, there were none.

Bush had the perfect plan, unstoppable by the simple rule: You can't prove a negative.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/weapons-inspectors-leave-iraq/

[libtodeath]

29. You really are trying to say that shrub was not pushing for war?

Really???????

[Hoyt]

31. He was, or should have been, pushing for the leverage he needed to end it diplomatically.

That is what Democrats like Kerry voted for.

[bvar22]

18. Yeah.

We need to clear our of Iraq so that we have plenty of troops and freedom bombs to bring "freedom" to other countries, like Libya, Syria, Honduras, Iran, and a whole NeoCon Warmongering list of other countries that need our kind of help (indiscriminate murder from the skies).

Those Latin American countries voting in democratically elected governments need to be taught a lesson about American Style Freedom too. They have been getting a little uppity, and setting a very bad example for the World by providing services and a safety net for the poorest of their people. Are you listening, Venezuela?

[Doctor_J]

13. A slide show would go great with this blast from the past. Unfortunately I am rather

squeamish, so post a warning if you decide to go there.

[Mika]

20. Liberation theology at the point of a gun.

[merrily]

26. And dying or needing to sell their children into slavery was a small price to pay for this "gift."

BTW, exactly how free is Iraq if all of Sharia Law is incorporated by reference into the Iraqi Constitution, courtesy of Bushco? Or are we talking freedom for only hetero male Iraqis?

Okay, this is well beyond tone deaf American Exceptionalism.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

27. So free that she sold a destroyed Iraq to predatory multinational corporations.

Those corporations then donated HUGE sums of money to the corrupt Clinton Foundation.

[notadmblnd]

28. If one considers death of over 100,000 innocent Iraqi's freedom

I guess so

Being freed from their mortal lives. Not something I would be proud of if I were a Hill Shill though.

[BillZBubb]

30. Some gift. They paid a huge price in death, mutilation and destruction for this "gift".

I guess "Let freedom reign" was already taken.

Typical neocon bullshit. That's Hillary.

[Bonobo]

32. Why is POPE-GATE more important than this?

Are we judging Presidential candidates bases on things of import or idiotic trivia?

[jfern]

33. The freedom to start ISIS? Oops.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. did they ask for the 'gift'?

I don't remember some groundswell of requests coming from Iraq that we invade their country.

[Live and Learn]

36. So she takes responsibility for their "freedom" but not their deaths.

Go figure.

[Bonobo]

37. You said it perfectly.

But what kind of a person SAYS that kind of shit?

Oh wait, I know. People like Dick Cheney, Donal Rumsfeld...and Hillary Clinton.

How can anyone even read that statement and vote for her?

[PufPuf23]

38. Hillary Clinton thinks Libyans were given freedom too.