The Daily Background

File this under the Unreasonable Expectations category:

In the AP interview, [Clinton] defended her vote against an Iraq war funding bill, saying she believes that President Bush will begin withdrawing troops from Iraq soon and she doesn’t want to back his strategy any longer.

Is that honestly what Clinton believes? Is she really naiive enough to think that President Bush is going to listen to the experts and begin withdrawing from Iraq?

Remember, this is the same President Bush who ignored the most solid advice offered by experts like General Eric Shinseki, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before the US invaded Iraq. And this is the same President Bush who ignored the advice of experts like General Paul Eaton, after the US had invaded. And this is the same President Bush who ignored the advice from the panel of experts that formed the Iraq Study Group.

Does Clinton really believe that he’s going to start listening now and begin a withdrawal?

Or is this just some sort of pretend-naiivité that Clinton is politically putting forth in order to be able to say later on “I really had confidence in this man, but he let me down”? For all the things that Hillary may be, I don’t think naiive is one of them. She has got to know, just like everybody else, that Bush isn’t going to reverse course now and begin the withdrawal that a majority of Americans and Iraqis know needs to happen.

Frankly, I don’t think taking this tact- claiming that she believes that Bush is really going to get us out of Iraq- is a political winner for her, or anybody else at this point.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog