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USA TodayBy Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — It was a partial clause in a sentence uttered in Muscatine, Iowa. But Bill Clinton's assertion Monday that he'd opposed the Iraq war "from the beginning" triggered outbursts across the political spectrum. From the left, the right and the media establishment, the judgment was the former president had committed a gaffe that could hurt his wife's presidential bid.
"Bill Clinton Rewrites History on Iraq?" wondered ABC News' Political Radar blog. "A political blunder of monumental proportions," Dan Spencer wrote at the conservative Redstate.com. At liberal DailyKos.com, the headline was "Bill Clinton's 'truthiness' problem."
Clinton's comment, reported by the Associated Press, came in a discussion of tax cuts for wealthy Americans during wartime. "Even though I approved of Afghanistan and opposed Iraq from the beginning, I still resent that I was not asked or given the opportunity to support those soldiers," he said.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign posted quotes Tuesday from Bill Clinton in which he highlighted his reservations about using force. Before the war started in 2003, he said that "we don't invade everybody whose regime we want to change" and that if Saddam Hussein disarms, the United States should seek regime change by helping his rivals. "As he said before the war and many times since, President Clinton disagreed with taking the country to war without allowing the weapons inspectors to finish their jobs," said campaign spokesman Jay Carson....
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