Hillary Clinton's Defense of Iran Vote Criticized

New York Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has sent a mailing to Iowa voters in defense of her senate vote on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment regarding Iran, which defined part of Iran's military as a "terrorist organization." Fellow presidential candidate John Edwards' campaign has criticized her defense of the vote.

According to a press release issued by the John Edwards For President campaign on Sunday, Edwards' campaign manager released a statement regarding Senator Clinton's mailing. The statement pointed out that her explanation to Iowa voters was not the same as her campaign's explanation to the New York Times. It indicated that Clinton backers told the Times that the reason for her vote was about changing from campaigning for the nomination to campaigning for the general election. The statement also expressed the belief that there have been "devastating consequences" in Iraq and that the Bush administration appears to be preparing for war with Iran.

The U.S. Senate web site indicates that seventy six senators voted in favor of the anti-Iran amendment, while twenty two voted against it. Two, including presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, were not present to vote on it. Candidates Biden and Dodd, among other senators, voted in opposition to the amendment.

On September 26th, Senator Clinton issued a statement regarding her support for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment. She referred to Iran's nuclear program and "substantial links" with Lebanon's Hezbollah organization. She went on to claim that the amendment would not authorize military action against Iran, instead intending to put "diplomatic pressure" on the Central Asian nation. Her statement also accused Iran of "mismanaging" its economy and repressing its citizens.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Hillary Clinton, she was born fifty nine years ago in Chicago. She attended Wellesley College with a political science major, as well as Yale Law School. Clinton was involved in campaigning for various politicians. She became married to former President Bill Clinton in 1975 and First Lady in 1993. She was elected to the Senate in November, 2000.

The CIA World Factbook entry regarding Iran indicates that relations between the U.S. and Iran have been poor since 1979, after the American-allied monarchy was overthrown and replaced by the current government. In the Persian Gulf, Iranian and U.S. navies clashed during part of the late 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq war. Iran, formerly known as Persia, is a bit larger than Alaska and has about 65.4 million people.

Source:

1. John Edwards For President, http://johnedwards.com/news/press-releases/20071021-clinton-iowa-mailer-iran/
2. U.S. Senate, http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00349
3. U.S. Senate,
http://www.senate.gov/~clinton/news/statements/details.cfm?id=284561
4. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton
5. CIA World Factbook (public domain), https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html