Clinton: Iraq vote was ‘a mistake, plain and simple’

Presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday said she “made a mistake” when she voted to authorize the Iraq War as a senator in 2002. 

“I’ve made it very clear that I made a mistake, plain and simple, and I have written about it in my book. I’ve talked about it in the past,” Clinton told reporters after an event in Iowa, according to Talking Points Memo. 

Clinton added that the Iraq War is largely responsible for the current turmoil in the country, including the rise of the Islamic militants.

{mosads}”What we now see is a different and very dangerous situation,” she said. “The United States is doing what it can, but ultimately this has to be a struggle that the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people are determined to win for themselves and we can provide support, but they’re going to have to do it,” she said.

Clinton’s comment came in response to a question on whether the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power.

Questions about the Iraq War have tripped up several prospective 2016 presidential candidates, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who answered the question in several different ways before declaring that he would not have authorized the invasion “knowing what we know now.” 

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria gained a foothold in Iraq last summer, due in large part to grievances by Sunni populations under the Shia-dominant government in Baghdad. 

Critics of the administration have blamed chaos in Iraq on the Obama administration’s withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2011.