Clinton: Edwards’ Iran charge goes ‘way too far’
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s recent vote to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization drew a fresh round of fire Tuesday from her presidential rivals during a debate in Iowa.
As in past debates, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards was the harshest on the New York Democrat for the three month-old vote, saying it allows for an all out declaration of war on Iran. Clinton immediately fired back, calling the charge “outlandish” and saying it went “way too far.”
“I understand politics, and I understand making outlandish political charges, but this really goes way too far,” she said. “In fact, having designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, we’ve actually seen some changes in their behavior.
“There is absolutely no basis for a rush to war, which I oppose and have opposed for two years,” she added.”
Sen. Joe Biden, who voted against giving the revolutionary guard the terrorist designation, hit back on Clinton, saying, “It’s not about not advocating a rush to war — I’m advocating no war.”
Edwards said the vote was “exactly what Bush and Cheney wanted,” and Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd called his vote against the measure “leadership on a critical issue.”
Sen. Barack Obama, who missed the Senate vote, held back on criticizing Clinton directly, but took issue with the measure for suggesting “that we should structure, in some way, our forces in Iraq with the goal of blunting Iranian influence in Iraq.”
The sharp exchange was an exception in an otherwise calm two hour radio debate aired on NPR. Differing from previous debates, only three issues were covered — Iran, China, and immigration.
The debate came one day after a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate found that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003 — which is starkly different from a previous intelligence estimate that said Tehran was bent on developing nuclear weapons.
In a press conference earlier Wednesday, President Bush said U.S. policy toward Iran would not change.
