Clinton strikes back at Bush on Iraq

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton shot back at accusations from Republican opponent Jeb Bush on Saturday. Earlier in the week, Bush had blamed President Obama and his then-Secretary of State Clinton for a "premature" pullout from Iraq, thereby giving rise to the "Islamic State" (IS) terrorist organization.

Clinton, who was on the campaign trail at the Iowa State Fair, a must for any presidential hopeful, reminded the crowd that Jeb's brother, former President George W. Bush, had already made an agreement with Iraq's ex-prime minister to withdraw troops.

"I find it somewhat curious that Jeb Bush is doubling down on defending his brother's actions in Iraq," Clinton said, arguing that if Bush was going to criticize Obama's actions in Iraq, "he needs to present the entire picture."

"And the entire picture, as you know, includes the agreement that George W. Bush made with the (Nouri al-) Maliki government in Iraq that set the end of 2011 as the date to withdraw American troops."

Bush: We may have to send more troops

In his first foreign policy speech, made to a crowd in California on Tuesday, Bush had suggested it might even be necessary to send more troops back to Iraq to deal with the crisis created by the rise of IS.

"Right now, we have around 3,500 soldiers and Marines in Iraq, and more may well be needed," said Bush, saying that the 2011 withdrawal was responsible for "creating the void that (IS) moved in to fill."

Clinton contended, however, that the time for a US-fronted military mission in Iraq had passed: "This has to be an Iraqi-led mission. I think we have to do more and I hope we will do more to try to get the whole region together to drive ISIS out of the territory that they occupy, to rescue the people they have enslaved, predominantly women."

es/bk (AFP, Reuters)