Clinton: U.S. troops needed in Iraq beyond 2009 - CNN.com

Clinton: U.S. troops needed in Iraq beyond 2009 - CNN.com

Clinton: U.S. troops needed in Iraq beyond 2009
Story Highlights
• Presidential candidate says small force should remain past 2009
• New York senator says troops would fight terrorists, train Iraqis
• Scenario works only if Iraqis "get their act together," she says
• Sen. Barack Obama laid out similar plan on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- If elected president, Sen. Hillary Clinton said, she would likely keep some U.S. forces in Iraq in a supporting role after 2009 because America has "a remaining military as well as a political mission" that requires a presence there.

However, in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, Clinton said the American troops would not play a role in trying to curb sectarian violence.

Rather, they would be positioned north of Baghdad to combat terrorists, support the Kurds, counter any Iranian moves into Iraq and provide logistical, air and training support to the Iraqi government "if the Iraqis ever get their act together."

"If there is not any political resolution, the civil war will continue and we need to get out of the way," she told the Times. (Watch how Americans think the war is goingVideo)

Clinton aides say her comments are consistent with a broader plan by Democrats in Congress to begin redeploying combat troops, with the goal of having U.S. forces out of Iraq by March 2008. However, some political analysts say her support for a continued presence in Iraq could touch a raw nerve with anti-war Democrats.

"They're really not sure that she's with them on Iraq and other issues," said Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "So they're suspicious, and that suspicion shows itself in what they say about her."

In 2002, Clinton voted for a congressional resolution authorizing President Bush to take military action in Iraq. And although she's become a vocal critic of the way the war has been executed, she has repeatedly refused demands from anti-war Democrats to admit her vote was a mistake, although she has said "knowing what I know now, I would not have voted for it."

Of her two closest rivals for the Democratic nomination, former Sen. John Edwards, has said his vote in favor of the 2002 resolution was a mistake; Sen. Barack Obama was still a state legislator in Illinois at the time of that vote, but he has opposed the war from the beginning.

Wednesday, Obama outlined a plan for maintaining a U.S. presence in Iraq similar to Clinton's.

"Withdrawal would be gradual, and we'd keep some U.S. troops in the region to prevent a wide war, to go after al Qaeda and other terrorists," he said.

The question is whether, given her previous record on Iraq, Clinton's call for continuing a U.S. presence might resonate differently with anti-war activists.

"They are not inclined to cut her much slack," Sabato said. "They are inclined to cut Barack Obama quite a bit of slack and John Edwards some slack as well."



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China Says U.S. Move on Macau Bank Threatens Talks

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. moves against a Macau bank it accused of laundering money for North Korea threaten an agreement with Kim Jong Il's government to end its nuclear weapons program, China's Foreign Ministry said.

``We have expressed our deep regret to the U.S. side,'' ministry spokesman Qin Gang said today in a regular briefing in Beijing. ``We believe the U.S. side should take actions that help stimulate progress in the six-party talks and help in maintaining social stability of the Macau Special Administrative Region.''

North Korea on Feb. 13 agreed to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in exchange for food and energy aid and prospects of normalizing ties with the U.S. and Japan. Under the accord, North Korea has 60 days to shut its Yongbyon nuclear reactor.

U.S. Treasury Department officials took action yesterday that could free North Korean funds frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia SARL even as the regulators cut the financial institution off from the U.S. banking system. The accounts were frozen soon after the Treasury Department blacklisted the bank in 2005, saying it was a ``money-laundering concern.''

``I'm pretty confident that we'll get through this issue, just fine,'' U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said. ``My sense is they were concerned about the effect on Macau as a banking center.''

``Our concern is the long term future of BDA, not Macau monetary authorities, so frankly we try to make it very clear to the Chinese that we are supportive of Macau. I think we'll be ok on this issue,'' he told reporters.

18-Month Probe

U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey said yesterday that an 18-month probe found Banco Delta Asia had allowed North Korea to launder money. The findings will be shared with authorities in Macau, who will then decide whether to release as much as $25 million in North Korean accounts at the bank, he said.

North Korea's government is demanding the return of the money before it will allow nuclear inspectors into the country, the chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said in Beijing yesterday after holding talks in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

The U.S. move could hurt the financial sector in Macau, a thriving gambling center and former Portuguese colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1999, Qin said.

``We have to consider how to push for progress of the six- party talks,'' Qin said. ``We also have concerns about Macau. We believe both should be taken into full consideration.''

Envoys Meet

Hill and envoys from China, Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea are in Beijing this week to begin work on following through on the Feb. 13 agreement. The envoys will begin discussing in detail steps needed to dismantle the plutonium- producing Yongbyon reactor on March 17 and 18.

The U.S. decision won't affect Japan's stance on pushing for North Korea's nuclear disarmament, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.

``This is a U.S. law enforcement decision and has no impact on Japan,'' Abe told reporters today in Tokyo. ``North Korea must abandon its nuclear program in line with the agreement reached at the six-party talks.''

Japan has refused to give energy assistance unless North Korea pledges to resolve its kidnapping of Japanese citizens three decades ago. Representatives from Japan and North Korea met last week in Hanoi for two days as part of the agreement and made no progress on the abduction issue.

The Treasury decision ``won't change the direction of the discussions we've made so far,'' Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said at a regular press conference in Tokyo earlier today. ``We will just wait for the Macau authorities' decision.''

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's de facto central bank, said today in a statement that it ``will monitor closely'' the situation regarding Banco Delta Asia, and its Hong Kong subsidiary Delta Asia Credit Ltd.

``The HKMA will take such supervisory measures as appear necessary from time to time to ensure that the interests of the depositors of DAC remain protected,'' an unidentified HKMA spokesman said in the statement.