Report: Hillary to give a "major Iraq speech" on Monday... will outline her plans to pull troops out of Iraq... plans to bash Obama and McCain

The New York Times is reporting that Hillary Clinton will give a "major speech" on Iraq on Monday, in which she will outline her plan to begin withdrawing American troops within 60 days of coming into office. She is expected to say that is the only way to force Iraqi politicians to take responsibility.

Clinton also plans to skewer rival Barack Obama about his stated intention of pulling out all US troops within sixteen months of taking office. According to the Times:

She was also expected to attack Mr. Obama over a recent statement by a former foreign policy adviser, Samantha Power, in which she said the Iraq withdrawal plan Mr. Obama had outlined while campaigning was a
“best-case scenario” that he would revisit once in office. Mr. Obama has defended his stance on withdrawing troops. Mrs. Clinton’s advisers said she would also take on Mr. McCain for a recent comment in which he said American troops could be in the country for 100 years.

John McCain's stated plan for Iraq is to win. (Have you noticed the only people who talk about exit strategies are people who aren't commited to victory?) McCain will follow advice of the generals on the ground. His "100 years"comment was a throw-away line which left-wingers have seized on as evidence McCain wants to stay in Iraq that long. Gimme a break. However, Hillary is right about Obama's stated plan to have all troops out within sixteen months of taking office. That wasn't a throwaway line; it's on his web site. I blogged about Obama's plan here.

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The above photo (credit: Reuters, Jason Cohn) shows Hillary Clinton marching in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 15, 2008.