Democratic presidential hopefuls compete on how to end Iraq war

Jun 4, 2007, 0:39 GMT

Manchester, New Hampshire - Democratic presidential candidates sparred Sunday over the fastest way to withdraw US troops from Iraq, with frontrunner Hillary Clinton accusing Iraqis of failing to capitalize on their freedom from Saddam Hussein.

National security featured heavily in the televised debate between eight Democratic hopefuls in New Hampshire, the state where both major parties are holding their first primary elections in early 2008.

Clinton's rivals for the centre-left presidential nomination put the US senator from New York state on the defensive for having backed the Congressional war authorization that preceded the 2003 US-led of invasion of Iraq ordered by President George W Bush.

She responded by taking a lofty approach that sought to play down Democratic rivals who have harder anti-war stands.

'I think it's important to point out this is George Bush's war,' Clinton said. 'We are trying to end the war, and each of us has made that very clear.'

'The differences are minor. The differences between us and the Republicans are major,' she said, insisting again that her vote for the war was 'sincere' based on the information she had at the time.

Clinton's closest contender, US Senator Barack Obama, pointed out that he opposed the war from the start.

John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, portrayed himself as more anti-war than both Clinton and Obama. He lambasted Senate Democrats for backing a recent legislative compromise that dropped a timetable for a US troop withdrawal from a war funding bill to avoid a veto by Bush.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former ambassador to the United Nations, said he would swiftly ask Congress to 'de-authorize' the Iraq war - which he called a civil war - if he became president.

Clinton sought to shift blame to Iraqis, paying tribute to US troops who she said had provided a chance for democracy that Iraqis had wasted.

'They gave the Iraqi people a chance for elections and to have a government. It is the Iraqis who have failed to take advantage of that opportunity,' she said.

Other topics at the two-hour debate included energy policy, the environment and proposals by all of the major Democratic candidates to expand health care insurance.

With Bush constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, US voters will choose a new president in November 2008 - but campaigning by both major parties is already in full swing.