Democratic Candidates Call For End To Iraq War

The candidates, among them leading contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, called for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, but disagreed on the best way to accomplish this.

Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, said, "And I can only end by saying that, if this president [Bush] does not get us out of Iraq, when I'm president, I will."

Clinton, who leads the national polls in the Democratic race, refused, however, to apologize for her 2002 Senate vote authorizing the Iraq war or to call her vote a mistake.

The debate was held in the state of South Carolina, which will hold the southern United States' first nominating vote in January.

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org