DES MOINES – Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back at Jeb Bush on Saturday over his accusation that the Obama administration’s handling of the withdrawal of 10,000 troops in Iraq had facilitated the rise of the Islamic State now sweeping violently through Syria and Iraq.
“I find it somewhat curious that Jeb Bush is doubling down on, defending his brother’s actions in Iraq,” she said at a news conference set up outside a barn on the grounds of the Iowa State Fair. “If he’s going to do that, he should present the entire picture,” which, she added, “includes the agreement George W. Bush made with the Maliki government in Iraq that set the end of 2011 as the date to withdraw American troops.”
The remarks capped days of back-and-forth between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Bush and their campaigns and allies over which president – Mr. Bush’s brother or Mrs. Clinton’s former boss, President Obama – is responsible for the rise of the Islamic State.
Mrs. Clinton, who devoted her work at the State Department and beyond to women’s issues, also responded to recent revelations that ISIS soldiers use the enslavement and serial rape of young women who belong to the Yazidi religion minority as a recruiting tool.
“This has to be an Iraqi-led mission,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I think we have to do more, and I hope we will do more to try to get the whole region together and to drive ISIS out of the territory that they occupy to rescue the people they have enslaved, predominantly women.”
Article Source: www.nytimes.com/politics/
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