MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov – The recent anti-war remarks by US presidential candidates indicate the growing fatigue in the US society of the government's aggressive militarism abroad, Gerry Condon, Vice President of Veterans For Peace told Sputnik on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, US Democratic White House candidate Hillary Clinton confessed that her vote as a senator in favor of the 2003 Iraq War was a mistake. This followed a similar statement by her challenger from the Republican pool, Jeb Bush.
"The recent statements of both Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, who is also running for president, demonstrate that the American people are rejecting U.S. militarism as unjust and futile," Condon said.
"Veterans For Peace and many other U.S. organizations are busy linking wars abroad with militarization and racist policing here at home. We are building dynamic coalitions which will likely change the entire political landscape in the U.S.," the veteran said.
Condon added, however, he was skeptical of Clinton's pacifist rhetoric, which he said was part of the former US top diplomat's campaign to drum up support ahead of the 2016 presidential vote.
The United States invaded Iraq in March 2003 and officially pulled the troops out in 2011. The war to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime claimed the lives of about 200,000 soldiers and civilians.
Condon also noted that the recent statement by the US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton that her vote as a senator in favor of the war in Iraq was a mistake, is a move aimed at wooing electorate.
On Tuesday, Clinton called her vote in favor of the war a mistake for the first time following a similar statement by the potential 2016 US Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
"If she [Hillary Clinton] sincerely believes she made a mistake – a mistake which has destroyed the lives of millions of people – then she should withdraw from political life altogether, and do penance. Instead, she is craftily positioning herself to win the votes of the American people," Condon said.
Speaking of the Iraq War, Condon said that "the US invasion and occupation of Iraq was no mistake" and that the decision to invade the country was "based on lies that everybody knew at the time were lies."
The United States invaded Iraq in March 2003 and officially pulled the troops out in 2011. The war, that resulted in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, claimed the lives of about 200,000 soldiers and civilians.
