Clinton Calls on Americans To Unite in Time of War

WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton yesterday invoked the words of President Franklin Roosevelt in saying "we are all at war," but she dodged a question asking if America "should win."

At the end of a speech on expanding services to veterans, Mrs. Clinton quoted the late president as saying, in the wake of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor: "We are now in this war. We are all in it, all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories." She then added, with an implicit criticism of President Bush: "That was presidential leadership that understood that when American soldiers are in harm's way, we are all at war."

The World War II reference prompted an audience member, during a question and answer period, to tell the presidential candidate that he took her remarks to mean that she also believed "we should win this war."

Mrs. Clinton did not respond directly. Instead, she returned to criticizing the Bush administration, saying it has not asked Americans to sacrifice anything since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. "The only thing that we've been asked to do as a nation since 9/11 is go shopping, and I think that is a disgrace," she said. "I think that is absolutely a message of indifference and insensitivity to the young men and women who are wearing the uniform of our country."

The questioner was the vice chairman of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, Morris Amitay. In an interview after the event, he expressed dismay at Mrs. Clinton's response. "I was very disappointed that in the war we are now in against a ruthless enemy, she could quote President Roosevelt to the effect that we are all in this struggle, but she would not say whether we should win it," he said.

For Mrs. Clinton, the exchange reflected a challenge she and other Democrats have faced in articulating support for American troops overseas while criticizing the president's handling of the Iraq war.

The former first lady was appearing here before a think tank, the Center for American Progress, to call for what she termed a "GI bill of rights" that would increase services to soldiers before and after their deployment. Mrs. Clinton proposed expanded screening for physical and mental illnesses, allowing single-parent soldiers to designate a guardian for their children if they are killed, and establishing an independent review of cases in which soldiers have been denied claims for disability coverage.

Her 30-minute address served both as a formal response to the uproar over poor conditions at the Walter Reed Medical Center and also as an opportunity to position herself, through her work on the Senate Armed Services Committees, as the 2008 candidate most suited to the "vacuum" of leadership she said the Bush administration had left.

Mrs. Clinton's criticism was stinging at times. "This administration is frankly unable to run a two-car parade, let alone a big government," she said after the speech, drawing laughter from the audience.

Asked to respond, the White House referred questions to the Republican National Committee, citing the political nature of the comments. "If left to be the marshal of her own two-car parade, Senator Clinton would no doubt take our country to the far left," an RNC spokeswoman, Tracey Schmitt, said.