Clinton pushing for do-over on war vote

WASHINGTON – Sen. Hillary Clinton is asking her fellow senators to sign on to her and Sen. Robert Byrd’s plan for an Iraq war vote do-over.

In a letter to all 98 other senators provided Sunday to the New York Daily News, Clinton, D-N.Y., and Byrd, D-W.Va., say Congress should haul President Bush back for a new war vote when the Senate debates the 2008 military spending bill in the next few weeks.

The letter, sent Friday, argues that the 2002 vote for the war, which Clinton backed, is hopelessly out of date.

“That authorization, which references the government of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction, is no longer relevant,” they say.

Clinton and Byrd want Congress’ original approval to expire on Oct. 11 – the fifth anniversary of the vote to authorize the use of force against Saddam.

“Our troops have toppled the dictator. The Iraqis have voted in a new government,” the letter says.

“The American public and our troops in the field are entitled to a new debate about this war.”

Clinton’s vote for the war has been one of the thorniest issues of her presidential campaign.

She has refused repeatedly to apologize for authorizing a war she has grown increasingly critical of over the past year and a half.

She has instead said she regrets the way President Bush has used that authority.

Last month, she went so far as to vote against funding the war, as did her prime Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.