Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asked a direct question about whether she still stands by her 2002 Iraq War authorization "yes" vote, refused to answer and instead said she thought it was the wrong time to look backward.
Speaking on Meet the Press on Sunday, Clinton said she would leave it to the historians to figure out if invading Iraq was the right decision.
Clinton said: "You know, David [Gregory], I honestly don't think this is a time to be looking back, I think it's a time to be looking forward. I will leave it to history to debate and argue over the merits and demerits of what the United States did over the last decade."
"We're going to have to wait a long time for the Iraqis themselves to answer that question. Freedom, democracy, the opportunities that people now have that were never available under the dictatorships of tyrants like Saddam Hussein, or Qaddafi, is certainly a new world that everyone finds themselves in. I'm proud that the United States has stood on the side of those fundamental freedoms we hold dear."
On George Bush's orders, the United States invaded Iraq in March, 2003, largely on the basis of false US claims that Iraq had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). No such stockpiles were ever discovered after the invasion, and Iraq's people suffered for most of a decade with terrible violence and infrastructure devastation only slowly repaired by the USA.
Thousands of Americans and Iraqis were killed and injured in the Iraq war, which greatly added to huge political divisions in America.
President Obama announced last week all US combat troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year, and Obama declared the Iraq war over. Republicans have criticized the decision, claiming it will lead to political instability, especially from attempts to dominate Iraq made by neighboring Iran.
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