Clinton confronts anti-war activists at liberal conference
 Democratic 2008 front-runner Hillary Clinton on Wednesday bluntly said Iraq's government had failed, and condemned President George W. Bush on stem-cell research as she wooed liberal activists.
Senator Clinton attracted sporadic boos from peace campaigners angered by her past positions on the war, but repeated ovations for her domestic policies, as she addressed the "Take Back America" conference of 3,000 activists.
"The American military has succeeded, it is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions that are important for their own people," Clinton said.
That comment drew boos and jeers from a group of "Code Pink" anti-war activists, who held up signs that read "Out of Iraq Now."
"You know, I love coming here every year, I see the signs: 'Lead us out of Iraq now.' That is what we are trying to do," Clinton said, referring to her visit to the conference last year when she was roundly booed after refusing to sign up to firm dates for troop withdrawal.
Clinton, who, like other Democrats, has been under pressure from the party's anti-war base, pointed out that last month she voted against the new 100 billion dollar emergency budget for the conflict.
But many activists still remember her 2002 vote authorizing Bush's use of force against Iraq, and her refusal to apologize for it.
Democratic 2008 contenders Senator Barack Obama and ex-senator John Edwards, the 2004 vice-presidential nominee, on Tuesday used the conference to heap extra pressure on Clinton over Iraq.
"So many of us knew back then, even when it wasn't popular to say so, we knew back then this war was a mistake," Obama said.
Although Obama opposed the war in 2002, he was then only serving in the Illinois state legislature, and was spared the high pressure vote which Clinton was forced to make.
Edwards, then a US senator, voted the same way as Clinton, but now says he regrets it.
Clinton also hit out at Bush hours before his veto of legislation loosening restrictions on federal funds for embryonic stem cell research.
"This is just one example of how the president puts ideology before science, politics before the needs of our families -- just one more example of how out-of-touch with reality he and his party have become," she said.
"When I am president, I will lift the ban on stem cell research."
In a straw poll conducted at the conference, activists preferred Obama over Edwards and Clinton.
Obama took 29 percent of the 720 votes cast, just ahead of Edwards who polled 26 percent. Clinton was third on 17 percent in the non-scientific poll.
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