Hillary Clinton Also Goes to Iraq, but she does it in the full light of day and even takes a look around. Of course, she is not the target that Dubya is: She isn't hated world-wide.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Senator Hillary Clinton called Friday for a wider international role in running Iraq, but doubted the U.S. administration would cede much control in the country it invaded and occupied.
"I'm a big believer that we ought to internationalize this, but it will take a big change in our administration's thinking," Clinton, a Democrat from New York, said during a nearly 10-hour visit to Baghdad where she met with U.S. troops, military chiefs and civilian officials including U.S. administrator Paul Bremer.
"I don't see that it's forthcoming," said the wife of former President Bill Clinton.
Clinton, who has ruled out a 2004 presidential bid, arrived in Baghdad with Democrat Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island a day after President Bush's surprise Thanksgiving visit to U.S. troops and Iraqi officials in the capital.
Bush's trip was widely seen as a move to boost the flagging morale of a U.S. military facing mounting casualties at the hands of a deepening guerrilla insurgency nearly eight months after the overthrow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The Bush and Clinton visits also come as senior Iraqi officials on the U.S.-backed Governing Council struggle to define terms of an agreement for the handover of sovereignty to Iraqis.
Clinton said the United Nations -- which pulled all but a handful of foreign staff from Iraq after the August bombing of its Baghdad headquarters -- could still play a role in administering Iraq, easing the burden on the United States.
"We're in a very difficult political situation, trying to expedite a process for self-governance that will be very challenging," she said.
"It's no longer sufficient for our military to win battles, but they have to win the hearts and minds. It's a very big challenge," Clinton said.
