WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In perhaps her strongest statement to date, Sen. Hillary Clinton told Democratic National Committee members Friday that she would never have invaded Iraq in the first place and, if elected president, would end U.S. involvement.

"If I had been president in October of 2002, I would not have started this war," Clinton told the party faithful, some of them concerned about her 2003 vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq -- a vote she has not directly called a mistake.

"If we in Congress don't end this war before January 2009, as president I will," added the New York Democrat, who announced late last month she is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

As she discussed Iraq, the New York Democrat was forced to speak over shouts for more definitive action from the anti-war group Code Pink, some of whose members were arrested earlier this week outside Clinton's Senate office.

While not speaking to the group directly, Clinton acknowledged "frustration and outrage" over the war, but explained that in the Senate, "you have to have 60 votes to cap troops, to limit funding, to do anything."