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Fri 18 Nov, 2005 12:26 pm
Bill Clinton Calls Iraq 'Big Mistake'
By Lara Sukhtian
The Associated Press
Wednesday 16 November 2005
Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Former President Clinton told Arab students Wednesday the United States made a "big mistake" when it invaded Iraq, stoking the partisan debate back home over the war.
Clinton cited the lack of planning for what would happen after Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
"Saddam is gone. It's a good thing, but I don't agree with what was done," Clinton told students at a forum at the American University of Dubai.
"It was a big mistake. The American government made several errors ... one of which is how easy it would be to get rid of Saddam and how hard it would be to unite the country."
Clinton's remarks came when he was taking questions about the US invasion, which began in 2003. His response drew cheers and a standing ovation at the end of the hour-long session.
Clinton said the United States had done some good things in Iraq: the removal of Saddam, the ratification of a new constitution and the holding of parliamentary elections.
"The mistake that they made is that when they kicked out Saddam, they decided to dismantle the whole authority structure of Iraq.... We never sent enough troops and didn't have enough troops to control or seal the borders," Clinton said.
As the borders were unsealed, "the terrorists came in," he said.
Clinton said it would have been better if the United States had left Iraq's "fundamental military and social and police structure intact."
Democrats are accusing President Bush of having misled the American public about the urgency of the Iraqi threat before his order to invade, and Bush on Monday threw back at Democratic critics the worries they once expressed about Saddam.
"They spoke the truth then and they're speaking politics now," Bush charged.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld continued Bush's attack, citing the words of Clinton and others from his administration as saying Saddam was a security threat to the United States and its allies.
At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld noted the Iraq Liberation Act that Congress passed in 1998 had said it should be US government policy to support Saddam's removal from power. He noted that Clinton signed the act and ordered four days of bombing in December 1998.
Recent opinion polls show Bush as having the lowest approval rating of his presidency. In AP-Ipsos polling, a majority of Americans say Bush is not honest and they disapprove of his handling of foreign policy and the war on terrorism.
"Hey, all you guys ticked at Bush, just remember we all knew we'd have to do something about Saddam someday."
Bill Clinton, July 2003
AliceInWonderland wrote:"Hey, all you guys ticked at Bush, just remember we all knew we'd have to do something about Saddam someday."
Bill Clinton, July 2003
Where did you get this quote Alice?
I doubt it is from Clinton... did
you make it up?
AliceInWonderland wrote:"Hey, all you guys ticked at Bush, just remember we all knew we'd have to do something about Saddam someday."
Bill Clinton, July 2003
Even if he did say it, he was given the same false inelegance from the Bush administration for 3 years after he stopped getting intelligence reports himself from the CIA. It's a former president rite to continue receiving intelligence reports and he opts out.
So he is with the many congress men who were given false information and regret their decisions because they know the truth now. At least Clinton can admit making mistakes, something Bush is incapable of.
Yeah, Clinton was quite supportive of the invasion at one time. I took it as honest, apolitical support, based on what he knew at the time. I assume the same of his present stance.
Funny that the rest of the speech is ignored:
wcbs
"The mistake that they made is that when they kicked out Saddam, they decided to dismantle the whole authority structure of Iraq. ... We never sent enough troops and didn't have enough troops to control or seal the borders," he said.
Quote:Where did you get this quote Alice?
I doubt it is from Clinton... did you make it up?
Now, that's just plain rude and uncalled-for.
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Your memory must be pretty short if you don't remember Clinton's support for the invasion of Iraq early on - many Dems were unhappy about it at the time. Of course he has the right to change his mind now, but let's not re-write history here.
You're right, re-writing history is definitely the province of the Bush White House, can't have too much competition.
I am growing fond of Clinton. He is a rascal, but he did a better job. Anyways, I've never cared who which politician is boinking. (S)he just needs to work without fing everything up!
Like Carter, he's turning into a real good ex-president, flushd.
Jumping on the bandwagon? (Clinton, I mean)
AliceInWonderland wrote:"Hey, all you guys ticked at Bush, just remember we all knew we'd have to do something about Saddam someday."
Bill Clinton, July 2003
Maybe we did, but it would have been better if we hadn't gone in with our head up our butt. It would have been better if we really knew why we went in at all, minus all the BS.
Bottom line, it would have been much better if we hadn't handed it over to be an Islamic Theocracy. Read their new constitution and see how you like it. Then tell me how happy you are that we spent 300Bill and 2000+ lives.