posted on November 16, 2005 05:51:23 PM new
Clinton says U.S. made 'big mistake' in Iraq
Ex-president tells Arab students Bush administration made ‘several errors’
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 U.S. 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.”
Bush responds to critics
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 U.S. 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.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on November 16, 2005 05:56:28 PM new
Right, the biggest mistake in American presidency now lecturing on attacking a country he once labeled as a "danger to the world".
Iraq & terrorists world wide knew clinton was so week and preoccupied he wasnt a danger to any of them.
I gave my liberal neighbors son a book for his birthday. He went crazy trying to find where to put the batteries.
posted on November 16, 2005 08:07:14 PM new
Bear - A video has been made....part of it was aired last night on Fox News.
Shows the film of each and every one of those LIARS making their own statements about just how dangerous saddam was....and that he needed to be removed from power.
I think the more that video is shown....the more eyes will be opened up to the democrats who've been saying the EXACT SAME THING for years. It will show them up as using our Nations security for their own political gain.
posted on November 17, 2005 08:39:59 PM new
"I'll tell you, he was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," Herskowitz told Baker. "One of the things he said to me, is 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of [Kuwait] and he wasted it.'"
Bush has said the Iraq war was the result of 9/11. If so they why was this said in 1999.
More lies from DICK himself:
I think if we were going to remove Saddam Hussein [in 1991] we would have had to go all the way to Baghdad, we would have to commit a lot of force .... then we'd have had to put another government in its place .... it would have been a mistake for us to get bogged down in the quagmire inside Iraq."
I guess Dick forgot what he said too. Only if Dick had a crystal ball.
"The Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them. . . To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic. America owes its men and women in uniform a policy worthy of their sacrifices." Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on November 18, 2005 12:18:27 AM new
Thanks, Logansdad , for that Hagel quote, I've been looking for it. Guess not all the Repugs are brain dead after all
