Posted on 09/18/2005 2:48:44 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
Former US president Bill Clinton sharply criticised George W. Bush for the Iraq War and the handling of Hurricane Katrina, and voiced alarm at the swelling US budget deficit.
Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors, Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq "virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction."
The Iraq war diverted US attention from the war on terrorism "and undermined the support that we might have had," Bush said in an interview with an ABC's "This Week" programme.
Clinton said there had been a "heroic but so far unsuccessful" effort to put together an constitution that would be universally supported in Iraq.
The US strategy of trying to develop the Iraqi military and police so that they can cope without US support "I think is the best strategy. The problem is we may not have, in the short run, enough troops to do that," said Clinton.
On Hurricane Katrina, Clinton faulted the authorities' failure to evacuate New Orleans ahead of the storm's strike on August 29.
People with cars were able to heed the evacuation order, but many of those who were poor, disabled or elderly were left behind.
"If we really wanted to do it right, we would have had lots of buses lined up to take them out," Clinton.
He agreed that some responsibility for this lay with the local and state authorities, but pointed the finger, without naming him, at the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
FEMA boss Michael Brown quit in response to criticism of his handling of the Katrina disaster. He was viewed as a political appointee with no experience of disaster management or dealing with government officials.
"When James Lee Witt ran FEMA, because he had been both a local official and a federal official, he was always there early, and we always thought about that," Clinton said, referring to FEMA's head during his 1993-2001 presidency.
"But both of us came out of environments with a disproportionate number of poor people."
On the US budget, Clinton warned that the federal deficit may be coming untenable, driven by foreign wars, the post-hurricane recovery programme and tax cuts that benefitted just the richest one percent of the US population, himself included.
"What Americans need to understand is that ... every single day of the year, our government goes into the market and borrows money from other countries to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, and our tax cuts," he said.
"We have never done this before. Never in the history of our republic have we ever financed a conflict, military conflict, by borrowing money from somewhere else."
Clinton added: "We depend on Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Korea primarily to basically loan us money every day of the year to cover my tax cut and these conflicts and Katrina. I don't think it makes any sense."
This is just the latest attempt by a failed president to elevate himself by putting others down. He's a vile human being, which is no doubt too generous a comment!
You are much too kind.
Most of the descriptive phrases I might use are not printable.
"I'm so glad that Daddy Bush and President Bush have been so nice to clinton. It really has paid off, big time. "
One thing that ex-President Bush and Barbara hate more than anything is anyone savaging their son. This should end the relationship between the Clintons and the Bushes - I hope. It was an unholy alliance IMHO. Light and darkness have no business being yoked together, in the spiritual sense. I hope the Bushes have learned their lesson. It's just that they're just NICE and want to believe the best in people. They wouldn't have expected their 'adopted son' to turn on them, but that's his natural personality. The Clintons had them fooled them bigtime - which is really too bad.
VILE is a good 4 letter word, I could not listen to him this morning for more than 3-4 minutes...please go away!
Didn't get past this part before dismissing your post entirely.
The President accepted responsiblity for what happened........just what a real leader does.
He never said it was 'all his fault.' Not even close.
And you're as much of a "Bush supporter" as I am a Clinton supporter.
Not even close there either....
I have always thought they were just using Slick to keep him in-tow and out of the spot light as much..but it has gone on far enough for anyone to stomach already. Bring out the GLOVES!
Actually, it's modelling Christ that does that to you.
President Bush is a Christian first and a politician second.
That shouldn't bother any of us, should it?
For all of those who are disappointed with Bush, be fair.
When Bill Clinton left office the economy was sagging, Wall Street had been in a bear market for almost a year. Some major corporate heads were cheating thousands of employees out of their life savings. And al Qaeda was stronger than ever, conducting attacks against US embassies and ships without fear of reprisal.
Bush would have to deal with the consequences of Clinton's fumbles within the first year of his presidency.
Saddam is gone. Arafat is dead, branded by Bush as a part of the problem. (Something Clinton never did.) We've had historical elections in the ME, including one yesterday in Afghanistan, with yet another high turnout. And polls in the ME show that OBL's popularity is waning. Taxes are lower, and have brought in higer revenues. As a result, the debt WAS going down before Katrina hit.
Your post has been corrected.
You'd have to be a fool yourself to be fooled by them. Everyone knows they have no integrity.
Gee, anyone wondering what Weldon is going to say?
" You'd have to be a fool yourself to be fooled by them. Everyone knows they have no integrity."
It seems even Billy Graham has been fooled by them -and I never thought I would see that happen! Hopefully he and the Bushes will see them for who they really are.
"That shouldn't bother any of us, should it?"
He also prepares us to war against our enemies!! Once in a while the Lord does lead his people to war!
Psalm 18
34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
He's doing the right thing by completely ignoring this total loser.
W is not "laying down with snakes". He's acting like our best Presidents have acted. He's using Reagan as an example of how an executive should act in office when the opposition party decides to act like a third world leader.
I try to be as civil as I can regarding a former President. But Mr. Clinton, by engaging in rank political sniping against the sitting President, shows he has no honor. I heard him on Meet The Press, and Tim Russert was throwing him softball after softball and lapping the answers up like maple syrup.
And as of yet, I have not seen any fault at the federal level, have you?
xlinton isn't worth a moment of his time, nor a tiny bit of his emotional energy.
He's doing the right thing, Rose.
RE: Pres. Bush and Clintoon . . .
First of all, the President plays chess, not just checkers. He has a plan here.
Next, while Clintoon is talking about Katrina victims or whatever, he is NOT talking ABOUT Hillary. He MIGHT be setting the stage for her, but he's not by her side and while we know their marriage is a sham, he's not even TRYING to make them look "married." I don't even think he's setting the stage to help her--has he ever done anything for anyone else in his life??? (except for Monica, but let's not go there; that was ultimately for his "self" too . . . )
And . . . while he is raising money for Katrina victims, he is NOT raising money for . . . Hillary.
lets see gave kennedy a reward........worked out great .....lets see trying to be bubba's pal.....see what that got him?? two snakes1
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