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."
She does not say this literally - the line about "war hero".
She is saying it because she thinks he deserves a medal for remaining gentlemanly as the Dems and Media wage war on him. She is only pointing out, otherwise, that he served honorably in the Texas Air Guard, yet these cretins even lied and slandered him about that. But she does not mean that he did heroic deeds in an actual war.
Unless, of course, you acknowledge that it takes guts and skill to fly an F-102, and we were in the Cold War.
As for his statement about "vigilantes", I saw when he said that. He was asked a question, before he or very many people knew what the Minutemen were about. Millions of Americans I am sure believed that these folks felt driven to take measures similar to law enforcement, because our own law enforcement was not working on the borders. The Media distorted what the Minutemen were about, and only after they operated for awhile did we see their tactics.
The only thing I fault him for is that after it became more apparent that they were not acting as vigilantes as he had feared, he would have done better to officially retract the answer that he had given to the reporter's question.
I think it is wrong to hold that against him as if he had never done anything else noble or good.
No you are not a Bush supporter, you are a Bush basher.
Right on. I voted for w twice, but I'm getting sick of his turning on our causes. His bumbling and pussyfooting in the Iraq war is bad too. Recently, I've come to the conclusion that someone as inarticulate as he just can't be very bright. I'm sick of this bloat the government crap. Bush is severely damaging the reputation of the Republican party, and I think that soon he will become the typhoid Mary of politics. He seems similar to Bob Taft (RINO governor of Ohio) who has a 17% approval rating here. Bush is a four letter word just like Taft.
You are not a Bush supporter either.
Birds of a feather flock together. Mr. Bush - please get a clue . .
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The Libs continue to take advantage of Bush's nice-guy attitude. The Repubs don't fight back -- where is the blazing outrage from the Repub ranks that should be showing Clinton NOW ??? It is very discouraging to watch..
"Then sometimes I want to tell the President he needs to expose them for what they are..."
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"But, that is exactly what he is doing without saying a word against them!"
Silence is golden.
This is exactly why I find him unimpressive. A good and wise man who knew nothing of the Minutemen would have withheld his comments, but he didn't and he went ahead and incorrectly labeled them.
Bubba is looking pretty bad these days. He looks like an old man. He is starting to act and look like Peanut-Boy Carter, the worst president that we have ever had.
I've come to the conclusion that someone who says something this stupid just can't be very bright.
And this was the least stupid thing in your entire post.
Got proof you ever voted for this extremely intelligent Harvard MBA.......even once?
True. He does not look well.
"Bill Clinton remains a true scumbag in every sense of the word. Obviously, Clinton is stiring the pot for his wifes future political ambitions. After all the nice treatment from Bush41 and Bush43, Clinton shows he is a classless a-hole."
My opinion of Clinton remains unchanged.
Seriously??
Eddie Yost?
"Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors"
Well what would you expect from a White Trash Draft Dodger!
You clearly misunderstood what was being said in that post.
Your entire post is pure rubbish.
He's running for Hitlery's campaign now, obviously, and these criticisms make him as odious as Carter, if such a thing is possible. Despicable still describes the Clintons. She must ever become prez or the Republic is really finished. Think what Billious would do again in the WH! Holy cats! The idea is so repugnant I may be ill now just imagining that disaster. GAG!
Silence is golden.
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Yes, and Clinton couldn't keep his mouth shut if it paid a $50 gold piece per minute.
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