Clinton says Bush's uranium mistake is understandable

[Nambe]

The Associated Press

President Bush's erroneous reference to an Iraqi-Africa uranium link was understandable, former President Clinton said Tuesday, in part because Saddam Hussein's regime had not accounted for some weapons by the time Clinton ended his term in 2001.

Clinton's comments reinforce one of the pillars of Bush's defense of the war in Iraq - that his Democratic predecessor was never satisfied that Saddam had rid himself of weapons of mass destruction.

"When I left office, there was a substantial amount of biological and chemical material unaccounted for," Clinton said on CNN's "Larry King Live." ---

Clinton confined his remarks to biological and chemical weapons, and did not say whether he would consider credible any report that Saddam had wanted to build a nuclear weapons program.

Nonetheless, he suggested that Bush's mistake was par for the course - and that it was time to move on now that Bush had acknowledged the error. ---

[are_we_united_yet]

1. Bill?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

-sob-

[indictrichardperle]

4. Its the DLC coming out in Clinton

go ahead, the junta conspired to impeach you, just lick their boots. :puke:

[Melsky]

2. Shit

I feel so discouraged right now.

[young_at_heart]

3. ERROR....it's more than that!

We can't move on because of the far-reaching circumstances behind this "error".....Cheney's oil maps for one thing!

[metisnation]

5. who would listen to anything

Clinton says we all know that he was a crook. There is no denying it...he has simply sold out again time to move forward and March!

:kick:

[metisnation]

6. Dupe?

who gonna lock it?

[Mechatanketra]

7. Sigh.

And we wonder why anybody would be crazy enough to believe the Greens' "Republicrat" nonsense. It's bad enough the Republicans are out to destroy the Democratic party, without prominent Democrats HELPING THEM DO IT.

[TennesseeWalker]

8. Why?

Does he really think that America's best interests are being served by saying this? Does he have a legitimate point? Does it prove that the inspectors should have been removed and the war hurriedly started? Does he have mixed feelings about leaving Saddam in power before he left office? Is he trying to clear the path for his wife to be President in 2008?

Everytime I hear him speak, I have more questions. Question W? Question EVERYBODY.

I've had it. Where have all the good men gone? Will no one help us?

[robbedvoter]

9. Mistake? Was preemptive war a mistake or not?

And eversince you had your info, did the UN inspectors find anything? Why couldn't we wait for the inspectors? Sorry, Bill, I love you, but on this one, f* you!

[BeFree]

10. At first glance I say:`

Shut up, Bill.

But look at this: "...par for the course." Could that mean that mistakes from this White House are to be expected?

And then.."now that * had acknowledged the error" But he has NOT admitted the error. Several bowel movements have taken place, yes, but the big cheese has not yet 'admitted' anything. Seems Bill may have just started the fan a'turning?

[Semi_subversive]

11. Looks to me

that he's expecting a seat on the board of the Carlyle Group. Damn, I hate sell-outs!

[whirlygigspin]

14. rantings from the twilight zone

just wondering...

If I wanted to keep the republican party saddled with an old lame
horse for the next big race, what would I do?

thanks Bill!

[w4rma]

12. President Clinton took the DLC position while President Carter opposed it

Read Carter's Nobel Lecture, delivered in Oslo on Dec. 10, 2002.
Carter warns against 'catastrophic' war (December 10, 2002)
A Statement By President Carter: An Alternative To War (January 31, 2003)
Carter: Iraq threat does not justify war (January 31, 2003)
Carter Says Bush Has 'Not Made a Case' for War (February 1, 2003)
Carter Urges More Diplomacy on Iraq - Ex-President Blames Neglect of Mideast for Anti-American Mood (Feburary 25, 2003)
Just War — or a Just War? (March 9, 2003)

[Robin Hood]

13. With friends like this

I don't need no freakin enemies.

Hey Bill, Thanks for nothing. A big liar covering up for another big liar.

[lfairban]

15. Can we quit bitching at people who voted for Nader?

Remember, at the time, the depths of the Bush depravity were not well understood.

[Robin Hood]

17. Perhaps not well understood for those

that do not remember the Reagan/Bush/Quayle years. I knew full well that it would be a nightmare and he has not failed me yet.

[lfairban]

20. Reagan/Bush/Quayle was not THIS bad.

Weird and sickening, but not like this. Nixon, maybe, but not R/B/Q.

By the way, I remember when Eisenhower was president.

[Robin Hood]

23. lol...My bad.

However, Reagan/Bush/Quayle had a Democratic majority in the House and Senate to balance them out. And that is how the American people like it, balanced. That is what I back my theory on why Gore was meant to win the White House. That is what the American people really wanted.

[sasquatch]

16. This sucks

Clinton and the DLC would sell the American people down the river because the lobbyist tell them to.

[Dr. Mullion Blasto]

18. Shut up, Bill

Is there anyone in the DNC who can tell this guy to shut up and be done with it? And while we are on the subject, is there anyone out there now who still doesn't understand why even Gore had the sense to keep this guy away from his campaign. Self-serving doesn't even begin to describe the level of this man's egotism.

[dfong63]

19. par for the course?

sorry, Bill - no sale. Bush's lies led to a war. Bush lied, thousands died. the only way we're gonna "move on", is by escalating this to the impeachment level.

oh yeah - whose side are you on anyway? the side of people who are trying to "take our country back", or the side of the fascist slimeballs we need to take it back from?

[lfairban]

22. You don't really want a straight answer to that,

do you?

[ze_dscherman]

21. Covering his own

Remember: Clinton has blood on his hands as well by not lifting sanctions, bombing Baghdad and the "Free Fly Zones". Absolving Bush by calling his crime an error, is a move to cover his own ass.

[Democat]

24. Why say anything?

He is just undermining our side and helping Bush win in 2004.

Very stupid move by Clinton.

[tlb]

25. Estrich warned how the Clintons don't want a democrat elected in 2004.

That would be an obstacle to Hillary in 2008.

" The Big Dog " Just cut the legs out from under Dean, Kucnich, Graham, and Kerry. That smooths the path for DNC/DLC candididates Gephardt or Lieberman. Does anyone seriously think Gephardt or Lieberman could win ? I certainly don't.

I have been predicting for weeks that Gephardt will be the nominee.
Assuming this is the strategy and it works, it is sickening to think how the day after the dem candidate concedes Hillary will be annointed for 2008.

[TryingToWarnYou]

26. No, no, you guys aren't seeing the big picture....

Every Right wing mouthpiece goes on and on about what a liar Clinton was. By doing what he did, Clinton not only diffused any limelight he would get from the comments, he disarmed any of the idiots like Limbaugh that might want to make a big deal out of it and he failed to give the Right any traction with partisan politics. In other words, they really cant be saying "lookit the support Clinton is giving Bush blah blah blah" because Clinton is an impeached liar and that could be used against them. It was a politically savvy thing to do as most people that have taken as much shit as Clinton has, would have ripped Bush a new one which is exactly what would have been expected. You dont think they had responses already written for what Clinton would say had it gone the other way?

"Comments from an impeached president dont mean much"
"Calls for impeachment from an impeached president are a joke"
"hypocrisy"
etc.

As it is, they can either ignore the comment or all of a sudden show their hypocrisy by using it to support the president. Either clinton is a lying scumbag or he's not and if you choose to use what he said as "support" then it looks even worse for the Right that he "backed" Bush. All of the time spent demonizing Clinton just backfired on them...the one man that they thought they could count on for a critical assessment....didnt give them anything LOL.

Finally, it was also a very classy thing for Clinton to do and made the Dems look good at a time when it would have been really easy to take shots at Bush and this administration. Sorry, I dont see the issue here. I think it was a good thing overall.

[King_Crimson]

28. I agree wholehearedly...

with you. Big Dog is very, very good at using reverse psychology. The ABSOLUTE LAST thing the Fascists want is "that lying scum-bag...Clinton...siding up with them". He is as dangerous to them as the plague!

[umcwb]

27. Locking - Dupe

Please continue your discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=29173&mesg_id=29173&page=



Thanks,
UMCWB
DU LBN Moderator

[Justice]

29. Operation Desert Fox - 1998 Bombing Campaign

Wesley Clark speaks alot about the 4 day 1998 Bombing campaign, led by Gen. Anthony C. Zinni (who Bush originally sent to the Middle East and then yanked). Clark says that the guys who were involved in this campaign think they "got" the sites where WMD was reported to be located. I wish Clinton had expressed his views more like Clark expresses them, as Clark leaves you with the distinct impression that we can't account for WMDs because we destroyed them in 1998.

Intelligence was most certainly used to identify the sites to bomb then -- did we use the same intelligence to justify this war without considering whether the bombing had been successful? How does the intelligence pre-Operation Desert Fox dovetail with the intelligence used to justify this war? I'd like to know the dates of the intelligence reports used to list the various WMDs that Bush spoke of prewar. I believe the Bush adminstration played fast and loose with the dates of the reports they based their information on.

Clinton says he doesn't know whether the 1998 bombing campaign was completely successful, half successful or a failure. Wesley Clark says his sources tell him that the US believed it "got" the WMD (or most of it) in 1998. Clinton says that at the end of his terms certain stockpiles of WMD were "unaccounted for" - which is alot different than saying - as Bush et al have said - Saadam has thousands of gallons/tons etc of WMD. It is Bush that lied to us, not Clinton.

Bush's campaign for war was a mirror what his folks did in 2000 - create a sense of immediate urgency in the country - in 2000, it was that we needed to settle the election or face a constitutional crisis - and in 2003 it was we must invade Iraq or face imminent threat of WMDs in America. His PR folks push the words and the media prints the words - the have done it twice and they will do it again.