Clinton attacks war haste

[Kellanved]

THE US should have given more time to weapons inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, former president Bill Clinton said yesterday.

Mr Clinton, speaking in Germany on his first European stop to promote his autobiography My Life, also criticised his successor President George W. Bush for attempting to push the US too far to the right.

"I wouldn't have invaded Iraq," he told ZDF television.

During the interview, Mr Clinton further lauded presidential candidate John Kerry.

...
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10108474%255E401,00.html

[annxburns]

1. GO BIG DOG ...

...

(small celebration for having reached 300 posts. WHO ... hoo)

[NMDemDist2]

3. congrats!! n/t

[azmesa207]

8. Go Big Dog

Your right on that score but just wait until all the right wing hacks hear that They will say he should not criticize Bush in a foreign land it will disrupt the troops or some hogwash like that.

[mom cat]

11. Good Job! Keep um coming!

:party:

[MasonJar]

2. He needs to say it loud and clear to the US press.

[keta11]

4. I am tired of the mixed messages

from WJC and his wife on the illegal war . One day they say they would have voted for it, another day they say they wouldnt have invaded. Come on, stay on the right side. NO WAR!!!!

[Toucano]

5. Their message is perfectly consistent.

In the first place, Bill Clinton didn't have a vote, so he didn't speak about how he would have voted. He spoke about what he would have done with the authority congress gave the president (since, you know, he was a president).

Please remember, they are not joined at the hip.

[2cents]

9. It's inconsistent with his...

earlier philosophy:

"When we look weak in a time where people feel insecure, we lose. When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody who's strong and wrong than somebody who's weak and right."

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?cp=1&kaid=126&subid=189&contentid=251085

[Toucano]

14. You've taken that out of context and misunderstood it.

The whole quote from the link you referenced is as follows:

The last point I want to make is we've got to be strong. When we look weak in a time where people feel insecure, we lose. When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody who's strong and wrong than somebody who's weak and right. When I went into Bosnia or Kosovo, and some Republican leader criticized me, if I had run ads in his state against him, the Republicans would have shut down the operations of the Senate until we stopped. What was done to Tom Daschle was unconscionable, but our refusal to stand up and defend him in a disciplined way was worse. We should not demonize them. That's not who we are. But we should defend ourselves. You just remember that when people are insecure, they'd rather have somebody who's strong and wrong than somebody who's weak and right.

He's speaking about domestic politics, not foreign relations.

He's saying we have to stand up for ourselves AS DEMOCRATS against the republican attack machine.

AND his statement is an observation about human nature, not a statement of his position on the war. He's not advocating invading anyone, he's describing what he sees as the natural tendancy of people when faced with a particular set of options.

He's essentially saying that if people have a choice between

a.) someone who appears weak (as in won't fight back) but is probably right...

or

b.) someone who appears strong (bullies everyone) but may well be wrong...

we need to give them

c.) someone who appears strong and is right.

Otherwise, in times of uncertainty, they may erroneously think the bully is what they need.

[2cents]

15. Hardly, here's Clinton's subsequent reiteration...

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=106&subid=122&contentid=251216

snip

Without a strong position on national security, Democrats won't be listened to on other issues. We cannot overestimate the psychological impact of Sept. 11. Pulling together after the attacks, the American people felt a deep need for unity and strength. When people feel uncertain, they would rather have somebody who's wrong and strong than somebody who is weak and right.

That's why Democrats bear just as heavy a responsibility to unite the nation on national security as does the party in the White House. We need a national message that says where we agree and disagree with the Republicans, one that defends our record and offers positive proposals for the future. Our record is strong: Democrats have been virtually unanimous in supporting the fight against terror and additional defense spending to get it done. Most Democrats have supported the president on Iraq. They've said yes to unlimited inspections and the use of force if the United Nations resolution is not honored.

[Malva Zebrina]

6. this Clinton team is expectant of a Hillary run

Let's face it--it is a team, and therefore are playing the game as much as anyone else.

I have lost a little bit of respect for Hillary, although I know she works hard and is very bright. I think that Bill was one of the best presidents, except for his dalliance.

But they are politicians that are playing the game.

Hillary voted to give Bush the blank check.

We all know what he did with it.

I think they all knew also what he would do with it and approved of that, but wanted to hold the Ace in their hand for the plausable denial they knew would be forthcoming. That is that once he screwed it up, they could claim that they were bamboozled by Tenet or any other scapegoat that would be handy.

That friends, is called politics.

But, ten thousand people died , all civilians, and almost one thousand of our own died.

and that is called politics.

and it is all politics.

Politics as usual.

After this election, I am not so sure I will be so active or enthused about politics . My perceptions have been jaded after seeing all that has happened on BOTH sides of the aisle for the past three and half years.

I think I may just throw up my hands in disgust at the machinations of all of them.


We are going, ever the moreso, to the right, I think. I do not want to go to that far to the right. It is not my idea of what I think this country is about.

[Placebo]

7. Oh GAWD

Now the repubs will come back with all their "clinton let osama get away!" lines or "al qaeda attacked us under clinton and he didn't do a thing!" lines

or my favourite "it's unprecedented for a former president to attack a sitting WARTIME president in such a manner! doesn't he care about our troops? this destroys morale! gives aid to the terrorists! at least bush never lied to us!"

riiiiiiiight

GO CLINTON GO! I'm already preparing my "Hillary in 2008" posters if kerry should for some unforeseeable reason lose this time around, and the nation declares its political retardation in electing bush to a second term.

[LTR]

10. Or...

They'll blast him for criticizing the president to foreign media.

The wonders never cease.

[Solly Mack]

12. I know this won't matter to some people

but as a military family, I want someone to stand up say this war was wrong.

Everyday, more and more soldiers are coming to grips with the truth. Everyday, more and more military families are having their blinders removed and seeing Iraq for what it is - a lie.

True, some soldiers and their families will never accept that Iraq is a lie. They will never believe the so painfully obvious.

But for many of us, those who knew before the invasion began that it was all a lie, and those who learned the hard way, we need someone to stand up and tell us...we are sorry you died for our mistakes. We are sorry we sent you off to your deaths for a lie. We are sorry your limbs have been torn from your bodies for nothing more than politics. We are sorry your family has been ripped a part because we didn't do the right thing.

Like Moore said...they'll fight for their country and they will die for their country...but, please, make it a fight worth fighting for...worth dying for. Not lies. Please, never again, not with lies.

And it's not just American soldiers and their families that need to hear this. Iraqi families need to hear it as well. For all the people who have suffered because of the lies, please, someone, show us you know the deaths and pain of those we love registered with you. That their passings were not lost on you. That you won't forget the destruction a lie can bring.


It may be politics to some but it's a matter of life and death to people like me.

[Q]

13. Yes...politics has become more important than the life and death issues...

...in a country where we don't belong. Americans soldiers are still dying or maimed every day....but America is too busy cheering for Bush* and Kerry to care or pay attention.

- The Iraq 'war' was a war of first, not last resort. Bush* and his enablers broke national and international laws with their unprovoked, aggressive war.