BILL CLINTON'S BAD BEHAVIOR
NEW YORK POST
Editorial
November 17, 2005
Bill Clinton demonstrated yet again yesterday that, as far as he's concerned, the rules don't apply to him.
In a speech to students at the American University of Dubai, the former president fired a rhetorical broadside against President Bush, saying the invasion of Iraq was "a big mistake."
Toppling Saddam Hussein may have been "a good thing," said Clinton, "but I don't agree with what was done."
He particularly blasted the decision to "dismantle the whole authority structure of Iraq," suggesting that the U.S. should have left Saddam's "fundamental military and social and police structure intact."
Thanks for nothing, Bill.
It has long been accepted that former presidents do not publicly criticize their successors, particularly when it comes to foreign policy; certainly the first President Bush held his tongue when it came to judging Clinton's dubious foreign-policy performance.
To be sure, Jimmy Carter violated that pact long ago — but then, he'd been hungrily campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize, the first requirement of which is a solid record of America-bashing.
(A failed president himself, he was uniquely qualified for that task. Now that he's been given the award, he has a new book to flog.)
As for Clinton — well, his wife is pretty clearly running for president, an unprecedented situation. She's been talking particularly tough on terrorism — but what does it mean?
Look for Bill and Hillary to put together a political tag-team act in the months and years ahead, with Bill playing bad cop in sticking it to the current president while the New York senator adopts a more "statesmanlike" — that is, presidential — approach.
For the record, it should be noted that the man who's now railing about America's "big mistake" in its Iraq policy is the same president who told the nation in 1998 that Saddam Hussein posed a threat to world security because of his WMD programs.
"The best way to end that threat once and for all is with
a new Iraqi government — a government ready to live in
peace with its neighbors, a government that respects the
rights of its people," said Clinton then.
And, he warned, establishing such a government would take a great deal of time and effort.
Just as the Bush administration has been learning.
Anyway, what Bill Clinton said was bad enough — what makes it worse is where he chose to say it.
Not in this country, but in the Middle East — where the current administration has been working so hard and successfully to bring democracy and dampen the flames of Islamic radicalism.
Little surprise, though, that Clinton's listeners responded to his remarks with "cheers and a standing ovation."
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