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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rollcast... who wrote (75403)	2/18/2003 11:31:28 PM
From: paul_philp	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

McCain to Carter, Clinton: SHUT UP! Saying he was concerned that public criticism of President Bush by former U.S. leaders was damaging to America's interests, Sen. John McCain, R. Ariz., told ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter on Tuesday to "shut up!" "It was an unwritten rule for a long time," McCain told radio host Sean Hannity, "that you kept your mouth shut about the conduct, particularly of national security affairs, by the people that succeeded you. That is obviously not honored by either former President Carter or former President Clinton." "Look, former presidents can do damage," McCain warned. "It's very unhelpful. It's in some ways damaging. He then added, "I just have two words: Shut up!" McCain said that former President Bush had "scrupulously" avoided criticizing President Clinton during his tenure in office. But the Vietnam war hero said that Carter and Clinton have lately stepped over the line. "With all due respect to former President Carter and President Clinton, they do not have the information that a sitting president of the United States has," he complained. The leading Republican also suggested that the American people trusted Bush with national security matters more than either of his Democrat predecessors. "I think one of the reasons why President Bush won, is that they had more confidence in him to conduct our national security affairs," he told Hannity. "I think that was a very significant factor in President Bush's victory." On Tuesday ex-President Carter complained to a foreign newspaper about Bush administration war plans against Iraq, telling London's Mirror, "There has been a virtual declaration of war but a case for preemptive action against Iraq has not been made. We want Saddam Hussein to disarm but we want to achieve this through peaceful means." Last week ex-President Clinton warned on NBC's Today Show that the U.S. needs to give U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq more time before taking military action. Last month Democratic Party presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton criticized President Bush for ignoring Clinton administration warnings about Osama bin Laden and charged that the Bush administration had "mishandled North Korea." newsmax.com