You're barking up the wrong tree, longnshort, tho putting ice on it would probably help Clinton keep out of trouble.
As for whether or not Clinton "lied" about Saddam having WMD or at least the capability of having them ....
worldnetdaily.com
Monday, September 9, 2002
EYE ON THE GULF
Clinton changes tune on Iraq?
Cheney points out ex-president said one thing 4 years ago, another now
Posted: September 9, 2002
12:48 p.m. Eastern
© 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
Former President Clinton may be criticizing plans by the current administration to invade Iraq, but four years ago his rhetoric against Saddam Hussein was as strong as President Bush's, Vice President Dick Cheney pointed out on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Host Tim Russert Sunday played a videotape clip of Clinton offering some advice to the new administration on fighting terror: "Saddam Hussein didn't kill 3,100 people on September the 11th," Clinton said. "Osama bin Laden did. And as far as we know, he's still alive. We might do more good for America's security in the short run and at a far less cost by beefing up our efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere to flush out the entire network and to find him. We know they still have a terrorist network around the world. And we're already kind of changing the subject here, looking at Saddam Hussein, who's not going anywhere."
Cheney smiled wryly after watching the clip.
"I brought along a little piece of paper with me, Tim," he said. "You always have props, so I brought one with me this morning, in terms of the issue of Iraq. This goes back – the president asked the nation to consider the question: 'What if Saddam Hussein fails to comply? We fail to act or we take some ambiguous third route, which gives him yet more opportunities to develop his program of weapons of mass destruction and continue to press for the release of sanctions and ignore the commitments he's made. Well, he will conclude that the international community's lost its will. He will then conclude that he can go right on doing more to build an arsenal of devastating destruction. If we fail to respond today, Saddam and all those who would follow in his footsteps will be emboldened tomorrow. The stakes,' he says, 'could not be higher. Some way, some way, I guarantee you he'll use the arsenal.' Bill Clinton, 1998, on Saddam Hussein."
Cheney added: "Now, this was for him, supposedly, a top priority four years ago. There was a great deal of stirring around on it, a lot of debate, resolutions passed by the Congress. Tom Daschle talking about the need to use military force to deal with the threat that Saddam Hussein represented. Of course, what happened is nothing happened. And now four years later, we find ourselves in a situation where the situation has gotten worse. He has gotten more capability. And we're going to have to deal with this situation. But the suggestion that President Clinton made last night, I think – I mean, obviously we continue the war on terror. Obviously, we continue the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. We're heavily engaged in Afghanistan. None of that's going to change, and we'll continue to do that as we go along. But we can no longer ignore the threat that Bill Clinton himself talked about four years ago."
What Cheney fails to mention is that the Clinton quote he's using from 1998 was from a speech he made to the American people as a prelude to this ...
"Earlier today, I ordered America's Armed Forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical, and biological programs, and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors. Their purpose is to protect the national interest of the United States and, indeed, the interest of people throughout the Middle East and around the world. Saddam Hussein must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear
arms, poison gas, or biological weapons." - December 16, 1998
And in a speech he gave three days later...
"Our objectives in this military action were clear: to degrade Saddam's weapons of mass destruction program and related delivery systems, as well as his capacity to attack his neighbors. It will take some time to make a detailed assessment of our operation, but based on the briefing I've just received, I am confident we have achieved our mission. We have inflicted significant damage on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction programs, on the command structures that direct and protect that capability, and on his military and security infrastructure."
Soooo the answer is, no Bubba didn't lie. Saddam did have the capability. But as Buuba indicated, mission accomplished. No Americans killed in the process either, I believe. And it's still being backed up today ...
nytimes.com.
In a detailed discussion of Iraq's prewar military posture, the report cites a long series of intelligence reports in the decade before the war that described a formerly potent army's spiral of decay under the weight of economic sanctions and American military pressure.
K |
