goharley,

Since Clinton and Iraq are both now included within this thread you might give some consideration to the following:


The policy to remove Saddam Hussein was unfinished business from the Clinton administration. Upon entering office in January of 2001, President Bush inherited from the Clinton administration a policy of regime change. That policy was based upon the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act (P.L. 105-338), which stated, "It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime." This policy was unanimously approved by the Senate and strongly supported by the Clinton administration.

Not two months after he signed the Iraq Liberation Act into law, President Clinton delivered an address to the nation explaining his decision to order air strikes against Iraqi military targets. He discussed the potential long-term threat posed by Saddam Hussein, stating,


"The hard fact is that so long as Saddam Hussein remains in power, he
threatens the well-being of his people, the peace of his region, the
security of the world. The best way to end that threat once and for all is
with the new Iraqi government, a govern- ment ready to live in peace with
its neighbors, a government that respects the rights of its people.

"... Heavy as they are, the costs of inaction must be weighed against the
price of inaction. If Saddam defies the world and we fail to respond, we
will face a far greater threat in the future. Saddam will strike again at
his neighbors; he will make war on his own people. And mark my words, he
will develop weapons of mass destruction. He will deploy them, and he will
use them."

Those words were spoken by President Clinton. Unfortunately, all he did was
present the case. He left it for his successor to do the heavy lifting.

Strange that I've heard no criticism of Clinton administration's misuse of intelligence.

--- --- ---

This thread began as another attempt at bashing Bush.

Perhaps we would all do better searching for facts than promulgating negative opinions.