NBC- Traitor Bill Clinton undermines troops

Former President Clinton says Iraq invasion was a big mistake.
By LARA SUKHTIAN, AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - The United States made a "big
mistake" when it invaded Iraq, former President Bill Clinton told Arab
students at a forum in this Gulf nation Wednesday, stoking the partisan
debate back home.

Clinton cited the lack of planning for what would happen after dictator
Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

"Saddam is gone. It's a good thing, but I don't agree with what was
done, " Clinton told students at the American University of Dubai.

"It was a big mistake. The American government made several errors ...
one of which is how easy it would be to get rid of Saddam and how hard
it would be to unite the country."

Clinton was taking questions on the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which began
in March 2003. His response drew cheers, and a standing ovation at the
end of the hour-long session.

Clinton said the United States had done some good things in Iraq: the
removal of Saddam, the ratification of a new constitution, and the
holding of parliamentary elections.

"The mistake that they made is that when they kicked out Saddam, they
decided to dismantle the whole authority structure of Iraq ... We never
sent enough troops and didn't have enough troops to control or seal the
borders," said Clinton. As the borders were unsealed, "the terrorists
came in."

Clinton said it would have been better if the United States had left
Iraq's "fundamental military and social and police structure intact."

His remarks came a day after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld quoted
officials from Clinton's 1992-2000 administration as saying that Saddam
was a security threat to the United States and its allies.

At a Pentagon news conference Tuesday, Rumsfeld noted that the Iraq
Liberation Act that Congress passed in 1998 had said it should be U.S.
government policy to support Saddam's removal from power. He noted that
Clinton signed the act and ordered four days of bombing in December
1998.

Rumsfeld's comment was part of the response of President George W.
Bush's administration to Democratic party criticism of the war.

Recent opinion polls have showed Bush's approval ratings, and support
for the war in Iraq, plummeting to the lowest points of his presidency

Turning to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Clinton praised Tuesday's
agreement to open Gaza's borders from Nov. 25 as a "a good beginning,"
but called on the world to invest in the impoverished coastal area.

"There should be a serious attempt by the governments in Europe and the
United States and elsewhere to invest in Gaza. We gotta make Gaza
work," said Clinton.

The deal gives Palestinians control over their borders for the first
time, allowing them to travel freely into Egypt and to export their
goods. Israel will be able to see who comes and goes, with the help of
European monitors, but Palestinians will retain final authority.

.

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