x-no-archive: yes

From AP on Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - President Bush's erroneous reference to an Iraqi-Africa
uranium link was understandable, former President Clinton said Tuesday,
in part because Saddam Hussein's regime had not accounted for some
weapons by the time Clinton ended his term in 2001.

Clinton's comments reinforce one of the pillars of Bush's defense of the
war in Iraq — that his Democratic predecessor was never satisfied that
Saddam had rid himself of weapons of mass destruction.

"When I left office, there was a substantial amount of biological and
chemical material unaccounted for," Clinton said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Clinton said he never found out whether a U.S.-British bombing campaign
he ordered in 1998 ended Saddam's capability of producing chemical and
biological weapons. "We might have gotten it all, we might have gotten
half of it, we might have gotten none of it," he said.

In his State of the Union speech in February justifying the planned war
in Iraq, Bush referred to British intelligence reports that Saddam had
tried to purchase uranium for nuclear weapons production. His
administration says it now believes those reports were based in part on
forged documents.

Clinton confined his remarks to biological and chemical weapons, and did
not say whether he would consider credible any report that Saddam had
wanted to build a nuclear weapons program.

Nonetheless, he suggested that Bush's mistake was par for the course —
and that it was time to move on now that Bush had acknowledged the error.

"You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president," he said.
"I mean, you can't make as many calls as you have to without messing up
once in a while. The thing we ought to be focused on is what is the
right thing to do now."

Clinton said ending tensions in Iraq should be the priority now —
another echo of the current White House's talking points. "We should be
pulling for America on this. We should be pulling for the people of Iraq."

x-no-archive: yes

From AP on Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - President Bush's erroneous reference to an Iraqi-Africa
uranium link was understandable, former President Clinton said Tuesday,
in part because Saddam Hussein's regime had not accounted for some
weapons by the time Clinton ended his term in 2001.

Clinton's comments reinforce one of the pillars of Bush's defense of the
war in Iraq — that his Democratic predecessor was never satisfied that
Saddam had rid himself of weapons of mass destruction.

"When I left office, there was a substantial amount of biological and
chemical material unaccounted for," Clinton said on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Clinton said he never found out whether a U.S.-British bombing campaign
he ordered in 1998 ended Saddam's capability of producing chemical and
biological weapons. "We might have gotten it all, we might have gotten
half of it, we might have gotten none of it," he said.

In his State of the Union speech in February justifying the planned war
in Iraq, Bush referred to British intelligence reports that Saddam had
tried to purchase uranium for nuclear weapons production. His
administration says it now believes those reports were based in part on
forged documents.

Clinton confined his remarks to biological and chemical weapons, and did
not say whether he would consider credible any report that Saddam had
wanted to build a nuclear weapons program.

Nonetheless, he suggested that Bush's mistake was par for the course —
and that it was time to move on now that Bush had acknowledged the error.

"You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president," he said.
"I mean, you can't make as many calls as you have to without messing up
once in a while. The thing we ought to be focused on is what is the
right thing to do now."

Clinton said ending tensions in Iraq should be the priority now —
another echo of the current White House's talking points. "We should be
pulling for America on this. We should be pulling for the people of Iraq."

x-no-archive: yes

From AP on Yahoo:

WASHINGTON - President Bush's erroneous reference to an Iraqi-Africa
uranium link was understandable, former President Clinton said Tuesday,
in part because Saddam Hussein's regime had not accounted for some
weapons by the time Clinton ended his term in 2001.

Clinton's comments reinforce one of the pillars of Bush's defense of the
war in Iraq — that his Democratic predecessor was never satisfied that
Saddam had rid himself of weapons of mass destruction.

"When I left office, there was a substantial amount of biological and
chemical material unaccounted for," Clinton said on CNN's "Larry King

Clinton said he never found out whether a U.S.-British bombing campaign
he ordered in 1998 ended Saddam's capability of producing chemical and
biological weapons. "We might have gotten it all, we might have gotten
half of it, we might have gotten none of it," he said.

In his State of the Union speech in February justifying the planned war
in Iraq, Bush referred to British intelligence reports that Saddam had
tried to purchase uranium for nuclear weapons production. His
administration says it now believes those reports were based in part on
forged documents.

Clinton confined his remarks to biological and chemical weapons, and did
not say whether he would consider credible any report that Saddam had
wanted to build a nuclear weapons program.

Nonetheless, he suggested that Bush's mistake was par for the course —
and that it was time to move on now that Bush had acknowledged the error.

"You know, everybody makes mistakes when they are president," he said.
"I mean, you can't make as many calls as you have to without messing up
once in a while. The thing we ought to be focused on is what is the
right thing to do now."

Clinton said ending tensions in Iraq should be the priority now —
another echo of the current White House's talking points. "We should be
pulling for America on this. We should be pulling for the people of Iraq."