POLITICS
Former President Clinton Says He Opposed Iraq War
2007-11-29 06:00am
Former President Bill Clinton flatly says he opposed the war in Iraq "from the beginning," during a campaign swing for his wife on Tuesday.
Mr. Clinton did not specifically back the war before President Bush ordered U.S. troops to invade the country in March 2003. But according to statements the former president made prior to the invasion, he also spoke in support of a 2002 Senate resolution which called for military action against Iraq, The New York Times reported in Wednesday online editions.
As early as June 2004, he said, "I would not have done it until after Hans Blix finished the job," referring to the weapons inspections there before the war.
But at the time he was also not campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, on behalf of her presidential campaign.
She also was not running against a contender – in this instance, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois – who is on record as voting against the war from the outset, the paper said.
Mrs. Clinton voted in favor of a Senate resolution authorizing military action against Iraq in 2002 – a decision she has tempered by blaming Mr. Bush for allegedly misleading her.
(c) 2007 Newsroom.