LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, Nov 18 (AFP) - Former president Bill Clinton on Thursday slammed the handling of the war in Iraq by his successor George W. Bush, saying the conflict alienated the United States from the world.
"I supported giving the president the authority to take action against Saddam Hussein if he did not cooperate with the UN inspectors or if he was found to have had weapons of mass destruction he wouldn't give up," Clinton, at the inauguration of his presidential library here, told ABC television.
"I did believe that the administration made a mistake going to war when they did, and that's what alienated the world. And most Americans still haven't focused on this," Clinton said.
Speaking on the same program, his wife, Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, told ABC she planned to run for re-election in 2006.
"I'm going to run for re-election to the Senate, which I am very excited about," she said when asked about a possible White House run of her own in 2008.
11/18/2004 16:08 GMT - AFP