Clinton launches withering attack

Yahoo! News reports Former US president Bill Clinton sharply criticised George W. Bush for the Iraq War and the handling of Hurricane Katrina, and voiced alarm at the swelling US budget deficit. Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors,

Everyone else was piling on the President; Clinton figured he might lose the spotlight if he did not join them.

Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq "virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction."

PowerLine blogged This attack was false in every respect. The invasion of Iraq had the support of dozens of nations. The UN's inspections could never be "completed," but the UN itself had reported that large quantities of WMDs remained unaccounted for. On the other hand, Clinton's suggestion that there was "no real urgency" about the situation in Iraq was probably sincere, as it typified Clinton's approach to terrorism: he perceived no urgency after the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, or after al Qaeda's attempt to simultaneously destroy a dozen American airplanes over the Pacific in 1995; or after the attacks on American embassies in Africa in 1998; or after Saddam's attempt to assassinate former President Bush; or after Saddam repeatedly tried to shoot down American aircraft; or after the Cole bombing in 2000; or after the Taliban took over Afghanistan and converted it into a training ground for anti-American mass murderers; or after any number of other provocations. So, naturally, Clinton saw no urgency with respect to dealing with Saddam's regime. Of course, had Saddam facilitated a post-9/11 attack on the U.S. using chemical or biological weapons, you can imagine how harshly Clinton would have criticized Bush for his lack of foresight.

Clinton's assertion that there was "no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction" is a flat-out lie. The Consensus Estimate of the American intelligence agencies has been made public, and we have quoted from it and linked to it on many occasions. America's intelligence agencies said, with a "high degree of confidence," that Saddam possessed both chemical and biological weapons. These were the same intelligence reports that Clinton received as President, so he is well aware of them. His statement was not a mistake, it was a lie.... No nation has ever adopted a constitution that was "universally supported," least of all, our own.

Pandagon strongly disagreed, but it is difficult to figure out what to quote, because most of it is filled with obscenities. They quote a site which said Wal-Mart, according to Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, loaded three trucks with food and water. FEMA, which controlled access to New Orleans, turned them back. A Coast Guard ship invited local authorities to get 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, but FEMA ordered it to rescind the offer. Volunteers from Lafayette, La., with 500 boats, headed for New Orleans to aid in rescue efforts, but FEMA turned them back.

I thought the Left was complaining that FEMA did not respond. How could they turn back aid if they were not there?

Firefighters from Houston, Maryland and elsewhere were turned away by FEMA or assigned to PR work. but strangely they dont quote the next paragraph This is not to say state and local officials are blameless. New Orleans had an evacuation plan involving enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 people per run, but Mayor Ray Nagin did not use them. State and local authorities kept the Red Cross out of New Orleans in the first days after Katrina. and then Pandagon says This doesn't even include the failure of FEMA to activate the National Guard, among a series of other blunders.

It is not FEMA's job to activate the National. That is the job of the Governor, and in extreme situations the President may invoke the Insurrection Act, and Federalize the National Guard. But instead he just kept urging the Governor to do it, and/or authorize him to send in troops to help.

The Anchoress blogged The extreme left of the Democrat Party has grown into a fuming beast that needs constant feeding as it stomps around its cage, waiting to be unleashed. Because Mrs. Clinton is planning a run at the White House, she and her husband are simply shoveling at them the same Triangulation Kibble they used to feed the left (and the center) in 1991 and 1992 - except that this time the ingredients are reversed: this time Bill Clinton is the Hard Left Outside while Hillary is the Deeply Moderate Center. Same food, different packaging; it is a particularly useful recipe for both Clintons because his “centrist” credentials, and her “leftist” credentials are so firmly in place, that no matter how the ingredients are mixed, the same multitudes are fed, and things even taste the same.

Sister Toldjah blogged Clinton this weekend directly contradicted claims he made just two years ago about Iraq and WMD, as well as comments he made about a week ago concerning the Katrina blame game. This is the Clinton we know and detest. He played nice for Bush’s first term, but the gloves are off this time around. His wife is aiming for the WH, and Clinton knows that presents another shot at power for him, albeit in the role of second fiddle.