In an interview with NBC’s David Gregory on “Meet the Press” Sunday, former President Bill Clinton slammed Dick Cheney and the Bush administration for their decision to go to war with Iraq.
When asked about a recent op-ed written by Cheney criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy, Clinton laughed. He stated bluntly of the current turmoil in the Middle East caused by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, “Well, I believe if [the Bush administration] hadn’t gone to war in Iraq, none of this would be happening.”
Gregory asked him to clarify whether or not he meant the entire current conflict, which is affecting other nations like Syria in addition to Iraq.
“Well, it might be happening in Syria,” Clinton backtracked. “But what happened in Syria wouldn’t have happened in Iraq. Iraq would not have been in effect drastically altered as it has been.”
He came down hard on Cheney, placing the responsibility for the “mess” in Iraq solely on the former vice president’s shoulders.
“Mr. Cheney has been incredibly adroit for the last six years or so attacking the administration for not doing an adequate job of cleaning up the mess that he made, and I think it’s unseemly,” asserted Clinton.
He made sure not to insult former President Bush, though, with whom Clinton is known to have a friendly relationship.
“I give President Bush, by the way, a lot of credit for trying to stay out of this debate and letting other people work through it,” he added.
Watch the full NBC segment below.
