White House Regrets Blaming Clinton on Mideast

Reuters ^ | 2/28/02 | By Arshad Mohammed

[BigTime]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Thursday he regretted suggesting that former U.S. President Bill Clinton's push for a Middle East peace deal was to blame for the last 17 months of violence in the region.

Earlier on Thursday, Fleischer suggested that Clinton's ''shoot the moon'' effort to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before leaving office was responsible for the strife in which nearly 1,200 people have died since September 2000.

While he did not cite Clinton by name, Fleischer alluded to the former president's July 2000 drive at Camp David to broker a deal between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

``I mistakenly suggested that increasing violence in the Middle East was attributable to the peace efforts that were under way in 2000,'' Fleischer said in a rare written statement that expressed regret for his earlier remarks.

Fleischer said his earlier comments did not reflect the position of the administration and said his boss, President Bush , supported Clinton's efforts to bring about a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

``No United States president, including President Clinton, is to blame for violence in the Middle East. The only people to blame for violence are the terrorists who engage in it,'' Fleischer said. ``I regret any implication to the contrary.''

Breaking a tradition of not criticizing former presidents, Fleischer earlier suggested that Clinton's efforts had created unrealistic expectations that then boiled over into strife.

``You can make the case that in an attempt to shoot the moon ... more violence resulted,'' Fleischer told reporters during his morning briefing. ``That as a result of an attempt to push the parties beyond where they were willing to go ... it led to expectations that were raised to such a high level that it turned into violence,''

During his afternoon briefing, Fleischer said Clinton ''tried valiantly to achieve peace in the Middle East'' but did not retract his earlier comments. Asked if he stood by his morning remarks, Fleischer said: ``Of course I stand by it.''

A Clinton spokeswoman, speaking before Fleischer issued his statement of regret at midafternoon, dismissed his comments.

``It is unfortunate that the spokesman for the president, in dealing with the Middle East, is trying to pass blame,'' Clinton spokeswoman Julia Payne said. ``They would be better off using their energies to facilitate the peace process.''

A Bush administration official, who spoke after Fleischer issued his statement and asked not to be identified, said: ``We agree completely that President Clinton made tireless, energetic efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.''

[princess leah]

Remember Bush's statement to Cheney that the microphone picked up and now we all know as "Clymer", well, that tells me that off press Bush and company KNOW WELL about characters and this was no "slip up" The dems are playing hard ball with the smart guys and they're in for a whooping if this keeps up! Man, I think it's rather exciting, don't you?

[EternalHope]

This sure smells like a coordinated effort to get Clinton's name planted in the middle of this Middle East mess then to quickly step back and act like they didn't mean it. Ari is too accurate to make this kind of mistake so it had to be an intentional play. Probably baiting Clinton to step out front on the issue.

Yep. Lately the IFPOTUS seems to have lost his political "ear", and his physical/mental decline is becoming increasingly obvious. The things he says have a non-patriotic tone, and are increasingly incoherent. The more people see of him, the better President Bush looks.

For those who rely on visual images alone, his red nose is becoming hard to ignore on TV. People in general (not just Freepers) do not look at him and feel proud of the U.S. at the same time. I would not be surprised to see skits on late night TV about it.

The IFPOTUS could turn into a major Republican asset.

[EternalHope]

Instead, the Bush administration says, "wait a minute bud. You think you're going to out-panic us? We're the kings of panic! We even panic with 85% approval ratings! We'll show you what real panic looks like!"

Great word picture, although I would apply it more to Republicans in Congress. LOL!

So they send Ari out to do his foolish bit and then a few hours later, sure enough he's apologizing for it.

Either Ari screwed up big time, or he did it on purpose. He's pretty good, and this would be such an obvious screw-up that even a rookie could have avoided it. The story has been around for a long time, but now it has more legs.

Maybe Joe six pack is finally catching on, and the Bush administration noticed. Maybe most people smart enough to vote can see through the denial. :)

[schu]

Perhaps the Pubbies have the polling data that shows how unpopular Clintoooon has become, something FR has known for a while. As BillyBob refuses to go away, keeps sticking his bulbous red nose in every current event, maybe the idea is to actually assign some responsibiity for the Israel/Pali situation directly to him.

By backpedaling, they can deny they meant it, but the word is out, the press took the bait and spread it everywhere. Now the Dem's have got to defend Clintoon again, soemthing very hard to do. The clear message is "Hey, we inherited this disaster from Clinton, don't blame us, we're trying to fix it."

Just a theory, but possible?

[Redbob]

Oh, be a man, Fleischer!

[FRlurker]

I think they have this tradition in reverse. I always thought it was tradition that former presidents don't criticize current ones.

[Helms]

" The dems are playing hard ball with the smart guys and they're in for a whooping if this keeps up! Man, I think it's rather exciting, don't you?

It is exciting. Puff Daschle is so obviously sleezy. He will not warm most people. BUSH WAS SO SMART TO HUG DASCHLE DURING THE HEIGHT OF 9/11. Bush is in this for 2 terms. He wants to see this through and doing business w/ the Dems. will be more 0of a cake walk because of the war in the background.

I believe that Cheney will likely bow out in 04, leaving Tom Ridge to run and to bring Pennsylvania into the big blue color scheme.

[Cold Heat]

I'll never forget the mental picture of Maddie running through the halls and outside to retrieve Arafat after he got POd and walked out of a meeting.

They accomplished nothing and started another jihad.

[Irene Adler]

"This sure smells like a coordinated effort to get Clinton's name planted in the middle of this Middle East mess then to quickly step back and act like they didn't mean it. Ari is too accurate to make this kind of mistake so it had to be an intentional play. Probably baiting Clinton to step out front on the issue."

That's my guess, too.

[BigTime]

Re #124. Good post. Do you agree that it was a calculated move by the Bushies?

I agree that sustaining this line of argument would be a huge mistake, but I don't agree it was a bad play because it does two things: keeps the Big Creep in play (and say isn't there a new HBO special coming out soon?) and as has been noted by others here, sends a shot over the bow of the Demcrap ship that the Bushies are willing to play hardball if necessary.

If we are simply to look at poll ratings and try to ride the storm out, then aren't we simply doing exactly what we critized Big Red Nose for doing for eight years? Bush appears intent on busting the kneecaps of terrorism and realizes some noses will have to get bloodied to do it.

I think this was a calculated play and a smart one.

[BigTime]

Re # 117. What hasn't been noted here is the Big Creep's mishandling of the Irish "peace talks" as well. This guy was throwing himself headlong into the Rodney King doctrine of Can't We All Get Along and brought the checkbook of the American taxpayer with him. All of these "talks" were shams designed for media play and any lasting "peace" that were to come from them would be short lived.

If he was so concerned with "peace," why did Marc Rich's name keep coming up when he was chatting with his Israeli "peace" partner?

[DaughterofEve]

I thought it was the little-known cartoon of Sidney the Elephant,
but now that you mention it, maybe it was Horton. Something from the good old days, anyway!

[berserker]

Asked if he stood by his morning remarks, Fleischer said: "Of course I stand by it."

The White House will not be standing by Fleischer, though. Rove will have him out of this job within a month.

[MeekOneGOP]

Is that clip of clintoon's crying act during Ron Brown's funeral??

[WarrenC]

If we are simply to look at poll ratings and try to ride the storm out, then aren't we simply doing exactly what we critized Big Red Nose for doing for eight years? Bush appears intent on busting the kneecaps of terrorism and realizes some noses will have to get bloodied to do it.

I wasn't intending to say that the Bush administration's actions should be poll-driven. Quite the contrary. One of my favorite Bush quotes is his, "I'm not going to fire a $10 million missile into an empty tent and hit a camel in the butt"; which I took: 1) as a direct hit against Bill Clinton's poll-driven way of doing everything -even military actions; and 2) a recognition on Bush's part of the real seriousness of the situation. My point was simply that the administration shouldn't allow themselves to be baited by the Democrats. It just seems so clear that Daschle's criticisms of the President are evidence of just how desperate the Dems are over the President's continuing high approval ratings. So let's just pop some corn, chill some cokes and enjoy their desperation.

[WarrenC]

Either Ari screwed up big time, or he did it on purpose.

I don't know. I just don't see what the point would be in intentionally doing something that would look like a mistake in the expectation that voters would see through it. I think the Democrats' political situation is increasingly bleak, and didn't Machiavelli or somebody teach us that when your opponent is self-destructing, just get out of his way and let him proceed? That's what I think the Bush administration should do re Daschle.

[WarrenC]

Is that clip of clintoon's crying act during Ron Brown's funeral??

Yes it is and it's the all time classic phony bastard video.

[MeekOneGOP]

I thought so. Thanks!

[ppaul]

Is that clip of clintoon's crying act during Ron Brown's funeral??

Yes.
And, did you notice how he was yuckin' it up until he spotted the TV camera?
Then he turns his head and gives the big sniffle and crocodile tears.
And they criticized Ronald Reagan for being an actor!
X-42 should've won an Oscar!