US should not have invaded Iraq, says Clinton

THE US should not have invaded Iraq, former US President Bill Clinton has said.

Mr Clinton said he would not have invaded the country “unless I could have done it under the authority of the UN resolutions”.

America, he said, is in a position where it should “build the habits and institutions of co-operations that will give us a world with more partners, fewer terrorists and a world we’d like to live in when we’re no longer the only superpower”.

When queried about the feelings within Europe that Americans were abusing their power, he felt this to be “a big mistake” because: “We all supported President Bush when he went to Afghanistan to go after Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida. So did Ireland. So did every country in the world, so did the entire United Nations, so there’s a big debate in America about what our role should be ... so I would implore the people of Ireland and generally people throughout the world not to see all Americans through the prism of this current Government’s policy.”

Miriam O’Callaghan interviewed Mr Clinton for tonight’s RTÉ Prime Time programme at 9.30pm.

During the interview, he spoke about his disappointment that the Northern peace process had not progressed further, his feelings on the Iraq invasion and the relationship with Monica Lewinsky. On the peace process, the former president said: “I’m disappointed and I’m only a little surprised. That is, I still think it’s going to work out because it’s unthinkable to go back. There’s a phrase we use in American called ‘buyer’s remorse’. It’s like they bought the peace deal and then people started getting ‘buyer’s remorse’.”

On Monica Lewinsky, he said, “First of all, it wasn’t a crime. Secondly, it wasn’t rational. People don’t do stupid things for rational reasons.”