Criticism of Bush misinterpreted, says Carter

FORMER US President Jimmy Carter has said his remarks were “careless or misinterpreted” when he said that George W Bush’s administration has been the “worst in history” for its impact around the world.

Mr Carter appeared to retreat from a statement he made to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper in which he said: “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.”

The comment was in a story published in the newspaper on Saturday.

Mr Carter said yesterday that when he made the comment, he was responding to a question comparing the Bush administration’s foreign policy to that of President Richard Nixon.

“I wasn’t comparing the overall administration and I was certainly not talking personally about any president,” Mr Carter said.

“I think this administration’s foreign policy compared to president Nixon’s was much worse.”