Bill Clinton criticizes Bush on Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday criticized President George W. Bush's administration for failing in Iraq, saying their was no evidence of much-needed political or diplomatic progress.
"The point is, that there is no military victory here," he said in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America.
Clinton's wife Hillary is running for the Democratic nomination for president and she has been calling on Bush to pull troops out of Iraq.
"There is no evidence that, whether we have a good day in a particular community or region in Iraq, that we have either the political reconciliation process within the country working or any diplomatic process that's got a chance to help with the neighbors," the former Democratic president said.
Washington has been urging Iraq for months to pass important laws aimed at reconciling majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs. So far only one of the draft laws aimed at drawing Sunnis more firmly into the political process has reached the Iraqi parliament.
Bush, who has been under pressure to change the course of the increasingly unpopular war, has said he is waiting for a September progress report from his U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus.
"I believe that Gen. Petraeus is a very able man and I don't have any doubts that they'll win some battles," Clinton said. "I hope this works. I think every American hopes this works. But it can't work beyond winning a few battles. It has to be accompanied by ... progress on the political front."
On Monday, Bush's fellow Republicans in the Senate blocked a Democratic proposal to force a withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraq.
