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Clinton Rips White House, Rejects Blame Claim
By Mike Allen
The Washington Post

July 28, 2002

Former president Bill Clinton has chastised the Bush administration for suggesting he bears part of the blame for the corporate accounting scandals and said President Bush made a mistake with his first-year Middle East policy.

Clinton's remarks were made to WJLA Channel 7 as he left a memorial service in Washington on Friday.

Bush administration officials have suggested that corporate practices got out of hand under the Clinton administration's Securities and Exchange Commission.

"These people ran on responsibility, but as soon as you scratch them, they go straight to blame," Clinton said. "Now, you know, I didn't blame his father for Somalia when we had that awful day memorialized in 'Black Hawk Down.' "

The book and film "Black Hawk Down" tell the story of a deadly 1993 attack on U.S. special forces, which had been sent to the famine-ravaged East African country by President George H.W. Bush during his last days in office.

A White House official called the remarks "surprising." Jim Dyke, press secretary of the Republican National Committee, said they were "a typical Clinton response: Attack and politicize."

On the corporate scandal, Bush's aides often point out to reporters that most of the malfeasance uncovered so far occurred on Clinton's watch.

Clinton began gingerly when WJLA's Rebecca Cooper asked if Bush's policies were taking the country in the right direction. "I don't think I should offer an opinion on that," he said. But then, he said, "I think it's a mistake for them to try and blame us for it, though, because we actually have a clear and unbroken record of trying to clear up a lot of these corporate abuses."

Clinton said Republicans on Capitol Hill had impeded his proposals for protecting investors.

In April, Bush said that Clinton's failed efforts at peacemaking had resulted in more Palestinian violence. In the interview, Clinton criticized Bush's initial disengagement from the Middle East. "I think it was a mistake to get out for a year," he said.

"The most important thing, I would say, is that America is back involved, and that is good. Whenever we were involved, fewer people die."