Bill Clinton on Iraq: 'There is no military victory here' David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Thursday July 19, 2007 Print This Email This During an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America Thursday, former President Clinton was asked to comment on recent statements by US generals in Iraq who claim they have been seeing signs of progress since the surge. "The point is that there is no military victory here," said Clinton, emphasizing that military success in Iraq is useless in the absence of political reconciliation and diplomatic efforts. "The president has weathered the challenge in the Senate because of the filibuster," Clinton said of his successor, "but in the end, September will come, and it won't be long." When Diane Sawyer asked Clinton to comment on Elizabeth Edwards' recent statement that Hillary Clinton might not be the best possible advocate for women, he responded diplomatically, "The thing I like about this presidential race is that I don't have to be against any of these candidates. I like them all. But if you look at the record on womens' issues, I defy you to find anybody who has run for office in recent history who's got a longer history of working for women, for families and children than Hillary does." Clinton, who was appearing from Johannesburg, South Africa, then spoke about the work of his foundation on AIDS. His hope is that greater availability of treatment will encourage more people to be tested and ultimately reduce the rate of new infections. When asked about the Bush administration's policy of tying AIDS funding to abstinence education, he replied, "Abstinence-plus is a good strategy. ... I think abstinence-only is a loser in a country where either the culture is against it or where the AIDS infection rate is already so high." The following video is from ABC's Good Morning America, broadcast on July 19.

Full transcript of interview: # MS. SAWYER: Mr. President, so good to have you with us this morning, thank you. If you were still president and your generals -- these are your generals saying give me more time, would you give them more time? MR. CLINTON: I think the problem is -- first of all, I think there is some evidence that changes from day to day, but while the violence is going up in many places, where we have soldiers, and where the Iraqis are fighting the outside insurgents like the al Qaeda insurgents in the Sunni areas, we've had some evidence of progress. The point is that there is no military victory here, and there's no evidence that whether we have a good or a bad 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. That, it seems to me, is the larger point. MS. SAWYER: So there's nothing General Petraeus could be saying in September that would convince you of anything but start pulling the troops out? MR. CLINTON: Well, I believe that General Petraeus is a very able man. And I don't have any doubt that they'll win some battles, and 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, and he has a few weeks -- the Iraqis have a few weeks to do it -- it has to be accompanied by progress on the political front. The president has weathered the challenge in the Senate because of the filibuster. As long as he can hold more than 40 senators, he can stop the Senate from voting for a change in course. But in the end, September will come, and it won't be long. MS. SAWYER: A very quick question about some political news this morning, and then I want to turn to the important work in Africa. As you know, the wife of Senator John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, has said of Senator Clinton, I'm not convinced she'd be as good an advocate for women, meaning as Senator Edwards would be, and said "sometimes you feel you have to behave as a man and not talk about women's issues. I'm sympathetic she wants to be commander in chief." Do you have a response to her? MR. CLINTON: You know, I like Elizabeth Edwards and I admire the struggle she's going through. And I admire the fact that she's supporting her husband; she ought to be. But, the thing I like about this presidential race is I don't have to be against any of these candidates, I like them all. But if you look at the record on women's issues, I defy to find anybody who has run for office in recent history who's got a longer history of working for women, for families and children than Hillary does. I'm proud of Hillary's record and her lifetime commitment. And I don't think she's trying to be a man. I don't think it's inconsistent with being a woman that you can also be knowledgeable on military and security affairs and be strong when the occasion demands it. That's -- I don't consider that being manly. I consider that being a leader. MS. SAWYER: All right. I do want to turn to Africa now. You were, I believe, the first American president ever to go to South Africa. And I know for the past five years, as part of the foundation, you're been going every single year. Two million Africans died of AIDS last year. Is there a benchmark you can give Americans for when you think the tide can turn if enough is done? MR. CLINTON: Yes. I think when we have -- I think there are two benchmarks. When we have the number of new infections going down, and when we are well over two-thirds of all those who need treatment are getting it. And the reason I use two-thirds is this: an enormous percentage of Africans who are HIV positive don't know they're HIV positive until they get sick. The more people we treat, the more people are willing to be tested because they're aware of the disease, they see there's no stigma then, they know they'll live if they turn out to be HIV positive because they'll get treatment. As soon as that happens, you'll see responsible activity going up and the number of new infections going down. We now have, just in my foundation, in Africa, India, China, the Caribbean, the whole Asia -- the rest of Asia -- we have about 750,000 people getting treatment off our contracts. And there are probably two-thirds more, that is, that's about a third of those in the world getting treatment, and there's about two-thirds more getting treatment from the United States program, the global fund on AIDS, TB and malaria, and other smaller endeavors around the world. So, we've really ramped up the number of people getting treatment to about, I suppose there are about 2.2 million people, two and a quarter (million) this year getting treatment, maybe a little more. But I think by the end of the year, they'll be more than 3 million people on treatment, and more and more children. MS. SAWYER: The Bush administration has tied some of its funding to abstinence education. Is that a good thing or not? MR. CLINTON: I think that it shouldn't be mandatory. I think that abstinence-plus is a good strategy. And several African countries have used it to good effect. I think abstinence only is a loser in a country where either the culture is against it or where the AIDS infection rate is already so high. But I think -- I have no problem, but I think abstinence should be a part of the strategy, particularly when you're dealing with younger kids. MS. SAWYER: As you know, a lot of Americans still ask a question, and it's a good threshold question, which is, why Africa? There's so much work that needs to be done here in America. MR. CLINTON: I think that it's not an either/or question. I believe that we learned in Iraq, and I think we've learned in Afghanistan, and I believe, ironically, we're learning in Africa, from the successes. A recent international poll shows that while opinion of America is down almost everywhere in the world, it's up in all the African countries where we have a heavy presence working on AIDS and malaria and development. It's much cheaper than defense, spending money here. And it builds a world with more partners and fewer enemies, which is important. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't be working on poverty and healthcare and economic inequality and education in the United States. But this is a very tiny percentage of our overall budget. And -- so it would be good for us to do. It's also the morally right thing to do to try to help these children grow up and have their lives. But I can tell you that it's a very good investment for America. And it's a tiny percentage of the federal government's overall funding. Americans spend much less on this kind of foreign assistance than most people know, and it's much more effective than most people know. MS. SAWYER: Again, Mr. President, thanks so much for being with us on this busy morning. Thank you. MR. CLINTON: Thank you, Diane. #



