Clinton Urges Bush to Catch bin Laden Before Attacking Iraq

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, September 06, 2002

Clinton Urges Bush to Catch bin Laden Before Attacking Iraq

Former United States President Bill Clinton urged the Bush administration Thursday to catch Osama bin Laden before launching a war on Iraq.

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Former United States President Bill Clinton urged the Bush administration Thursday to catch Osama bin Laden before launching a war on Iraq.

Addressing a group of Democratic Party supporters at a California gathering, Clinton said he believed: We might do more good for American security in the short run at far less cost by beefing up our efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere to flesh out the entire (al-Qaida) network."

"(Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein didn't kill 3,100 people on Sept. 11," he said, "Osama bin Laden did, and as far as we know he's still alive."

Clinton said bin Laden was still the biggest security threat to the United States.

While expressing his support for President George W. Bush's efforts in Afghanistan, including military actions, Clinton warned that a US attack on Iraq could prompt Saddam Hussein to dump chemical or biological weapons on US interests.

"I think we have to assume that if he knows we're coming ... he'll do everything he can to use them," Clinton said. "That's the only risk ... it's an issue the president has to address."

Clinton said America's role in foreign policy in the 21st century should be "to turn the world into a global community."

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