Bill Clinton: “It's interesting, when this whole issue first broke was when I was on my way over to the--it was the night before I went…”

“It's interesting, when this whole issue first broke was when I was on my way over to the--it was the night before I went over to the Washington Children's Hospital to be with General Schwarzkopf at the STARBRIGHT Foundation announcement, so we had some interesting conversations about it. And I've seen former Secretary Baker since then, and we're all commiserating, and obviously I asked these people for their advice about it. But we just--look, this is a frustrating policy, the one we're following, because it requires long-term patience and discipline. It's frustrating for him; it's frustrating for us; it's frustrating for everybody else. But you know, there is a reason these United Nations resolutions were passed. There's a reason this inspection regime was set up. We think it's a bad idea for any more dictators who have shown aggression toward their neighbors to develop the capacity to have nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. We think it's a bad idea. And we know of no way to do that--to avoid that in peaceful terms than to have some sort of inspection regime. And as I said yesterday, the UNSCOM inspection regime has actually led to the destruction of more dangerous weapons than the Desert Storm did, because it's been done with great discipline over a period of years. So I would ask the American people and our allies around the world not to get too frustrated, to be patient, but to be firm, and let's try to hold on to this inspection regime, because that is the most peaceful way of dealing with this and permitting everyone to go on with their lives.”