US/IRELAND: US Senator Hillary Clinton said she is against precipitous action in a war on Iraq but did think the issue was about national safety and not oil, writes Christine Newman.
According to a TV3 spokesman, Mrs Clinton, in an interview on the TV3 programme Agenda, which will be shown tomorrow, told presenter David McWilliams that she would prefer to see more time given to the UN weapons inspectors before any action was considered. Covering a wide range of issues in the 14-minute interview, the spokesman said the former First Lady bluntly expressed her concerns about corporate influence on the White House.
She said the present incumbent was rolling back the achievements, not just of her husband Bill Clinton's presidential terms, but those of presidents as far back as Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Mrs Clinton, who is still topping the polls as the Democrats choice for their 2004 White House bid, said the present administration was being pushed by the concerns of corporate America.
She felt there was a strong element of corporate influence and that the government was running the administration by the criteria of big business. She did not think this was healthy.
Mrs Clinton pointed particularly to environmental issues which she said were not even being discussed by the Bush administration.
In the interview, conducted in the US this week, Mrs Clinton also discussed how she felt about making the transition from First Lady to Senator.
She talked about her particular political causes, especially those associated with women. She considered great strides had been made and thought it was now easier for women to make clear choices about domestic or career issues.