Clinton Supports Creation of ‘No-Fly’ Zone in Iraq : Campaign: But the Democratic nominee says President has been slow to protect Shiites in southern part of the country.

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton on Wednesday supported the Bush Administration’s decision to declare a “no-fly” zone in southern Iraq, a move aimed at inhibiting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s repression of Shiite Muslims. But the Democratic presidential nominee also suggested that the move was long overdue.

“I support the allied decision to establish a no-fly zone in southern Iraq,” Clinton said during a news conference here. The allies have warned Iraq that any planes flying in that region will be shot down.

But Clinton added pointedly: “After (the Persian Gulf War), we did not move aggressively until today to protect the Shiites from Saddam.” Clinton also noted that Bush did not move to protect the Kurds in northern Iraq from attack by Hussein’s forces until the Kurds’ plight drew international attention, shortly after the war.

Clinton made his remarks while professing that he did not want to “politicize” the issue.

On a day filled with Southern-style homecoming festivities, Clinton and his running mate, Tennessee Sen. Al Gore, were joined by their wives as they campaigned across Gore’s home state to launch an effort to counter Republican assaults on their family values.

They attended a rally in honor of Tennessee’s ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Clinton and Gore pledged that their Administration would fight for “real family values,” which they defined as jobs, education reform, health care and affordable housing.

But the star of the program was Pauline Gore, Al Gore’s mother, who lambasted President Bush and the Rev. Pat Robertson, a GOP activist, for their attacks on the women’s rights movement.

She quoted from a fund-raising letter Robertson recently wrote for a group trying to stop passage of an equal rights amendment in Iowa. The measure is on the November ballot.

In the letter, Robertson wrote that ERA backers have a “secret agenda.”

“The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women,” he wrote. “It is about a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

Pauline Gore said: “Can you believe it?” Then, noting that she knew Bush’s mother and both of Robertson’s parents, Pauline Gore said: “It is appalling to me that they have left the family values they were taught by these people.”

But the Democrats’ plan to spend a day filled with political speechmaking on women’s and children’s issues in Memphis and Nashville was overshadowed after Clinton’s early-morning phone call from National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft. The White House official briefed Clinton on Bush’s decision to announce the restriction on Iraqi airspace, said Dee Dee Myers, the campaign’s press secretary.

She said Scowcroft talked to Clinton for “a couple of minutes,” adding that it was the first time the White House has briefed Clinton on foreign or intelligence matters.

The Arkansas governor, who lacks foreign policy experience, has walked a tightrope as he carefully picks his fights with the President on international affairs.

When asked Wednesday if he thought Bush was adopting a tougher stance against Baghdad for domestic consumption in an election year, Clinton replied: “This particular action at this particular time, in my view, needs to be supported in a bipartisan fashion by the American people. And I do not want to appear to second-guess the timing of it.”

Clinton also passed up another opportunity to take direct issue with the Bush Administration over its decision to conclude the Persian Gulf War after 100 hours, a decision that even the President saw fit to defend Tuesday in a speech before the American Legion.

“I don’t think it’s fair to criticize the Administration for not going in (to Baghdad) because that was a precondition of support of a lot of the Arab states,” Clinton said.

Nevertheless, he added, “There was nothing in the terms of the agreement which would have precluded a slight lengthening of the war to destroy those tanks and to weaken the (Iraqi) Republican Guard.”

On the other hand, Clinton endorsed the President’s most recent moves, saying the nation stands together in its demand that Hussein adhere to U.N. terms for a cease-fire.

“As I have consistently said before, Saddam Hussein should not be mistaken about the resolve of all Americans on this issue,” Clinton said in a statement distributed by aides before his news conference. “He should understand clearly that, even in this election year, we are united behind strong efforts to ensure his full compliance with all U.N. resolutions.”