Fleischer Retracts Dig at Clinton’s Efforts in Mideast

The chief White House spokesman suggested Thursday that the Clinton administration’s unsuccessful efforts to bring peace to the Middle East actually triggered the latest violence in the region, but he later backed down and apologized.

“I mistakenly suggested that increasing violence in the Middle East was attributable to the peace efforts that were underway in 2000,” Ari Fleischer, President Bush’s press secretary, said in a statement issued late Thursday. “That is not the position of the administration.”

Fleischer got himself into hot water during his morning “gaggle,” a usually informal session with reporters that precedes his formal, usually televised, news briefing.

Asked about President Clinton’s dogged peace efforts, which continued late into his second term, Fleischer suggested that they actually made matters worse.

“Actually, I think if you go back to when the violence began, you can make the case that in an attempt to shoot the moon and get nothing, more violence resulted; that as a result of an attempt to push the parties beyond where they were willing to go, that it led to expectations that were raised to such a high level that it turned into violence.”

Fleischer’s remarks prompted a barrage of skeptical questions from reporters during his subsequent briefing, but he held his ground.

Then came a statement issued by Clinton’s office in New York calling Fleischer’s comments “unfortunate.” The statement also noted that the U.S. at the time was “deeply engaged” in the peace process--a barely veiled reference to the perception that the Bush administration is not similarly engaged.

In his statement, Fleischer said: “No United States president, including President Clinton, is to blame for violence in the Middle East. The only people to blame for violence are the terrorists who engage in it. I regret any implication to the contrary.”