Iraq a disaster: Albright | | The Australian

Iraq a disaster: Albright | | The Australian: "April 24, 2006
INVADING Iraq would go down as one of the worst US foreign policy blunders ever, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said.

The former top US diplomat told the New York Times that Iraq's deposed leader Saddam Hussein 'was horrible. But I did not think he was an imminent threat to the United States'.

'You can't go to war with everybody you dislike,' Ms Albright said.

'I think Iraq may end up being one of the worst disasters in American foreign policy.'

Ms Albright, who served under President Bill Clinton, said US foreign policy mistakes under President George W. Bush have left her feeling 'sick' about America's current status in global affairs.

'A lot of the things that we worked on for eight years have unravelled. It is very hard,' she said.

'What really troubles me is that democracy is getting a bad name because it is identified with imposition and occupation,' she said.

'I'm for democracy, but imposing democracy is an oxymoron. People have to choose democracy, and it has to come up from below.'"