Beat the Press

(Fox News) - Former President Bill Clinton is blaming the media for the controversy over his comments last week that he was against the Iraq war "from the beginning." Media outlets quickly produced prior statements contradicting the claim — including a statement to TIME magazine in 2004 in which he said, "I supported the Iraq thing."

But when asked Tuesday by The Los Angeles Times whether he regrets last week's comments, Mr. Clinton said, "I regret that they were falsely represented by the press, who wants to make it a political story."

Mr. Clinton says he made it clear before the war that United Nations inspectors should complete their search for weapons of mass destruction before any U.S. invasion.

However, he said of the inspectors during an Oval Office address in 1998, "Saddam's deception has defeated their effectiveness. Instead of inspectors disarming Saddam, Saddam has disarmed the inspectors."