New York: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice strongly disputed a claim by former President Bill Clinton that he left a comprehensive plan to fight al-Qaeda when his term ended.
In a heated interview aired on "Fox News Sunday," the former president accused the Bush administration of doing far less that he did to stop al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks.
Clinton said he had "battle plans" drawn to go into Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban and launch a full-scale search for bin Laden.
But Rice, who was national security advisor at the time of the September 11 attacks, strongly disagreed with Clinton's version of events during an interview on Monday with the New York Post.
"We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaeda," Rice said in a transcript of her comments released by the State Department.
"For instance, big pieces were missing, like an approach to Pakistan that might work, because without Pakistan you weren't going to get Afghanistan," Rice said.
Asked whether she thought Clinton was a liar, Rice replied: "No, I'm just saying that, look, there was a lot of passion in that interview".
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