BEIJING, Nov. 18 -- Former U.S. President Clinton told Arab students Wednesday the United States made a "big mistake" when it invaded Iraq, stoking the partisan debate back home over the war.

    Clinton cited the lack of planning for what would happen after Saddam Hussein was overthrown.

    "Saddam is gone, but I don't agree with what was done," Clinton told students at a forum at the American University of Dubai.

    "It was a big mistake. The American Government made several errors ... one of which is how easy it would be to get rid of Saddam and how hard it would be to unite the country."

    Clinton's remarks came when he was taking questions about the U.S. invasion, which began in 2003.

    "The mistake that they made is that when they kicked out Saddam, they decided to dismantle the whole authority structure of Iraq. ... We never sent enough troops and didn't have enough troops to control or seal the borders," Clinton said. As the borders were unsealed, "the terrorists came in," he said.

    Democrats are accusing President Bush of having misled the American public about the urgency of the Iraqi threat before his order to invade, and Bush on Monday threw back at Democratic critics the worries they once expressed about Saddam.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)