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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rick Faurot who wrote (33162)	12/20/2003 9:19:31 AM
From: Rick Faurot	Respond to of 89467

Clark, Bush Campaigns in Spat Over Europe Trip Fri December 19, 2003 06:07 PM ET By Randall Mikkelsen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Gen. Wesley Clark's spokesman on Friday criticized as "bizarre" a fund-raising pitch for President Bush that seemed to question a visit by Clark to Europe, where he testified against ex-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. The e-mail letter, sent by Bush reelection campaign manager Ken Mehlman and dated on Thursday, accuses Democratic presidential candidates of "raising foreign cash to attack our president." It goes on to say, "Wesley Clark, who was in Europe when Saddam Hussein was captured, criticized the president this week and said that rather than going after Saddam, he would have let the United Nations continue to seek the dictator's cooperation." Bennett said the Clark campaign considered the reference to Clark being in Europe as a sideswipe against Bush's potential opponent. "We don't know why the Bush allies would question Gen. Clark's participation in a trial against a murderous despot," Clark spokesman Matt Bennett told Reuters. Clark, the former NATO commander, was in The Hague this week to testify in Milosevic's trial before a U.N. war crimes tribunal on charges including the massacre of 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. Referring to the letter, Bennett said, "That's bizarre, given that the Bush administration actively encouraged Clark to participate in the prosecution of Slobodan Milosevic." "The State Department worked closely with Gen. Clark and the prosecution in determining how and when the testimony would be provided," he said. A Bush campaign official who insisted on anonymity said of the reference to Clark's European trip only that "It's a statement of fact. We were describing his location." Bush has said he is staying out of the campaign fray until after a Democratic nominee is chosen -- with a brief lapse on Monday to slap back at a criticism by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democratic presidential candidate. But his fund-raising letters have gone on the offensive against Democrats. The new letter said, "Democrats will do or say anything to defeat our president, wild accusations, reckless conspiracy theories and now raising money from foreign anti-American activists." "Web sites for Wesley Clark and Howard Dean direct visitors from outside the United States to liberal fund-raising Web sites, where foreign donors can pledge money to fund left-wing efforts to defeat President Bush," it said. Foreign donations directly to campaigns are prohibited. Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel declined to comment, other than to say, "We certainly stand by our letter." Bennett denied the charge as "absurd and pathetic." He said that among the links on the Clark campaign's Internet site is one to a site called "Canadians for Wesley Clark," which says Canadians cannot donate to the campaign but encourages donations to an independent pro-Clark site. A message on the Canadians for Clark site denies any illegal activities. "Wesley Clark and his campaign have absolutely nothing to do with this web site and ... Canada is not a communist nation," it says. The Dean campaign also denied accepting or encouraging any foreign donations to any groups. "It's an absurd and offensive allegation by President Bush's campaign," said Dean spokesman Jay Carson. "These guys just play fast and loose with the facts, and it's another example of it." © Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.