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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: unclewest who wrote (24649)	1/16/2004 5:25:52 AM
From: D. Long	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793707

Candidates Target Undecided Iowans as Polls Show 3-Way Tie They say cream rises...So tell me, what if there ain't no cream? Cream ain't the only thing that rises in a liquid, uw. <bg> Derek

To: unclewest who wrote (24649)	1/16/2004 6:47:59 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793707

Looks like they nailed Clark with this one. He wiggles, but the hook is set. He has weaved a real web for himself since he started campaigning. ON THE STUMP Clark says GOP distorts his testimony on Iraq By Raja Mishra and Joanna Weiss, Boston Globe Staff, 1/16/2004 MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Retired Army General Wesley K. Clark, who says on the stump that the war in Iraq was unnecessary, reacted with uncharacteristic anger yesterday to reports that, in 2002, he told a congressional committee that Saddam Hussein was a "threat" and said he believed the Iraqi leader had both weapons of mass destruction and connections to Al Qaeda. The Republican National Committee yesterday circulated excerpts of Clark's testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on Sept. 26, 2002, about two weeks before Congress passed a resolution authorizing war. At a news conference in Manchester yesterday, Clark's voice rose to higher-than-usual levels as he fielded a series of questions on the topic. Calling the release "old-style politics," Clark said the Republicans "finally figured out that I'm George Bush's greatest threat" and were responding to his rising poll numbers in New Hampshire. He also said that his congressional testimony had drawn a distinction between a "preventative" and "preemptive" war, and accused Bush of "misleading" Americans into thinking the war was necessary. "How do they think they can get away with misleading the American people?" Clark said, pointing at the news cameras as his voice rose. A closer examination of the 2002 testimony shows that Clark repeatedly said -- as he has throughout the campaign -- that he supported a multilateral approach to the war. He advocated bringing NATO allies on board if efforts to use the United Nations failed, said force should be used as a last resort, suggested continuing UN inspections in Iraq, and said Congress should "narrow the resolution" to provide more checks and balances. But Clark's testimony also seems to support, in broad terms, Bush's intentions to engage Iraq -- in contrast to his insistence, over the past few months, that he thought the war was "ridiculous," "unnecessary," and "wrong." "The problem of Iraq is not a problem that can be postponed indefinitely, and of course Saddam's current efforts themselves are violations of international law," Clark told the committee. "Our president has emphasized the urgency of eliminating these weapons and weapons programs. I strongly support his efforts to encourage the United Nations to act on this problem and in taking this to the United Nations, the president's clear determination to act if . . . the United Nations can't provide strong leverage for undergirding ongoing diplomatic efforts." On the stump, Clark also has repeatedly accused the Bush administration of trumping up a false connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. But in his congressional testimony, Clark said he believed a connection existed. "It's normal. It's natural," Clark said. "These are a lot of bad actors in the same region together. They are going to bump into each other. They are going to exchange information. . . . I think it's clear that regardless of whether or not such evidence is produced of these connections that Saddam Hussein is a threat." Clark aides said yesterday's attention from Republicans -- RNC chairman Ed Gillespie criticized Clark in a speech yesterday in Clark's hometown of Little Rock, Ark. -- proved that Clark represents a threat in the 2004 election."It is our job to point out the inconsistencies and untruths by the Democratic presidential candidates," RNC spokeswoman Christine Iverson said. "And this is a big one." © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.