Clark: "I would have voted against the war resolution."

[IranianDemocrat]

He just said it on MSRNC. Clark said he has always been against the war, from the time it was concepeted to right now.

The "Clark is PNAC" crowd should watch this interview hich proves Clark is DEFINITELY DEFINITELY not a neocon.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Its almost gettn me in the mood to

start his book next

[DemCam]

2. I am on page 277 of Waging

Modern War...and it is dense with people, governments, strategy, and politic. I'm finding it a relly good read...even if it points out my lack of context. I keep having to reread parts...especially since I'm having frequent interruptions.

I have the new one...Winning Modern War...but it will have to wait.

Did in...I think you'll be glad you did.

[Renew Deal]

3. I am reading the new one.

It is very thoughtful and well thought out. It is 210 pages of foreign policy. But it is a very relvant book.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. You know it is just the list is long and distinguished

just finishing Conason's Big Lies

[Kamika]

5. well ofcourse hes saying that

its obvious hes telling us that.. cmon

[Kahuna]

9. Do you trust Gene Lyons? Has Gene ever written anything..

that you have found to be untruthful? According to Gene Lyons in his interview with Buzzflash, he says that Clark told him in the summer of 2002 that he was disturbed about war with Iraq. Read it for yourself...

snip..

Going all the way back to the summer of 2002, I got a sense of how strong his feelings about Iraq were. Long before it was clear that the administration was really going to sell a war on Iraq, when it was just a kind of a Republican talking point, early in the summer of 2002, Wesley Clark was very strongly opposed to it. He thought it was definitely the wrong move. He conveyed that we'd be opening a Pandora's box that we might never get closed again. And he expressed that feeling to me, in a sort of quasi-public way. It was a Fourth of July party and a lot of journalists were there, and there were people listening to a small group of us talk. There wasn't an audience, there were just several people around. There was no criticism I could make that he didn't sort of see me and raise me in poker terms. Probably because he knew a lot more about it than I did. And his experience is vast, and his concerns were deep.


more... http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/10/int03221.html

[TLM]

22. Clark seems to tell a lot of people a lot of different things.

Guess that's what happens when you're a two-faced fraud... but then you have to be to work as a lobbyist for Henry Kissigner, you have to be a liar who tells your audience what they want to hear.

Like telling republicans at a republican fundraiser that:

"And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office, men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice... people I know very well - our president George W. Bush. We need them there."

"We were really helped when President Ronald Reagan came in. I remember non-commissioned officers who were going to retire and they re-enlisted because they believed in President Reagan."

"That's the kind of President Ronald Reagan was. He helped our country win the Cold War. He put it behind us in a way no one ever believed would be possible. He was truly a great American leader. And those of us in the Armed Forces loved him, respected him, and tremendously admired him for his great leadership."

"President George Bush had the courage and the vision... and we will always be grateful to President George Bush for that tremendous leadership and statesmanship."


You really want a ledaer who thinks that Reagan and Bush are examples of what a leader should be and do?

[pinkpops]

6. It would be nice to have a president

who can read, even write.

[Renew Deal]

7. lol

Has it come to this? Good observation

:yourock:

[eleny]

16. And look directly into the camera and speak to us...

as Clark does.

[Pastiche423]

8. Clark's scrambled message on Iraq

"Because I wasn't following the resolution and I didn't even know what was in the resolution," said Clark. "My message is that I am not a political consultant, period."

Clark added: "Had I been in Congress I would not have voted for it because I would have recognized that the administration was going to use it as an authorization to go to war."

So, to recapitulate: Clark says he didn't know what was in the resolution because he wasn't paying close attention. But had he been in Congress, he would have been aware of the details, and, having known them, his preference for patient internationalism, plus his suspicion of the administration's motives, would have led him to oppose the resolution.

Plausible? Perhaps. And yet, it's an explanation that stops some what short of inspiring confidence in the foreign-policy expertise of the Democrats' newest presidential candidate.

Clark's scrambled message on Iraq

[Kahuna]

10. You weeb my genawal awone!

:P

:hi:

You know, I just realized something. The little attacks by you and some of the other regular Clark-bashers don't even bother me anymore. That feels pretty good too. I guess we have hashed these issues over again and again and we just agree to disagree and that's it. :7

[Renew Deal]

19. Good training.

Dealing with the "regulars" like Pastiche has made me very sharp. BTW, I have a respect for Pastiche no matter how much we tend to disagree. DUers have all out wars here on DU about issues. I was cought in a room full of dems last night. I was very sharp and informed compared to most of these people. I guess DU will do that to you. That's partly why I like this place. I can't wait for the day that we are supporting our nominee and this battling will end(I think).

[Skwmom]

11. What is scrambled about that.

In order to vote for a bill - guess what - Clark would actually want to know what he was voting for. Our country wouldn't be so screwed up if our elected officials actually did their job before they voted on a bill.

[Kahuna]

12. NOthing. Ol' Pastiche just had to add his 2 cents.

Right Pastiche? :hi:

[Pastiche423]

13. That 2 cents

belongs to Scot LeHigh, not me.

Btw, I do not have a penis.

[Kahuna]

15. Oops! Sorry. I didn't know you were female.

:wow: Now I do! :o

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[union_maid]

24. Whoever it belongs to, it's piffle

I like that word..piffle. Maybe I'm just tired..Friday night and still have to go out and support a musician. Anyway, anyone who was watching Clark on a regular basis on CNN as the war went along knows what he thought about it. I think he's really just got such a sense of personal honor hardwired into him that when he was offered a free chance to score points on his rivals, he wouldn't, because he wasn't in their shoes at the time. Being in their shoes means a lot more than just forming an opinion of what the best course of action would have been. It would have meant having to answer to their constituents, too. It would have been so easy to just say he'd never have voted for it in the form it was in to begin with. No one could ever have proved differently. He just had to give others the benefit of the doubt. I guess he's got to learn that you can't be THAT much of a nice guy in the arena he's in. I think he's probably a quick study.

[pinkpops]

17. It is a dumb question to ask

and it was a dumb question to answer. The fact is Clark would never be in that position, because he would never run for Senator or Congressman, would never be one. He is a retired soldier with intellect who has been to war more than once. I believe that as president he would have been more circumspect than our present leader.

[TLM]

23. Yeah, but Clark also said...

Clark says whatever he thinks his audience wants to hear... his messages changes every other day depending on who he is talking to... kinda like his party affiliation.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/969466.asp?cp1=1

“I don’t know if I would have or not. I’ve said it both ways, because when you get into this, what happens is you have to put yourself in a position. On balance, I probably would have voted for it.”

[Pastiche423]

31. Karma karma karma

karma karma chameleon,
he waffles so
he waffles sooOOOooo...

[FlemingsGhost]

14. I would have voted against it, too...

Alas, I wasn't an elected member of Congress at the time.

Neither was Wes Clark.

[boxster]

18. Here's an interesting point - a recent poll said that Dems preferred

a candidate would voted FOR the IWR over one that did not, right?

So, this can't be "pandering to the public", "telling them what they want to hear", etc., since it's really the opposite view of what the public claims they want.

Right?

:silly:


Edit: fixed a minor error.

[TLM]

20. Yet Clark also said....

“I don’t know if I would have or not. I’ve said it both ways, because when you get into this, what happens is you have to put yourself in a position. On balance, I probably would have voted for it.”

[andym]

33. Hopefully he's learned not to think out loud in front of hungry reporters

Hopefully he's now learned not to think out loud in front of hungry reporters.

[sfecap]

25. Clark says he would have voted for Iraq war

Clark says he would have voted for Iraq war

Adam Nagourney NYT Saturday, September 20, 2003

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida General Wesley Clark has said he would have supported the Congressional resolution that authorized the United States to invade Iraq, even as he presented himself as one of the sharpest critics of the war effort in the Democratic presidential race.
.
Clark also said in an interview Thursday that he would probably oppose President George W. Bush's request for $87 billion to finance the recovery effort in Iraq, though he could see circumstances in which he might support sending even more money into Iraq.
.
He appeared to struggle to stake out positions on issues that have bedeviled four members of Congress who supported the war and are now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
.
Clark said that he would have advised members of Congress to support the authorization of war, but that he thought it should have had a provision requiring Bush to return to Congress for approval before actually invading. Democrats sought that provision without success.
.
"At the time, I probably would have voted for it - but I think that's too simple a question," Clark said.

http://www.iht.com/articles/110601.html

Neo Con lite...

[Sterling]

26. flip flop, What will he say next week?

nt

[Bread and Circus]

27. The usual Clark Bashers are here.....

hi folks, and I am glad Pastiche doesn't
have a penis. It's good we got that cleared up.

If I had a dollar for everytime a whiny Clark Basher
comes into invade a pro-Democratic Candidate thread,
I'd have about 3,456 dollars by now.

It's weird, but they think they are doing their
candidate a favor when actually they are just hurting
the Democratic party.

I've also noted they quote alot of right wing rags and
right wing journalists. Haven't they ever considered the
source?

Anyway, I wonder why it is ok on DU to systematically
go through nearly every thread on a Democratic Candidate
just to insult that candidate, even if it started as
a positive thread? It seems like these folks are never
squelched for what seems like systematic demagoguery
that is akin to push polling.

I hate to be so harsh but what else can it be?

Do Clarkies run around to every pro-Dean thread and rehash
the same baseless attacks over and over and over and over
using right wing rags to do it? I don't know because I
leave those threads alone.

Ugh...leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[jumptheshadow]

32. It's a monotonous Greek chorus

Just the same old droning talking points. They become like wallpaper -- you know the faded, drab kind of wallpaper you see in old Irish homes.

[tsipple]

28. Clark's Voice is Back?

Was this interview live on MSRNC? Last I heard he had a terrible case. If he's got his voice back, that's great news.

[union_maid]

29. He was speaking from NH

It was taped, but taped today, I believe. He sounded very good.

[stickdog]

30. Of course, just before this, he said, "Line?" (nt)

[LiberalBushFan]

34. who cares?

I don't see why either quote is all that significant, and Dean claiming he wouldn't vote for the resolution is not significant either. I'm sure if Kerry hadn't had to vote, he'd likely say he wouldn't have voted for it (and I wouldn't blame him for saying that). Clark's first quote is either an error of speech or an error of too much honesty (another thing I wouldn't fault, plus he's more experienced now than then).