Clark stands up for his positions and character [View All]

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-clark17nov17,1,5680072.story?coll=la-headlines-%20nation


 

Clark Stands Up for His Positions and Character

The presidential hopeful explains his sometimes wavering stances on 'Meet the Press' as his campaign seems to be regaining momentum.
By Nick Anderson and Eric Slater
Times Staff Writers

November 17, 2003
WASHINGTON — Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark parried sharp questions Sunday about his shifting statements and actions on Iraq, the Balkans, the Bush administration and his party allegiance as he competed in what some political professionals call "the Russert primary" in the race for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.
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Pressed to explain statements that seemed to advocate support for a resolution authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq, Clark, who later opposed the war, said: "What I would have supported was taking the problem to the United Nations…. Yes, I believe Saddam Hussein was a challenge and a threat, but I did not see an imminent threat."
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"Our fund-raising is going far, far better than we had projected even in our fondest dreams," Clark communications director Matt Bennett said Sunday.
Bennett said the campaign now expected to take in $12 million in the fourth quarter, which ends Dec. 31, behind only former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
As much as 40% of Clark's contributions are relatively small sums accumulated through the Internet, Bennett said, suggesting that the online "Draft Wesley Clark" effort that helped lure the former North Atlantic Treaty Organization supreme commander into the race continues to be an effective grass-roots tool.
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Clark expects to miss at least three days of campaigning in mid-December to testify at the war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague. But he may reap a publicity benefit.
As NATO supreme commander, Clark directed the 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 that helped bring an end to Serb killings of Kosovo Albanians and that led, later, to the downfall of Milosevic.
Clark battled with some in the Clinton administration over his leadership in the war, but he has said he considered helping end the ethnic slaughter in Kosovo among his greatest achievements.
"We won't be using his testimony in any political way," Bennett said. "We're not going to do anything that is inappropriate, but the fact is there will be lots of press interest in his testimony."
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