Monday, January 12, 2004
Lieberman - Clark Has Taken 6 Positions
LIEBERMAN:
Well, you know, Wolf, Wes Clark came in out of nowhere into this race, became a Democrat for the first time to become part of the race, so I don't know a lot of his stands.
I can tell you that I was disappointed that a retired military officer like Wes Clark would have taken six different positions before he finally came to the conclusion a year after the resolution authorizing the war against Saddam that he would be against that resolution.
And, you know, again, as I said about Howard Dean, that means that if Wes Clark had his way, Saddam Hussein would be in power today, not in prison, and the world would be a lot less safe. So I disagreed with him on that, that's for sure.
But I'm also saying, while I obviously respect his service in the military, it's all the more astounding, and he said it again yesterday, that for a retired military officer to not know exactly whether he supported a resolution authorizing the commander in chief to send the troops in a war, that was amazing.
I mean, yesterday he said here in New Hampshire that, when he publicly advised a congressional candidate last fall, Katrina Swett, to support the resolution supporting the war in Iraq, he hadn't read the resolution and didn't know what was in it.
Well, I don't know how as a retired military officer he could have gone ahead and said that she should support it, when he knew that the effect of it was to authorize the commander in chief to go to war. That's just not responsible.
LIEBERMAN:
Well, you know, Wolf, Wes Clark came in out of nowhere into this race, became a Democrat for the first time to become part of the race, so I don't know a lot of his stands.
I can tell you that I was disappointed that a retired military officer like Wes Clark would have taken six different positions before he finally came to the conclusion a year after the resolution authorizing the war against Saddam that he would be against that resolution.
And, you know, again, as I said about Howard Dean, that means that if Wes Clark had his way, Saddam Hussein would be in power today, not in prison, and the world would be a lot less safe. So I disagreed with him on that, that's for sure.
But I'm also saying, while I obviously respect his service in the military, it's all the more astounding, and he said it again yesterday, that for a retired military officer to not know exactly whether he supported a resolution authorizing the commander in chief to send the troops in a war, that was amazing.
I mean, yesterday he said here in New Hampshire that, when he publicly advised a congressional candidate last fall, Katrina Swett, to support the resolution supporting the war in Iraq, he hadn't read the resolution and didn't know what was in it.
Well, I don't know how as a retired military officer he could have gone ahead and said that she should support it, when he knew that the effect of it was to authorize the commander in chief to go to war. That's just not responsible.
