Clark says he probably would have voted for war

By Joanna Weiss, Globe Staff, 9/19/2003

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Retired Army General Wesley K. Clark said yesterday that he probably would have voted for the congressional resolution that authorized President Bush to wage war in Iraq, taking a position on a key campaign issue closer to that of Senator John F. Kerry than Howard Dean's strong antiwar stance.

"On balance, I probably would have voted for it," Clark said. "The simple truth is this: When the president of the United States comes to you and makes the linkages and lays the power of the office on you, and you're in a crisis, the balance of the judgment probably goes to the president of the United States."

A former supreme allied commander of NATO, Clark has long been a vocal critic of the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq, at various times calling it an "elective war" and questioning whether it drew resources away from the war on terror. "There was no imminent threat," he told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday. "There was no reason to do this."

But Clark offered a more nuanced view to reporters yesterday as he discussed his positions on issues from domestic policy to national security aboard a flight from Little Rock, Ark., to Florida for his first campaign stop since his Wednesday launch.

The Iraq resolution, passed in the months leading up to hostilities, has served as a dividing line between the Democratic candidates, as well as a litmus test for some voters who have found political purpose in their opposition to the Iraq war. Dean gained significant early support by saying he would have opposed the resolution. Senator Bob Graham of Florida voted against it, as did Representative Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio.

Senators Kerry of Massachusetts, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, John Edwards of North Carolina, and Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri voted for it, with reservations about how Bush conducted foreign policy in the days that preceded the war. Clark himself said yesterday that he believed his position was closer to Kerry, Edwards, and Gephardt than to Dean, a former governor of Vermont.

Clark's comment seemed to catch his rivals by surprise, especially since his entry into the race was viewed as a challenge to Kerry, who is no longer the only veteran in the race, and to Dean, whose antiwar stance helped him rise in the polls.

"Either General Clark's previous position on the war has been badly misrepresented by the press, or this is a serious reinvention of his own position," said Jim Jordan, Kerry's campaign manager. "He's been, since the commencement of the war, and even before, an absolutely brutal critic of the administration, so we're stunned to learn that his position is actually the same as Senator Kerry's."

A Dean campaign spokeswoman did not return a call for comment.

Clark said yesterday that he was "against the war as it emerged" because more could have been done to build international support: "There was no reason to start it when we did."

He added that he also would have sought assurances that the president would consult with Congress again before taking action, and now that troops have been committed, they should be given the resources they need to be successful.

Asked about Dean's criticism of the war, he said, "I think that he's right that, in retrospect, we should never have gone in there."

On other issues, Clark said he considered himself a Republican after the Vietnam War, but he didn't remember whether he voted in 1972. "I hope I voted then," he said, "and I would have voted for Nixon." He voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980, and for Bill Clinton in the 1992 and 1996 elections, he said, "because I listened to what Bill Clinton said in that campaign, and he moved me."

Clark also said that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Clinton had encouraged him to run and that he didn't come to a final decision until Monday.

On domestic policy, Clark conceded that he is boning up on the issues. He is invited to the Democrats' debate in New York next Friday, but he said he would have to wriggle out of a paid speaking engagement in Texas to attend. Democratic Party officials said yesterday that they expect him to participate.

In Florida yesterday, Clark reminisced about the days when he greeted solidiers in the field and said he was thrilled to have a new goal. "I miss being in the Army," he said. "It's a wonderful thing to have a team, to have a mission, to build a sense of purpose, to see a plan come together."

Clark met with equal enthusiasm from hundreds of residents, who crowded into the Deli Den, a restaurant in a Fort Lauderdale strip mall, and strained to hear Clark speak briefly while standing atop a chair.

Rhoda Marcus, 74, who heard about Clark's visit from a friend and arrived early enough to get a coveted seat in a booth, said she was skeptical at first about Clark's entry into the race: "My first reaction was, `Oh, God, not another Democrat running.' "

But Clark's credentials, and the reaction he has received so far, makes her feel optimistic about his campaign, she said. "Seeing this enthusiasm, it makes me feel like the Democrats are truly alive again," she said.

"He's going to bring peace to the world, I'm telling you," gushed Carmen Diaz-Fabian, who rushed up to Clark when he arrived, holding a handmade "Hispanics por El General" sign. "We haven't had somebody like him since Eisenhower."