US must resist early Iraq exit, says Clark

IOL ^ | 11/6/03 | Reuters

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Washington - Democratic presidential contender Wesley Clark said on Thursday the United States should resist pressure for an early exit in Iraq, and called for a new Atlantic Charter to re-invigorate the security partnership with Europe.

Clark, in the fourth and last in a series of policy speeches designed to sketch out his largely unknown positions on domestic and foreign policy, recommended the United States appoint an allied representative to guide Iraq's reconstruction while shifting the military operation to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) forces under US command.

Clark, a retired general and former Nato commander, called for an Iraqi Reconstruction Council to internationalise the face of the occupation, and for an Iraqi interim government and constitution written by Iraqi representatives.

He said the interim government should be given gradual authority over oil revenues and other domestic issues to give civilians a stake in stemming the violence.

"Early exit means retreat or defeat. There can be neither," Clark said in excerpts of a speech on Iraq and foreign policy scheduled for delivery on Thursday at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.

"First we must end the American monopoly on the occupation and reconstruction. Then we must develop the right force mix to fight and win guerrilla wars," he said. "Finally, we must give Iraqis a rising stake in our success."

Despite continued chaos in Iraq and attacks on US troops, many of Clark's eight Democratic rivals for the nomination have agreed the United States must stay in Iraq until order is restored and a representative government takes control.

Clark, a political rookie who entered the presidential race in September, said a summit of world leaders who had been alienated by President George Bush would be a first step toward cleaning up "the mess in Iraq."

He said a new Atlantic Charter would help define the common threats faced with European allies and demand more action from allies to meet them, but offer a promise to act together as a first choice, not last.

"We have seen that it is foolish to act alone as a first resort," said Clark, who has criticised Bush's failure to build international support for the Iraq war and what he said was his rush to invade Iraq despite the lack of an imminent threat.

Clark called for better border protection to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq, which he said would require winning assistance from Iraq's neighbours. He said intelligence experts should be shifted from the search for weapons of mass destruction to developing information on Iraqi combatants.

Clark also demanded an effort to secure weapons dumps throughout the country, where he said an estimated 500 000 tons of ammunition remains unguarded.

[aynrandfreak]

This guy is loopy

[Nonstatist]

He's got to cover all the bases. He's everything to everybody.

[anniegetyourgun]

Something about a paternal premature withdrawal strategy comes to mind when I think about this candidate.....

[bushfamfan]

That's funny about guarding the ammunition dumps as they go on for miles and he is just laughable. He offers up nothing and is a contradiction.