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Posted on 10/03/2003 3:31:37 PM PDT by Shermy
ARLINGTON, Va. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark called on Friday for an independent probe of the Bush administration's use of intelligence before the Iraq war, calling it "twisted" and possibly criminal.
The retired four-star Army general and NATO commander who entered the 2004 White House race two weeks ago amid a flood of publicity and instantly rose among the leaders in some polls, said the American public needed to know if it was "intentionally deceived."
In his harshest indictment yet of President Bush, Clark said the administration's "irresponsible" Iraq policy had put Americans in danger and the United States in crisis mode at home and abroad.
Going further than his nine rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, most of whom have called for a special counsel to probe the leak of an undercover CIA officer's name, Clark also demanded an independent commission investigate the "possible manipulation" of intelligence leading to the war in Iraq.
"Nothing could be a more serious violation of public trust than to consciously make a war based on false claims," he told a conference of military reporters and editors. "Its handling of intelligence and its retaliation against its critics may have been criminal."
"INTELLIGENCE GAP"
"We need to know if we face an intelligence gap ... because the system has been twisted to suit the prejudices of the policy makers," Clark said.
Bush defended on Friday his decision to attack Iraq, brushing aside questions about his justifications for war and citing what he said was preliminary evidence from the top CIA weapons hunter that Baghdad had been developing unconventional weapons even though none have so far been found.
Clark, who retired from the military three years ago, said he had seen "no compelling" evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat and depicted the war in Iraq as a policy hatched "behind the scenes."
He said he heard the arguments that the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks justified an invasion to oust Saddam, that it provided an opportunity to remake the region and that there was "a list of states they want to take down in the Middle East."
"I had hoped it was just Pentagon hallway scuttlebutt ... but it looks like it was more than that," he said.
Clark accused the Bush administration of having an answer before they knew the question.
"They seized on Sept. 11 as proof of a problem that required the solution of attacking Iraq," he said. "Saddam was involved in Sept. 11, they implied, and Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, so they made Iraq a centerpiece in the war on terror."
Clark, who has portrayed himself as the best Democratic candidate to challenge Bush on national security issues, charged the administration with violating the principles of American democracy by retaliating against anyone who expressed dissent or questioned logic.
The Justice Department is investigating who disclosed the identity of an undercover CIA officer whose husband had challenged Bush's claims about Iraq's weapons threat.
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"They implied" seems to be a new DNC twist. Course what I remember was the going out of the way to say Iraq wasn't involved in 9/11.
You don't have to tell me! I sensed it from the beginning he's a bad guy. He's shameless, and will say anything for his backers.
Right now he's being ordered to steal Dean's points. Verging on a demogogue.
Hmm, Wes - perhaps then you should also call for an investigation of the false claim made by members of the Clinton Administration about a possible ongoing genocide in Kosovo - you know, the one that justified the war that you waged from 15,000 feet against the civilian population of Serbia.
Now Wes is repeating that imminent lie.
The only "intelligence gap" going on here is between Clark's ears.
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LOL!
You beat me to it!
Clark's a creep.
Tia
He's probably a bit dumber than Soros/Clinton/McAuliffe hoped. But as long as he sticks to the big lie tactics he can get traction.
On a positive note, his backers were probably not concerned enough to dig into Clark's past. Acxiom. Kosovo. Messer Griesheim.
FYI, I think buddies Sweeney and Soros are positioning forces to engineer an AFL-CIO endorsement for Clark.
People in hell want ice water. Ain't happening.
So General Clark, whatever happened to all of those alleged "mass graves of 100's of thousands" that Clinton and Chirac claimed were the reason for your war on Serbia in 1999? Shouldn't we investigate the White House intelligence on that war, too?!
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