Clark testimony to Congress contradicts antiwar position

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Congressional testimony by Wesley Clark in fall 2002 contradicts the early antiwar stance the candidate has promoted since entering the race last summer.

At a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee in September 2002, Mr. Clark expressed no misgivings about the imminent war with Iraq and called deposed dictator Saddam Hussein a credible threat to the United States. Since then, Mr. Clark has proclaimed his strong opposition to the war "from the beginning," and has continued to state that position at debates and events nationwide.

"He is, as far as we know, actively pursuing nuclear capabilities, though he doesn't have nuclear warheads yet. If he were to acquire nuclear weapons, I think our friends in the region would face greatly increased risks, as would we," Mr. Clark said. A transcript of the testimony was posted early yesterday on the widely read Drudge Report on the Internet.

The retired NATO commander from Arkansas has been surging in public-opinion polls in New Hampshire. A poll released yesterday by the American Research Group showed Mr. Clark trailing former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean by five percentage points, 29 percent to 24 percent.

Mr. Dean has been hammered lately for "flip-flopping" on a number of issues, which has contributed to his slipping in polls in New Hampshire and Iowa. Mr. Clark's contradictory statements may hurt him as well, Democratic strategists say.

In his House testimony, Mr. Clark told the committee he agreed with Richard Perle, the former assistant secretary of defense under President Reagan who has strongly endorsed the war in Iraq, that it was more than conceivable the Iraqi government had a relationship with al Qaeda, despite any direct proof.

"I think there's no question that ... there have been such contacts [between Iraq and al Qaeda]," Mr. Clark said.

"It's normal. It's natural. They are going to exchange information. They're going to feel each other out and see whether there are opportunities to cooperate. That's inevitable in this region, and I think it's clear that regardless of whether or not such evidence is produced of these connections that Saddam Hussein is a threat."

The Clark campaign issued a statement yesterday asserting that the testimony was not contradictory to Mr. Clark's stance on the war. "The testimony that General Clark gave in September 2002 is entirely consistent with what he wrote in the book he published in August 2003," campaign spokesman Matt Bennett said in the statement.