XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU SEPT 25, 2003 16:05:37 ET XXXXX

GENERAL CLARK PRAISED CONDI, POWELL, RUMSFELD AND BUSH: 'WE NEED THEM THERE'

**World Exclusive**

Democratic presidential hopeful General Wesley Clark offered lavish praise for the Bush Administration and its key players in a speech to Republicans -- just two years ago, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal!

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During extended remarks delivered at the Pulaski County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 11, 2001, General Clark declared: "And I'm very glad we've got the great team in office, men like Colin Powell, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice... people I know very well - our president George W. Bush. We need them there."

A video of Clark making the comments has surfaced, DRUDGE can reveal.

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Clark praised Reagan for improving the military:

"We were really helped when President Ronald Reagan came in. I remember non-commissioned officers who were going to retire and they re-enlisted because they believed in President Reagan."

Clark continued: "That's the kind of President Ronald Reagan was. He helped our country win the Cold War. He put it behind us in a way no one ever believed would be possible. He was truly a great American leader. And those of us in the Armed Forces loved him, respected him, and tremendously admired him for his great leadership."

Clark on President George Bush: "President George Bush had the courage and the vision... and we will always be grateful to President George Bush for that tremendous leadership and statesmanship."

Clark on American military involvement overseas:

"Do you ever ask why it is that these people in these other countries can't solve their own problems without the United States sending its troops over there? And do you ever ask why it is the Europeans, the people that make the Mercedes and the BMW's that got so much money can't put some of that money in their own defense programs and they need us to do their defense for them?"

"And I'll tell you what I've learned from Europe is that are a lot of people out in the world who really, really love and admire the United States. Don't you ever believe it when you hear foreign leaders making nasty comments about us. That's them playing to their domestic politics as they misread it. Because when you talk to the people out there, they love us. They love our values. They love what we stand for in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."

Impacting...

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http://drudgereport.com/clark.htm

I don't like him.

I missed you.
:love:

Originally posted by spa ced
I don't like him.
http://www.emotioneric.com/firsttime.jpg

Your point is?

"And I'll tell you what I've learned from Europe is that are a lot of people out in the world who really, really love and admire the United States. Don't you ever believe it when you hear foreign leaders making nasty comments about us. That's them playing to their domestic politics as they misread it. Because when you talk to the people out there, they love us. They love our values. They love what we stand for in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."

So what? Was he supposed to hate America? I don't get it.

Bush's approval rating has fallen by more than 40%. I guess all those Americans are also flippity-flops?

Originally posted by Mayfuck
Bush's approval rating has fallen by more than 40%. I guess all those Americans are also flippity-flops?
This is the best point I have seen in a netphoria debate all day.

Drudge sure took up a lot of webspace on such a non-issue.

To be fair, there's nothing to really attack Clark on politically because he doesn't even really have a platform yet besides his economic relief plan, but to dig up old stuff like this is just banal and ridiculous. The world and the Bush administration now are so far removed from the world and the Bush administration four months before 9/11 that it's not even worth quoting what he said then.

Speaking of flip-flopping...

President Bush

Oct. 14, 2002: "After September the 11th, we've entered into a new era and a new war. This is a man [Hussein] that we know has had connections with Al Qaeda. This is a man who, in my judgment, would like to use Al Qaeda as a forward army."

Sept. 17, 2003: "There's no question that Saddam Hussein had Al Qaeda ties. We have no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the Sept. 11" attacks.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld

Sept. 26, 2002: "Yes, there is a linkage between Al Qaeda and Iraq."

Sept. 16, 2003: "I've not seen any indication that would lead me to believe that I could say that" Saddam Hussein was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice

Sept. 25, 2002: There "have been contacts between senior Iraqi officials and members of Al Qaeda going back for actually quite a long time."

Sept. 16, 2003: "And we have never claimed that Saddam Hussein had either direction or control of 9/11. What we have said is that this was someone who supported terrorists, helped train them."

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/justify/2003/0918proof.htm

Yeah but to be fair, they're all talking about ties with al-Qaeda, not ties to 9/11. The administration's been really careful about its rhetoric. Granted, the president's tried to conflate them discreetly in many speeches, which is probably worse, but I don't know if he's ever explicitly stated that Iraq had to do with 9/11. The Bush folks, like all good politicians, don't admit it when they're wrong.

Yeah they did a good job of making sure they never technically associated Iraq with 9/11. But the associations were obvious and it was a major factor in winning the approval to go to war. 70% of Americans believed at that time that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. I don't think that presupposition came out of nowhere. The administration was very influential toward that line of thinking.

Originally posted by Mayfuck
Yeah they did a good job of making sure they never technically associated Iraq with 9/11. But the associations were obvious and it was a major factor in winning the approval to go to war. 70% of Americans believed at that time that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9/11. I don't think that presupposition came out of nowhere. The administration was very influential toward that line of thinking.

Well, yeah, you know that and I know that, but it'll be hard for the Dems to come out and say that and have it mean something to the average American. Or maybe I'm just being overly cynical.

Originally posted by sawdust restaurants
Well, yeah, you know that and I know that, but it'll be hard for the Dems to come out and say that and have it mean something to the average American. Or maybe I'm just being overly cynical.


Your right, people dont like being told they were played for fools, but whatever.

2 yrs ago? Ya thats relevent.:rolleyes:

I saw a clip of Bush talking pre-9/11 saying no country has the right to go in and take over another country. I forget his exact words but he perfectly described what they ended up doing.

http://www.nrc.nl/images/bush,7.jpg