9/28/06 - East Valley Tribune -Clark to Dems: Speak out on Iraq

Clark to Dems: Speak out on Iraq

September 28, 2006 By Paul Giblin | East Valley Tribune

Wesley Clark, speaking very much like a presidential candidate, challenged Democrats to engage Republicans on the war in Iraq.

The Bush administration no longer has the high ground on the issue, the retired Army general told 230 people at a town hall meeting sponsored by U.S. Senate candidate Jim Pederson on Wednesday.

The 3 1 /2-year-old war has placed the United States in danger, Clark said at the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Hall in Phoenix.

“We’re on the precipice of events spinning out of control as a result of these strategic mistakes and bad leadership of that gang in Washington,” he said.

Since the United States invaded Iraq, the geopolitical situation in the Middle East has become less stable, Clark said.

More than 2,700 military men and woman have been killed and thousands more have been injured in the war; Iraq is moving toward civil war; Iran has gained nuclear capability; Israel and Palestinians in Lebanon have been at war; Afghanistan is “disintegrating” and the terrorist responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, still is on the loose, he said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the United States is in a dangerous world. We need good leadership to get us through this,” said Clark, who sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2004.

Democrats can best keep the country safe and strong, he said.

Clark outlined a strategy for winning the war.

U.S. leaders first must enter diplomatic discussions with leaders of Syria, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that are funding combatants in Iraq.

Leaders of those countries want to keep the United States’ military force occupied in Iraq, for fear that otherwise the United States would invade their countries. Those leaders must be assured they are safe, Clark said.

Next, U.S. leaders must make contact with Iraqi tribal leaders and urge them to disband their militias, which are destabilizing the country, and back that request with military action if needed.

U.S. leaders must be willing to leave Iraq knowing that it will never be a Jeffersonian democracy.

Clark campaigned throughout the day for Pederson, who is challenging two-term Republican incumbent Sen. Jon Kyl; and for Democrat Harry Mitchell, who is challenging six-term Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth in the 5th Congressional District, which encompasses Scottsdale and Tempe.