Clark Blames Cheney, Sees Bush as Cipher
From Greg Pierce’s Inside Politics
“Wesley Clark, interviewed by Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” was asked, “Tell me what you think about the performance of Dick Cheney, vis-a-vis the president. Is he calling the shots, or is the president calling the shots?”
Clark replied: “Well, my information, and it’s based only on limited inside information, is that he’s called a lot of the shots.”
When asked why the administration chose to go to war in Iraq, . Clark replied: “I think it was purely political. I think it started with a Republican Party pledge, an effort to embarrass the Clinton administration. It swelled and just grew out of control.
“And finally, they decide that, after 9/11, they needed to do something. They needed to look really strong. And Afghanistan looked problematic. … I think they just decided this was the opportunity. Let’s go for Saddam Hussein.”
Matthews asked: “Would you say the president of the United States traded American lives for electoral votes?”
Clark: “Well, I can’t say that. … ”
Matthews: “You just did.” “