Interview with Chris Matthews:
Matthews: General, do you think Osama bin Laden, if we catch him, when we catch him, should be tried here at the U.S. or in The Hague, the international court?
Clark: I would like to see him tried in The Hague, and I tell you why. I think it's very important for U.S. legitimacy and for building other support in the war on terror for trying them in The Hague, under international law with an international group of justices, bringing witnesses from other nations. Remember, 80 other nations lost citizens in that strike on the World Trade Center. It was a crime against humanity, and he needs to be tried in international court.
Matthews: Well, 3,000 Americans were killed here. Do you believe he should be held exempt from capital punishment, because if you send him to Hague he will be. They don't have capital punishment at The Hague.
Clark: I think that's a separate issue. I think that's a separate issues.
Matthews: No, it's a key issue, because the sentencing limitation, they do not execute people at the Hague.
Clark: I think that you can adequately punish Osama bin Laden, and you've got to look beyond simple retribution against an individual. You have to look at what's in the long-term security interest in the security in America and you have to look at how we handle the war on terror from here on out.
Matthews: But doesn't life in Holland beat life in a cave?
Clark: Not in a Dutch prison. Chris, they're under water, they're damp, they're cold, they're really miserable.
Has Clark been hitting the Dutch courage? This is supposed to be the "electable" Democrat, the tough military man, the alternative to peevish peacenik Howard Dean. Does he really think he can get elected by saying "Vote for me. I'll send Osama bin Laden to a Dutch prison"? BestoftheWeb
John the F-bomb Kerry knows all the right people.
Touting his own relationships with foreign governments, Kerry disclosed that he was recently told that French President Jacques Chirac is willing to assist with the occupation of Iraq, and Chirac has even signaled a willingness to send French troops to Iraq.
"I've talked with a friend of mine who was in Paris the other day who was meeting with President Chirac at length, exploring some ideas, and the clear conclusion was that there is a place where the president is prepared to be involved and even perhaps put troops on the ground," Kerry said.
Pressed, Kerry refused to identify the friend who spoke with Chirac, or offer further details. "I don't want to drag the president of France into this presidential race." [Aw c'mon JF, Chirac should get you oodles of votes.]
Kerry predicted that Bush's campaign will launch "withering attacks on patriotism and security" against his Democratic opponent, and argued that he is best positioned to defeat that strategy with his own background as a decorated Vietnam War veteran. [Whew, thought he might have tried to obscure that decorated Vietnam War veteran info.]Link