Union Leader re Dean and Biden Lugar flap...plus Cleland weighs in [View All]

[flpoljunkie]

http://www.theunionleader.com/prez_show.html?article=30127

Bush would have been required to send Congress a letter - not seek a vote of approval - before waging war, Kerry said. He argued there was no significant difference between the Lugar-Biden resolution and the one passed by Congress.

Dean acknowledged that the alternative resolution was not binding against the president, but argued that Bush would have somehow been more likely to use restraint.

"Biden-Lugar required the president to come back to Congress - not for a vote," but only to certify that a number of actions were taken, including more diplomacy, Dean said. "Had the president done that, we would not have gone to war, because then he would have been forced to certify with his word ... all the claims he made that were not true."

Former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, who campaigned in Iowa for Kerry on Wednesday, criticized Dean. Cleland said Dean "avoided the war of his generation and now is finally admitting that he did support a resolution for unilateral action against Iraq. The truth will out in my point of view."