Clark Praises Michael Moore for Calling Bush 'Deserter'

Democratic presidential hopeful Gen. Wesley Clark suggested Saturday night that questions remain about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard - effusively praising left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore after Moore told a Clark rally that Bush had deserted the military.

"I've heard those charges. I don't know whether they're established or not. He was never prosecuted for it," Clark told reporters in Pembroke, N.H.

The former NATO commander was asked about the allegation after the radical left-wing filmmaker told Clark supporters at a Pembroke high school that he looked forward to a presidential debate between "the general" and "the deserter."

At a news conference after the rally, Clark insisted, "I'm not going to get into the issues of what George W. Bush did or didn't do in the past."

But he pointedly declined to criticize Moore's charge that Bush had deserted the military - and had nothing but praise for the America-bashing movie man.

"I'm delighted with Michael Moore, I really appreciate his support," Clark said, according to the Associated Press. "He's a fantastic leader. I thank him tremendously for being here."

Clark was not asked about the military record of his primary political patron, former president Bill Clinton, who dodged three separate draft notices in 1969 and later told an ROTC commander that he sympathized with those who "loathe the military."

Moore's allegation was an apparent reference to a controversy that surfaced during the 2000 presidential race, when questions arose about Bush's transfer into an Alabama unit from the Texas guard.

Retired Gen. William Turnipseed, a commander at the Alabama base, told reporters that he never saw Bush appear for duty for that unit's drills.

But President Bush has always maintained he was there - and a thorough investigation by the New York Times during the campaign turned up no evidence that he did not fulfill his military obligations.

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