Can Clark Claim the Iraqi War Resolution and Ditch the Iraqi War? Yes.

The New York Times reported a bit more of Clark's Sept. 18th conversation on the plane than the Post, which makes clear his support of the Iraqi war resolution was predicated on providing leverage for a UN-based resolution. It's exactly what Clark said on the 19th, as reported both in the Post and the Times.

However, the Post appears to misquote Clark as saying he would not have voted for the war resolution:

Retired Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark reversed course yesterday on the issue of Iraq, saying that he would "never have voted" for the congressional resolution authorizing President Bush to go to war, just a day after saying that he likely would have voted for it.

Washington Post

The Times, again, gives up more context to the quote:

General Clark, a former NATO commander who has retired from the Army, never denied making the statement in an interview with four reporters on his chartered plane. But he seemed stunned by the headlines that it generated, as supporters worried that he had undercut his position as an antiwar candidate with military bona fides.

"I never would have voted for war," he said here this afternoon in an interview and in response to a question after a lecture at the University of Iowa. "What I would have voted for is leverage. Leverage for the United States to avoid a war. That's what we needed to avoid a war."

New York Times

I can't find where he says he wouldn't have voted for the war resolution, as the Post would have him saying. There are plenty of quotes that he would not have voted for "this war," however. We should therefore understand that the Washington Post is resolutely anti-Clark and the Times is pulling for him.

On to the larger question: Is Clark's distinction a valid one? Can he claim a vote for the war resolution and disavow the war itself?

The Iraqi war resolution gave Bush power to wage war as he saw fit, based on certain conditions. What must be shown here is that Bush violated the conditions of the war resolution, which would invalidate the war he conducted. Then I believe that Clark and other Democratic candidates could legitimately disavow that war.

Since we know Bush lied in his letter of determination submitted on the eve of the war, I believe Clark can legitimately support the war resolution and disavow the war.