Q: You said that if elected, there will be no more 9/11s in the US. Then you scaled back, saying no one can guarantee anything in life. What exactly are you guaranteeing?

CLARK: What I'm saying is I believe President Bush must be held accountable. Before 9/11, he did not do everything he could have done to keep this country safe. After 9/11, he took us to a war we didn't have to fight. As president, my top priority will be to keep America safe. We'll use all the resources of the US- international law, diplomacy, allies, economics and military force, if necessary-to keep this country safe.

Q: Sure, that's everyone's top priority. That's a far cry from a guarantee.

CLARK: I never used the word "guarantee." What I said was that the president said that the attack at 9/11 could not have been prevented, and that further attacks were inevitable. I consider that as an excuse to cover the fact that this administration didn't do everything they could have done.

Clark spent much of the Iraq war as an expert military commentator. Clark had reservations before the war [about the number of US troops needed for a fight with Saddam], but his reservations seemed to fade as American progress became apparent. Clark said that Saddam "absolutely" had weapons of mass destruction, adding, "I think they will be found. There's so much intelligence on this." In the April 10th London Times, Clark predicted that the American victory would alter the dynamics of the region: "Many Gulf states will hustle to praise their liberation from a sense of insecurity they were previously loath even to express." Clark praised the Anglo-American alliance, saying that Bush & Blair "should be proud of their resolve in the face of so much doubt.

Clark called for victory parades down the Mall, and in another column, cheered the spectacular display of coalition force: "American military power, especially when buttressed by Britain's, is virtually unchallengeable today. Take us on? Don't try!"

Q: Which of the 2001 tax cuts would you change?

A: I support tax reform to make the tax code fairer, simpler, more progressive and more pro-growth. My plan will relieve the squeeze on middle-class families by eliminating federal income taxes entirely for families with children making less than $50,000 annually and by lowering taxes for all families making less than $100,000. I propose recapturing the portions of Bush's tax cuts that went to the wealthiest Americans and using the money to create jobs.

Q: You began to outline some of your economic priorities. You suggested you would keep some of the middle-class tax breaks but essentially get rid of much of the rest. You spent time as an investment banker. Don't you believe that lower capital gains taxes and lower dividend taxes not only help the rich but also help to create jobs and help the economy overall?

CLARK: What we need to do in this economy is go back and look at our overall position for a deficit. We started with $5 trillion surplus. We went to a $5 trillion deficit, projected over 10 years. Now, this administration hasn't had a real economic strategy. All it's had is a tax-cut policy. We're faced with a very serious deficit problem. We need to go back to the top 2% and repeal those tax cuts. We need to put all the government spending programs on the table, including the military programs. We need to then have no new programs unless you can pay as you go. And then we need a simpler, fairer, more progressive tax code.