Rep. Frank: Sudan Bomb Was an Error

Thursday, September 24, 1998; 6:45 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Barney Frank, one of President Clinton's most outspoken supporters on Capitol Hill, said Thursday he believes Clinton made a mistake last month in ordering the bombing of a Sudanese factory suspected of manufacturing chemical weapons agents.

Frank, D-Mass., said in a letter to Clinton he initially supported the bombing of sites in both Sudan and Afghanistan but now believes the administration went too far in the Sudan attack.

Frank said he did not mean to argue that there was no case for the Aug. 20 bombing. ``But being able to make a case is far from being able to justify a military attack on an installation in a foreign country,'' he said.

For any such activity, ``there ought to be a a degree of certainty or fear of imminent danger which in neither case seem to be present regarding Sudan,'' Frank said.

Democrats, along with Republicans, have been highly supportive of the bombings, although some lawmakers have said the case for bombing the suspected terrorist complex in Afghanistan was stronger than that for Sudan.

Former President Carter has called for an investigation into whether the factory actually produced chemical weapons materials.