DaytonDailyNews.com

WASHINGTON — A witness who testified before Rep. Mike Turner and the House Armed Services Committee last week is firing back at the congressman for questioning his credentials.

"Other people have challenged my assumptions — that's perfectly reasonable and is what you might expect," said Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. "But they've never said I was not experienced."

During Korb's testimony on Friday, he argued against the surge in Iraq and criticized the Bush administration for not giving troops enough time between deployments.

When it was Turner's turn to speak, he asked Korb whether he had a Ph.D., noting that Korb had not mentioned one in the biographical information he'd given the committee.

Korb replied that he had a Ph.D. in political science.

Then Turner questioned whether Korb was a military expert.

Korb replied that his concentration had been in military affairs, including stints teaching at the Navy War College, the Coast Guard Academy. He also served active duty in the U.S. Navy from 1962 to 1966.

Turner, R-Centerville, also questioned Korb's decision to cite his own articles in his testimony. "You've made some statements that I think are consistent with a television commentator," Turner told Korb.

The Center for American Progress' action fund accused Turner of "smearing" Korb, then tossed out a barb of its own — calling the Republican congressman a "chicken hawk." The term is often used for someone who ascribes the bravery of soldiers in wartime to themselves because they take a pro-war position. Turner never served in the military.

Interviewed Tuesday, Turner said his intent was not to challenge Korb's credentials — he said he remembered Korb testifying before the committee before — but instead to challenge the tenor of his testimony. He accused Korb of "political sloganeering" and said he felt his testimony leaned too heavily on opinions. "The fact that they have resorted to name-calling is evidence that (Korb's) appearance was political and was not substantive," he said.

Korb, who taught at the University of Dayton from 1969 to 1971, said he was taken aback by Turner's line of questioning.

"He was saying I was claiming to be something I wasn't," he said.