1/ What would be the best race for a fighter/thief? I'm thinking elves for their extra DEX, plus they can still have 18/?? STR unlike halflings? What are your thoughts?

2/ From a role playing point of view, how do you justify a good aligned cleric who can cast animate dead, and also has turn undead? Can't get my head around that..also, where do the skeletons come from for animate dead.. are there corpses under the ground in every single location?

thanks!

1) Elf is the best race. On the long run dwarf is very powerful, you get more hitpoints and a huge racial bonus to the important saving throws.
But dwarves can't start with 18 charisma which does make a difference early in the game, with 16 charisma you only get the positive NPC reactions when you've raised reputation high enough to get a reaction bonus and you have to pay more in shops.