The Command Post - 2004 US Presidential Election

September 03, 2003

Clark | Wesley Clark May Not Be "it"

An interesting column by Elizabeth Sullivan of Cleveland's The Plain Dealer, argues that Clark is his own worst enemy and may not be cut out for presidential politics.

It never occurs to him that he could be wrong or that he might even have helped rope NATO into the wrong war in Kosovo. It was his repeated disagreements with Pentagon brass, as he pushed to expand the Kosovo war effort, that not only earned his early ticket to civilian life but also helped spawn the U.S. suspicion of NATO that persists to this day.
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The hubris, the thin skin, the blind spots that helped torpedo his military career could hurt him again if he plunges into politics.

Posted by Mike Van Winkle at September 3, 2003 07:48 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Plus he almost managed to start WW3 by ordering a British division to push the Russians out of the airport in Kosovo. Fortunately the Brit General had sense enough to seek guidance from home.

Posted by: Mark Buehner at September 4, 2003 09:27 AM

First let me say that I’m not sorry for one second that Slobo is gone. He is getting what looks like a fair trial which is a hell of a lot more than his polticical enemies and ethnic victims got.

Further, Milosevic constituted a threat to order on the continent of Europe. It was in America’s national interest that such order be preserved, and as an Atlantic power and NATO member I think the US involvment was justified. (One can argue where it should have been on the priority list, but I disagree with arguments which deny that Bosnia and Kosovo had no impact on US interests).

That said the diplomatic and military conduct of the war was a horrorshow. There was what, seventy something days of bombing? Arguably it would have been better to use ground troops to close with, and destroy, the Serbian army than to bomb the crap out of civilian infrastructure in Belgrade for weeks on end. Where does Clark lambast the Europeans for not possessing the means or the will to put down the military equivalent of a forest fire in their own back yard? (I haven’t read his book, help me out here someone if I’m wrong on this.) Doesn’t seem to matter, they are our “allies”, and Clark continues to advocate we “engage” with them in every conflict.

What was so great about that campaign? By embracing NATO, did the US achieve a consensus of left and right? Not really, it pretty much pissed everyone off. By embracing international institutions, did we gain legitimacy in the eyes of the world? Obviously not, there were still calls for war crimes trials for Clark and NATO. The war was still “illegal” because NATO ignored the UNSC (where China and Russia would have vetoed). And when civilians were killed (remember the attack on the car on the bridge and the “sped up” cockpit video?), were the “19 european capitals” who “theoretically” approved all the targets blamed? No, America was blamed. It was and is regarded as America’s war.

Maybe “spawning suspicion of NATO” was a good thing. There was a reason that we did not accept NATO assistance in Afghanistan, and it was spelled k o s o v o. Heck even the Europeans said “we never want to do this again”. But Wes Clark did. Can you even imagine if France and Germany had to approve our airstrikes in Afghanistan? The Greeks would have demanded a bombing pause after the first night to allow the Taliban another chance to turn over Bin Laden. The French would have demanded the Northern Alliance withdraw from Kabul before any further action. Etc. And what would NATO have brought to the table? Nothing, not legitimacy, not forces, nothing but interference. It would still be regarded as America’s war, regardless if fought by us, by NATO, by the UN or the United Armies Of Benetton™. So we might as well get over it and have a free hand.

I don’t think my rant left too many doubts on my views, but let me say that I think Clark is a patriot and a fine soldier and a damn smart guy. But for the life of me I don’t understand his obsession with “alliance”, which for him seems to be more than a means but an end in itself.

Posted by: lewy14 at September 5, 2003 03:35 AM

At the end of the day, it is counterintuitive to take issue with Wesley Clark’s intelligence and ability. America can’t take another 4 years of the 12-step Texas two step, and the “perfumed prince” smells pretty darned good for us ALL.

You say that he can’t imagine himself wrong, but you ignore his undisputed reputation as a meticulous planner. Do you really think that he sits alone by himself planning to take over the world? That’s certainly not the way the military works, and that’s not the way this candidate works. You say that people in the military “hate him”? Well, of course some do! It’s only human to hate what you can never be in an organization that encourages people to be all they can be. If you wrote that they had “benign disdain,” now THAT would be worrisome.

General Clark never attempted to start World War III,—that’s patently ridiculous. What he tried to do was only one approach to solve a problem, and his subordinate officer refused. Big deal. His subordinates did NOT force his retirement, he was retired because he wanted to put troops on the ground. Yet, Bush declares the war over, and THEN our people start dying? The hypocrisy of the right wing never ceases to amaze.

The fact that the Kosovo Peace Accords and the prosecution of the war in Bosnia were a huge success is due primarily to his leadership,—so he traded caps… Since when is that a failure in leadership? If occasionally exercising diplomatic skill of timing is a crime, then it’s one of which Bush & Co. will never be convicted. We need someone with common sense in the White House. Someone who will not stand idly by while 800,000 Rwandans are murdered in sectarian violence as complex as anything that happened in Bosnia or Iraq. Machetes are weapons of mass destruction, too.

You say he has “no organization,” but surely you know better than that! Gen. Clark has finally announced the obvious; that, should he run, it will be as a Democrat. He’s already explained that it’s because Democrats have the right agenda for the country. And this is from a man who went from the height of the military establishment to working for high net worth individuals at Stephens!

Blacks 4 Clark [http://www.blacks4clark.us] believes that he already HAS the right message, so it’s no big deal to hone it politically. Notice, I wrote “hone,” not change. Blacks 4 Clark is a new organization working with other “Clark Democrats,” to infuse the Democratic party with new energy and spirit. We believe that he doesn’t need to be browbeat with the “black message,”—rather that we need to get his points of view out to everyone [with our primary audience being African-American], because this candidate “get’s it” all on his own.

We work with Women4Clark, we work with Hispanics4Clark, both “draft Clark” campaigns and all the Clark on-line communities, because the Clark approach is the right approach.

Posted by: Director at September 5, 2003 03:53 PM

Director! Get yourself a firm grip on your BARKalounger! You want us to go be policeman in Africa? WHY? Where else you got in mind that we should be policeman, while you take huge chunks out the military budget so you can hand out free lunch at the DomesticDiner? I say, take yourself some time out. Come back when you have a COHERENT plan for slicing government pork that involves domestic program cuts, and maybe some of us will listen. I say maybe, because liberals have a strange way of promising and never delivering.

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at September 5, 2003 04:21 PM

I just had a horrible, nightmarish vision - Clinton-Clark in 2004. I shudder …

Trouble is, Bush-Cheney is just as dangerous.

i’m writing in Nobody again.

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