Hi Don, a couple points about that article. First, there's this bit:
Start with Bill Clinton. Despite recent flattery, Clinton forced Clark into early retirement. The reason: Clark went behind his president's back and lobbied Congress when he couldn't get his way in Kosovo.
Compare with the Michael Gordon column, which I would have posted in response if Glenn Petersen hadn't already done so in #reply-19370089 :
One lingering question about General Clark's résumé is why his NATO tour came to an abrupt end in 2000. He was not fired by the White House, as some accounts have suggested. Rather, former officials of the Clinton administration say, his tour was cut short by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Gen. H. Hugh Shelton, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who were still smarting over their differences with the NATO commander.
I guess that bit must have impressed Glenn too, since he bolded it. My personal understanding is that Clark was absolutely correct to be pushing preparations for a ground war there, the air campaign worked but it was a very near thing. It's somewhat troubling that Clark doesn't seem to have many fans in the military, but I think the "Clinton dumped him" line is a bad rap.
Then, there's the Hillary angle, which I find improbable. HRC would be an extremely divisive candidate under the best of circumstances. Getting the nomination as the result of Machiavellian maneuvering with Clark would not help her chances in the least. Then there's another related angle, expounded by Timothy Noah in Slate, but I see you already picked up on it in #reply-19332270 :
There's a powerful political movement afoot to draft Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for president in 2004. Its partisans are committed almost to the point of fanaticism, and their number is growing by the hour. This thing is an absolute juggernaut. Even so, the Draft Hillary '04 forces probably won't secure their candidate's Democratic nomination. Why not? Because they're all Republicans!
Well, there you go. I wonder if Roger Franklin was put onto the story by Murdoch, or if he actually came up with that line independently. |
