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Politics : Wesley Clark -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CF Rebel who wrote (355)	9/29/2003 8:58:48 PM
From: Don Green	Respond to of 1414

CF, I remember there was a big battle when Clinton wouldn't let anyone see his records when he was in office. Many expected there was some evidence of substance abuse. My point is why bother making an issue of it, unless you have something to hide. Don

To: CF Rebel who wrote (355)	9/29/2003 9:47:03 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 1414

Albright defends Democratic candidate Clark __________________________ By PETER WALLSTEN The Miami Herald Posted on Mon, Sep. 29, 2003 fortwayne.com MIAMI - (KRT) - Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Monday defended retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who since announcing his presidential bid has come under fire from former Pentagon colleagues who say he was disliked among fellow commanders. Albright, who served under President Bill Clinton and worked closely with Clark during the war in Kosovo that he engineered as NATO supreme commander, credited Clark with the victory there. "He really won that war militarily," Albright said during a lunch with Miami Herald editors and writers to promote her new memoirs, "Madam Secretary" (Miramax Books, $25.95). "He's a very fine person and a very good friend," Albright added, "and I don't like some of the attacks that are coming about him. I think he was a very fine soldier and a patriot, and I'm glad that he got into the race." Clark, a retired four-star general, has rocketed to the top of the 10-candidate field vying for the Democratic nomination, despite only recently deciding to become a Democrat and entering the race two weeks ago. He has emerged as a leading critic of the war in Iraq and is viewed by some Democratic and Republican strategists as the most potent threat to President Bush's reelection next year - a point that has made Clark a target for critics who question his decision-making during the Kosovo war. The former secretary, who now runs a global strategy firm in Washington, was careful to say Monday that she was not endorsing Clark, and that she has been advising all the Democratic presidential candidates. She said the Iraq war would become an increasingly critical factor in the campaign if questions persist about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction. "The more information that comes out that the information from the Bush administration about Iraq was inaccurate or manipulated, the more the people who doubted it will get saliency," said Albright, who has used a series of national television interviews in recent days to criticize the Bush administration on Iraq. If a Democrat wins the White House next year, Albright said, she would happily return to the administration. In her conversation with Miami Herald writers, Albright called for an international embrace of Cuban dissidents and said world leaders should give Varela Project leader Oswaldo Paya whatever he wants. Albright recently joined a group of European leaders, including former Czech President Vaclav Havel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, formed to build international support for dissidents on the island seeking legitimacy and resources to fight the Castro government. She said the project was "making Castro nervous" and that dissidents wanted the attention. "They say over and over again, `Just shine the light on us,' " Albright said of dissidents. "They say if nobody pays attention to us, then whatever dictator's in charge can in fact do whatever he wants." For the sake of legitimacy, Albright added, "It cannot be viewed as a U.S. versus Castro thing. It needs to come from international sources."

To: CF Rebel who wrote (355)	9/30/2003 12:38:20 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 1414

daily-journal.com Reporting for duty: Wesley Clark September 29, 2003 With Wesley Clark joining the Democratic presidential candidates, there are enough eager bodies pointed toward the White House to make up a rifle squad. This bunch of wannabes could make things increasingly hot for Dubya -- as long as they don't blow each other away with friendly fire. Since Clark tossed his steel pot into the inferno, I've been constantly asked, "Hack, what do you think of the general?" For the record, I never served with Clark. But after spending three hours interviewing the man for Maxim's November issue, I'm impressed. He is insightful, he has his act together, he understands what makes national security tick, and he thinks on his feet somewhere around Mach 3. No big surprise, since he graduated first in his class from West Point, which puts him in the supersmart set with Robert E. Lee, Douglas MacArthur and Maxwell Taylor. Clark was so brilliant, he was whisked off to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and didn't get his boots into the Vietnam mud until well after his 1966 West Point class came close to achieving the academy record for the most Purple Hearts in any one war. When he finally got there, he took over a 1st Infantry Division rifle company and was badly wounded. Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth, one of our Army's most distinguished war heroes, says: "Clark took a burst of AK fire, but didn't stop fighting. He stayed on the field till his mission was accomplished and his boys were safe. He was awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart. And he earned 'em." It took months for Clark to get back in shape. He had the perfect excuse, but he didn't quit the Army to scale the corporate peaks as so many of our best and brightest did back then. Instead, he took a demoralized company of short-timers at Fort Knox who were suffering from a Vietnam hangover and made them the best on post -- a major challenge in 1970 when our Army was teetering on the edge of anarchy. Then he stuck around to become one of the young Turks who forged the Green Machine into the magnificent sword Norman Schwarzkopf swung so skillfully during Round One of the Gulf War. I asked Clark why he didn't turn in his bloody soldier suit for Armani and the big civvy dough that was definitely his for the asking. His response: "I wanted to serve my country." He says he now wants to lead America out of the darkness, shorten what promises to be the longest and nastiest war in our history and restore our eroding prestige around the world. For sure, he'll be strong on defense. But with his high moral standards and because he knows where and how the game's played, there will probably be zero tolerance for either Pentagon porking or two-bit shenanigans. No doubt he's made his share of enemies. He doesn't suffer fools easily and wouldn't have allowed the dilettantes who convinced Dubya to do Iraq to even cut the White House lawn. So he should prepare for a fair amount of dart-throwing from detractors he's ripped into during the past three decades. Hey, I am one of those: I took a swing at Clark during the Kosovo campaign when I thought he screwed up the operation, and I called him a "Perfumed Prince." Only years later did I discover from his book and other research that I was wrong -- the blame should have been worn by British timidity and William Cohen, U.S. SecDef at the time. At the interview, Clark came along without the standard platoon of handlers and treated the little folks who poured the coffee and served the bacon and eggs with exactly the same respect and consideration he gave the biggies in the dining room like my colleague Larry King and Bob Tisch, the Regency Hotel's owner. An appealing common touch. But if he wins the election, don't expect an Andrew Jackson field-soldier type. Clark's an intellectual, and his military career is more like Ike's -- that of a staff guy and a brilliant high-level commander. Can he make tough decisions? Bet on it. Just like Ike did during his eight hard but prosperous years as president. hackworth.com is the address of David Hackworth's home page. Sign in for the free weekly Defending America column at his Web site. Send mail to P.O. Box 11179, Greenwich, CT 06831. His newest book is "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts." David ''Hack'' Hackworth -- former soldier, sailor and military correspondent -- is a weekly contributor to The Daily Journal. You can also write him at King Features, 235 East 45th Street, New York, New York 10017.