To: stockman_scott who wrote (782 ) 11/16/2003 2:39:09 AM From: Raymond Duray Read Replies (1) | Respond to Scott,Shelton has recently and famously said, in a public forum, that Clark's firing "had to do with integrity and character issues," adding that, for that reason, "Wes won't get my vote." Shelton has since refused to elaborate. newyorker.com When the Administration began the buildup to war, Clark did not go public with those doubts. He spent much of the war as an expert military commentator on CNN, and writing editorial opinion pieces for various publications. As the liberal media-watchdog group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting has noted, Clark had reservations about force structure before the war (the oft-heard complaint from military analysts was that Franks didn’t have enough troops for a fight with Saddam), but his reservations seemed to fade as American progress became apparent. Clark said that Saddam “absolutely” had weapons of mass destruction, and added, “I think they will be found. There’s so much intelligence on this.” In an opinion column in the London Times on April 10th, Clark predicted that the American victory would alter the dynamics of the region. “Many Gulf states will hustle to praise their liberation from a sense of insecurity they were previously loath even to express. Egypt and Saudi Arabia will move slightly but perceptibly towards Western standards of human rights.” Clark praised the Anglo-American alliance, saying that Bush and Blair “should be proud of their resolve in the face of so much doubt.”
