NYT: Wes Clark's War (Kosovo Conflict)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/03/politics/03CND-GORD.html?hp

You can tell a lot about a politician by the way he handles a crisis. Retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the newest Democratic presidential hopeful, confronted his most important challenge in 1999, when he was the senior commander of NATO and the alliance went to war to stop Slobodan Milosevic from repressing the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo.

It is no secret that General Clark's relationship with the Pentagon was strained during that conflict. So it is also not surprising that reporters have begun to mine that period for the sort of score-settling anecdotes that often serve as fodder for political profiles.

But it is worth taking a step back and taking a fuller look at General Clark's record. The larger story is this: General Clark believed the stakes were so high for NATO that the alliance needed to be prepared to confront Mr. Milosevic militarily.

When the fighting erupted, General Clark managed to keep the alliance intact. Along with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, he believed that NATO could not ensure victory by relying on airstrikes alone and needed to have the option of using ground troops — a view that that put General Clark at odds with a risk-averse Pentagon, but one that was supported by many strategic experts.

[SWPAdem]

1. A very fair article

Thanks! :-)

[Wetzelbill]

2. Yup, I read this too

Pretty fair and it sheds some needed insight into the "WW3-Russian" issue. Gives a pretty rationale account of those events.

[snyttri]

3. responds to a high percentage of the attacks on Clark during the Clinton

years.

[catforclark2004]

4. The facts were there......and Clarkies Tried to tell the true story

But the mood currently is to Bash Clark on any and all issues...and ignore all that he is doing....and the General is doing wonders. His press is reported internationally!...check out below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/04/wclark04.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/10/04/ixportaltop.html