The Unappreciated General

[robbedvoter]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A51403-2000May1¬Found=true


The Washington Post

The Unappreciated General
International Herald Tribune The General Who Did Too Good a Job

By Patrick B. Pexton
Tuesday, May 2, 2000; Page A23

snip


Clark's problem was that he was a great general but not always a perfect
soldier--at least when it came to saluting and saying, "Yes, sir." In
fact, when he got orders he didn't like, he said so and pushed to change
them.
snip

Recent events in Kosovo show that Clark's bosses in the Pentagon and
White House still don't get it. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen.
Henry Shelton, rebuked Clark in February for using 350 American soldiers
to reinforce French troops who were unable to quell violence between
Albanians and Serbs. After the American reinforcements were pelted with
rocks and bottles, Shelton and the White House, panicky about potential
casualties, told Clark not to volunteer U.S. troops again.

But Clark was right to act. He understood the value of using force
quickly and early to show who was in control, and to demonstrate to the
European allies that the United States is willing to put lives at risk too.

Both Desert Storm and Kosovo were imperfect victories because the
despots who caused them were left in power. But the military fought them
well. The thousands of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps pilots and
support troops who quietly rejoined their squadrons when the Kosovo war
ended deserve more than a historical footnote. And Clark deserves more
than a pink slip.

The writer is a managing editor at National Journal.

© 2000 The Washington Post Company

[DrBB]

1. Interesting post--I note the date

...is from well before Clark was considering a run for president--hard to make this out as politically motivated.