NPR is doing an ubelievable hit piece on Clark right now.

[AP]

Is anyone listening?

After reading the Clinton Wars, I got the impression that there were elements within the Pentagon which would have been happier if the Democrats didn't have a success in Yugoslavia, and if Europe was destabilized by Milosevic.

Well, Eric Westerfield is giving free reign to those elements within the Pentagon to turn those attitudes into a character assination of Wesley Clark.

It's was pretty nasty stuff.

[mlawson]

1. I haven't read the Clinton Wars, yet,

because I've been trying to finish and publish my own book. But why was it that certain elements wanted Milosevic to destabilize Europe??

[AP]

2. To help Republicans. It's the same reason the FBI lied to Clinton

about having spent money they were given to investigate terrorism on its intended purpose.

They had to preserve for the Republicans a few issues upon which to run.

With Yugoslavia, they just wanted to make life for Europe expensive. Also, Blumenthal writes about how certain Tories were making a lot of money cutting weapons and other deals with Milosevic -- a dictator with whom they could do business. I'd be surprised if certain Republican insiders weren't getting some back end scratch on those deals as well.

[TacticalPeek]

5. Follow the back end scratch.

Now as then.

http://www.export.gov/iraq/contracts/

[KittyWampus]

12. My Pet Tinfoil Theory- CIA Warned Osama When Clinton Bombed Him

I have no proof... but it's said that when Clinton had a lock on Osama's location and tried to bomb him that Osama got away by just minutes...

I honestly believe that the CIA or Neo-Con operatives in Intelligence or Pentagon warned him.

[AP]

13. Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I wonder if Clinton investigated why they didn't get him.

Keeping OBL, I bet, was incredibly vital to the neo-con strategy for global domination. Furthermore, they guy is a bush business partner, right?

[KittyWampus]

14. What Implications Does Your Point Have For The Dem Nominee?

Say if its Dean that gets the nod and he manages to get elected...

I'm thinking that there's NO WAY the NEo-Cons will want him to succeed militarily or strategically in confronting Terrorism.

This is one giant reason Clark seems attractive... he beat these guys at their own game in Kosovo. He succeeded even with his hands tied.

And he most likely knows the personalities and who in the Pentagon can be worked with.

Unfortunately Dean would be at their mercy.

Kerry would most likely be very aware and savvy.

Edwards I can't say....

[Donna Zen]

3. missed it

However, NPR has to secure their funding don't cha know? Anyway, it has been going on for a month (however long he has been in the race)

I guess Eric was too tired to do any research:

http://wesleyclark.h1.ru/departure.htm#GEN.%20WESLEY%20CLARK%20WAS%20RIGHT

Washington -- If there is one thing that our supremely politicized and overbureacratized Pentagon just hates these days, it is the concept of victory.

The word "win" is never used in its wars anymore, having been replaced by such words as "neutralize," "negotiate out," "virtual war, "Cabinet war," "cease-fire" and not "unconditional surrender," and an "exercise in coercive diplomacy." In fact, the very word "war" is suspect, too seemingly harsh in the mind-set of conflict-therapy and instant reconcilation that has infected our military as well as the White House.

No wonder these generals and admirals in what once was called the War Department got rid of the one genuine military thinker and hero we have, Gen. Wesley K. Clark. What did he think he was doing, insisting upon winning?

Does anyone know how much $$$ Senator Cohen (R) is making with his Defense Consultant Firm?

[DUreader]

4. I heard parts of that, typical NPR hack job.

[FrenchieCat]

6. Cohen is just lying for Bush......See his praises for Clark back in '0099

Cohen and Ralston are just shilling for Bush. They believe that we will buy "1984" mode of rewriting history..........

That is why Clark is just the type of President that we need. He ain't no brown noser....and he always spoke his mind. I prefer a President who is not the a "yes man" to the Pantagon Brass....but knows their game well!


Ralston Assumes European Command; Clark Lauds His Troops
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service
STUTTGART, Germany, May 3, 2000 -- Pledging to maintain readiness and improve the quality of life of his troops and their families, Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston assumed command of U.S. European Command here May 2.

Cohen saluted both generals in his address before EUCOM troops and guests. He said Ralston, who will guide the command in the dawn of the 21st century, possesses the same warrior strength and diplomatic skill of his predecessor.

"In Gen. Wes Clark," Cohen told the audience, "America found a scholar, a soldier and a statesman -- a scholar who understands the forces of history on our time, a soldier of unquestioned courage …, a statesman whose influence has been felt from the Americas where he helped to guide the fight against drug barons, to Dayton, where his counsel helped end the bloodletting in Bosnia."

Cohen praised Clark and the command for their part in NATO Operation Allied Force. He announced that he has proposed the creation of a Kosovo campaign medal. "No one should ever doubt either your service or your success," he said. "Faced with an adversary who manufactured a vicious, humanitarian nightmare, you responded with compassion and speed to relieve human suffering."

The secretary awarded Clark with his fifth award of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The award citation credited Clark with leading EUCOM through the entire spectrum of military operations from warfighting to peacekeeping to humanitarian relief.

Cohen also presented Clark's wife, Gertrude, with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Award for Distinguished Public Service. The award cited her for more than 30 years of volunteer service to the men, women and family members of America's armed forces and those of the nation's allies.

http://www.dod.gov/news/May2000/n05032000_20005033.html

[OKNancy]

7. and read this from 1999

CBS) CBS News Sunday Morning Correspondent Rita Braver recalls a recent meeting with General Wesley Clark, as his imminent departure from his post as NATO commander hits the news. The next Braver Line column will appear Aug. 21, when Rita Braver returns from vacation.
snip

It was just a few weeks ago that this reporter was lucky enough to hitch a ride on General Wesley ClarkÂ’s airplane as the NATO commander flew to meet Defense Secretary William Cohen for a quick visit to U.S. forces in and around Kosovo. Maybe it was because there was no one else to talk to, but the general invited me to pass the hour and a half journey in his personal cabin and I naturally snapped at the chance.

After all, this was the guy who had just commanded the military campaign that won the war against Serbia. And there has long been a certain mystique about Clark in my mind. One of my friends who was his West Point classmate and another who was a Rhodes scholar with him talk about Clark in larger-than-life terms.

He is both a leader and a maverick, someone with laser sharp intelligence and analytical skills who has trouble kissing up to all the people itÂ’s necessary to please in the military.

snip

But still I got the impression that Clark, lean, handsome and brash, thought his days might be numbered. For one thing, he was too honest to dismiss my questions about whether or not the vague terms of the cease fire and the lack of any government structure in Kosovo might make peacekeeping there even more difficult than it has been in Bosnia. The military tends to like its front men to be cheerleaders.

Still, I keep searching my memory for any signs of open stress between General Clark and Secretary Cohen. Now I realize there might have been a certain coolness there, but at the time I attributed it to military professionalism, and besides, neither man is a hugger or a backslapper. Cohen made sure to praise Clark at every stop along the way, and Clark seemed genuinely glad that Cohen had made the trip to rally the troops.

more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/07/30/sunday/main52963.shtml

[Justice]

9. Thanks for This Link Also

[Justice]

8. Thank You For This Link

Cohen's contemporaneous statements on General Clark are very revealing in a positive way, and set the record straight.

[FrenchieCat]

10. Here's the reason Cohen, Ralston, etal. are so eager to shill for

Bush...those former generals who have been so critical of Clark. Turns out they've got good professional/financial reasons for the current administration staying in power.

Dennis Reimer:
Director Mutual of America Life Insurance Company
Director Plato Learning
Director Microvision
Director DRS Technologies DRS on NYSE - defense electronics

PARSIPPANY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2003--DRS Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: DRS - News) announced today that it has been awarded an initial order on a potential multi-year contract, expected to exceed $20 million in value over the next four years.

From DRS press release
DRS secured a first quarter record amount of new
orders for products and services at $193.4 million,
reflecting an increase of 39% over the $139.2 million
in bookings for the comparable prior-year period.
Funded backlog reached the highest level in the
Company's history, at approximately $893.9 million at
June 30, 2003, reflecting a 46% gain above backlog at
the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2003.

Hugh Shelton:
Director, Red Hat - software, the Linux OS

NEW YORK - Three weeks ago, John P. Stenbit, chief information officer of the U.S. Department of Defense,issued an agencywide memo that has Linux lovers rejoicing. The brief outlined the DOD's policy on acquiring, using and developing open-source software,including the Linux operating system.

Director, Anteon Corporation International - IT to defense department
Anteon Awarded $10M BPA to Support Naval Air Systems Command

FAIRFAX, Va., Oct 8, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via
COMTEX/ -- Anteon International Corporation (NYSE:ANT), a leading information technology and systems engineering and integration company, announced today that it has been awarded a five-year Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to provide cost estimating and
analysis services to the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The estimated value of the BPA, if all options are exercised, is $10 million.
From GOP.gov
http://www.gop.gov/committeecentral/docs/bills/107/1/bill.asp?
bill=hconres_shelt\
on

And when he received the Eisenhower Award from Business Executives for National Security, who came to dinner?

DepSecDef to Speak at BENS Award Dinner
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz will make
remarks during the 2001 Business Executives for
National Security Eisenhower Award Dinner Thursday,
May 3, 2001, 8:30 p.m. EDT, the Corcoran Ballroom,
Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C.
The award dinner will honor Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Interested media should contact Michael Doubleday, vice president of communications, BENS, [phone].

Marc Cisneros:
President, Texas A&M Kingswood
Member Defense Policy Board
(with Wolfowitz, Perle, Gingrich - get the picture?)

[AP]

11. You should send this to NPR and tell them that, if they're going to alow

people the opportunity to smear Clark unrebutted, they should at least disclose that person's financial interests in businesses that stand to profit from the Bush administration policies.

[Bread and Circus]

15. AP, I know we support different candidates...

but thanks for your thoughts on
this.

:hug:

[Bread and Circus]

16. Here's a link to a Cohen speech on Clark....

http://www.dod.gov/speeches/2000/s20000502-secdef.html

Read it. It seems like Cohen can't seem to make up
his mind.

[gully]

17. He'd better get used to it as the front runner. This is why I say

the Clark is the most electable shit is a total myth.

He's got mondo baggage.

[Donna Zen]

19. Get used to it?

Get used to it? Why should anyone, as you say "get used to it"? Do you think character assassination through twisted lies is something the people of this country should get use to?

This isn't about front runner status, this is about the electoral map and fracturing the republikan party.

Wrong!

"Electable shit" Did you read the man's record? The only baggage is invented.

None of us should except this about any candidate. And while you may delight in having a pravda press; I do not.

It is not about baggage, it is about lies and the liars who tell them. And not only should we not get used to it, we should never push this state as business as usual.

[Donna Zen]

18. There are two levels of disgust here:

First, there is my normal, everyday-kind-of disgust, the kind that keeps one from turning on the news in the morning, because you know it nothing but lies. But today I've feeling a much deeper disgust, one that surprises me, it is the slandering of someone who. for whatever reason, believed in America and served it.

Oh Wesley Clark is brilliant, make no mistake; he didn't have to live on an Army salary. With a West Point ring, he could name his price even without his brains. But he chose a path that few of the best and brightest ever do.

I don't understand it. I've been cynical about this country for so long that the idea that it might be grounded in great ideals, is just a memory. Nevertheless, have to defend all things Clark on these threads has made me understand that there could be a different America if we could live our stated values.

Watching and listening to the media shock and awe today, makes me want to vomit.

Thanks AP.