LAT: Pentagon Defeat Fired Up Clark for White House Fight

[hellhathnofury]

When the call came on that summer night in 1999, Gen. Wesley K. Clark was dining with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus at the leader's elegant estate in Vilnius. A fine cut of roast beef was on his plate, French wine filled his glass and Clark was in excellent spirits.

SNIP

On the phone was Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with news that would change the life of Clark, then supreme allied commander in Europe and one of the brightest stars in the U.S. military.

SNIP

When Clark returned to the dinner table, he quietly informed Adamkus. "I couldn't believe this was happening," Adamkus recalled recently. "I asked Gen. Clark if he had expected this, and he said he had to admit it was a surprise."

The full effect took awhile to sink in. When Margaret Sullivan, one of Clark's aides, saw him later, she remembered, "Wes looked like he had been hit by a car. He felt he had been publicly humiliated."

SNIP

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

http://www.latimes.com/la-na-clarkprofile15jan15,1,5076119.story

[hellhathnofury]

1. Kick

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

2. Clark should have just been a progressive populist

He could have walked. He would have had his own chapter in high school history books, WKC, second only to FDR.

Instead, he decided to be a "free trader" and they found someone more obedient. Too bad Clark.

[hellhathnofury]

3. Can you clarify that?

[shance]

4. This is impressive. Clark is impressive.

I see more and more that he is a very ethical, caring man.

I can only imagine how difficult that is to maintain in the military system when concern and compassion seem take a back seat to the end goal.

I liked this quote:

"Possesses the highest standards of professional competence and ethics of any officer I know…. Tempering brilliant intellect with pragmatic know-how, and strong leadership qualities, LTC Clark is the most gifted officer of his rank in the Army today."

a 1980 evaluation given about Clark by a Commanding General

[bigtree]

5. so then he gets this job

working for military TV, doing point by point on the war . . .That's when I turned him off.

[KittyWampus]

6. Well, Some Prefer To Stay Uniformed And/Or Misinformed

But since Clark was critical of the War (as much as his job as CNN analyst allowed) I'm glad it was him.

[mikehiggins]

7. There is something about the Cisneros quote that sticks with me

"Gen. Marc Cisneros, credited with capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel A. Noriega, thought he had that job in the bag. But, while visiting the Pentagon during job interviews, he heard a rumor that Clark was angling for it.

Cisneros recalls thinking, "Well, I know Wes Clark. I'll just ask him if it's true." When he did, Clark denied he was seeking the job.

"He outright lied to me," said Cisneros, now chief executive of a charitable foundation in Texas.

Clark denies that he ever campaigned for the job and says he genuinely thought his Army career was over when he talked to Cisneros."

Look at what Cisneros says: "I know Wes Clark. I'll just ask him if it's true." Then, when things played out differently, he felt Clark had lied to him.

If Clark had been a political climber, as some suggest, why would Cisneros go to him to find out his plans? Why would he be surprised or hurt to think that Clark lied to him?

Most of us have dealt with people who really are the way Clark's critics try to portray him. None of us-none of us who are grownups anyway--are surprised to learn they are lying. That is what they are, after all.

You only get surprised, or hurt, when the person involved does not live up to the vision of him you have. IMHO, Cisneros was angered--even though Clark may well have been telling him the truth at the time--because he knew Clark and had a higher opinion of him than that.

Again, all us grownups know how easy it is to hold a grudge when you think you have been let down by someone you hold in good regard up to that point.

What always stuck in my mind about that quote was that Cisneros felt no qualms or hesitation about simply walking into Clark's office and asking him point-blank. You don't do that with someone everyone thinks is a low-life slug. You only do that with someone you think is an honorable man.

As to what happened subsequently, the record suggest it was Clark's patrons that pulled off the promotion to the Southern command and that at the time of his conversation with Cisneros he may literally not have known what was in the cards.

[Moderator]

8. cynicalSOB1

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