Clark Papers Show Pressure Over Kosovo

[maddezmom]

Posted on Sat, Feb. 07, 2004

Clark Papers Show Pressure Over Kosovo
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Clinton administration officials urged an end to the Kosovo war in the summer of 1999 so that the conflict would not hurt Al Gore's coming presidential campaign, Wesley Clark, then NATO commander, says in newly released papers.

The papers from Clark's 34 months as NATO's top military officer show that throughout the war, Clark clashed with top officials in the Clinton administration, including senior officers in the Pentagon, The Washington Post reported for its Saturday editions

~snip~

more: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/politics/7896833.htm

[maddezmom]

1. Link to Wash Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20226-2004Feb6.html

[BeyondGeography]

2. Fascinating stuff

Clark is decidedly not a politician, which is the only reason he was able to defeat Milosevic in the end.

He's a hero, in my eyes. And I haven't said that about anyone in many years.

And if you ask me do I think Gore was interested only in his poltical skin in June of 1999, the answer is yes.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Clark is a hero in my eyes also

And that is a very very rare thing for me to say also. I remember being so angry in the late 90's over the wholesale ethnic cleansing, rape camps, and slaughter that was happening in Europe. I kept thinking that our tax dollars were supporting a huge military rather than paying for health care and schools, but when push came to shove and finally our military could contribute something positive to the world by helping to stop evil, suddenly so many in the Pentagon and Washington had cold feet. Where was the oil, seemed to be the only issue that mattered. I was furious that we stood by passively while hundreds of thousands were slaughtered in Rwanda.

It wasn't until last Summer that I finally came to understand how critical a role Wes Clark played in directly going up against the status quo Pentagon and Washington Conventional Wisdom which opposed "humanitarian missions" while continually lobbying for more billions to spend on space age weapon toys.

Clark cares about what happens to people in this world, and not just Americans. He believes our country stands for something good, and that we must live up to what we stand for. He thinks the security of America is tied in to how we are perceived around the world, and whether we "walk the walk" of the values we proclaim. It is an honor to support him now.

[maddezmom]

3. and another from ABC/AP

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040207_429.html

Clark Papers Show Pressure Over Kosovo
Wesley Clark Papers Show General Sparred Over Kosovo Conflict With Top Officials

The Associated Press



WASHINGTON Feb. 7 — Wesley Clark took issue with a report Saturday that cited papers from his tenure as NATO commander as saying Clinton administration officials urged an end to the Kosovo war in the summer of 1999 so the conflict would not hurt Al Gore's coming presidential campaign.

Clark, campaigning in Virginia ahead of that state's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, said President Clinton and his national security adviser, Sandy Berger, "were totally committed to this operation. I never had any political pressure to do anything but succeed."


The papers from Clark's 34 months as the alliance's top military officer show that throughout the war, Clark clashed with Clinton administration officials, including senior officers in the Pentagon, according to a Washington Post report.

Clark did not say he was misquoted. Rather, he called the report "a stream-of-conscious dictation" with a historian. "I had to assemble all of my memory and think about what had actually happened. It was such a complex period of time," Clark said.

~snip~
more: http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040207_429.html

[Jerseycoa]

7. "It was such a complex period of time"

Anybody who reads "Waging Modern War" or Richard Holbrooke's "War in a Time of Peace" or Samantha Power's "An Idea From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide," will learn just HOW complex a period of time it was for Clark and for the world. It's positively awesome what Wes is capable of withstanding for something he believes in. The term is overused, in my opinion, but Wes truly offers "a higher standard of leadership."

[BootinUp]

4. Clark is a leader, not a politician

I wonder if he is still fighting some of these old battles, but now the battlefield is the media and the campaign trail.

Interesting about Gore too.

[Bad Thoughts]

6. 34 years of heroism

Clark always put the good of people first above political expediency.