Great catch, thank you, Mitch!

Right at the start Wes mentioned a new law that I had not previously noticed. Like Wes, I think it's a welcome change.

Here is the news release from the VA:

http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1609

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."
George Orwell

Just happened to have turned the channel on early. Never saw him on Wolf's show.

He talked about Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was asked about having a position in an Obama administration. He hesitated, and then said he "would do anything that is asked".

I have to tell you I am fascinated with the John Podesta/ Wes Clark connection. Their paths seem to have crossed many times--in a very positive way.

Google has been very helpful.
;)

Tuesday Nov 11 2008

I want to talk about something General Petraeus has been quoted as saying. He was talking to NPR and he said the following. Listen to these words, because they could have been very controversial about two years ago, if not even sooner. Let's see if we can put those up.

This is David Petraeus on an NPR report. He says, "I do think you have to talk to enemies." And then he goes on the say: "You don't kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency. If there are opportunities to identify and then isolate the irreconcilables in certain of these areas and then reach out to the reconcilables" -- key word, reconcilables -- "of course, that is a preferred course of action."

Let me bring in Wesley Clark. He's a retired four-star general. He's a former NATO commander. And he is just the perfect guest to be talking to about something like this.

Do you agree with what General Petraeus is now saying, which sounds so different from what they are saying a couple of years ago about this?

WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Absolutely. Absolutely.

It is what I have been saying from the very beginning, is, you must have politics inside Iraq. You must have diplomacy in the region, and you cannot win it by simply killing people.

SANCHEZ: Well, then what happened to the anathema of this argument, suggesting that you are a coward and you're not a patriot if you go and you talk to your enemies?

CLARK: Well, I don't know where that argument really came from. It was thrown out. It was political coinage. It was used in partisan politics.

But I think the military leadership has always been clear. And Dave Petraeus is certainly foremost among them now, but there have been many others who have said, look, you have to try to work this thing on different levels. You can't just win it by military force alone.

SANCHEZ: Look, real simple, clear question to you, as a commander, as a general, as a guy who has been there. Is Afghanistan even winnable?

CLARK: Well, I think we have got to be careful how we set our objectives in Afghanistan.

Is it possible to have an end to the killing and violence? Yes. Is it possible to have a Western-style democracy with full human rights and Thomas Jefferson-style principles there? Probably not right away.

SANCHEZ: OK.

CLARK: So, we have got to be careful how we define success there. SANCHEZ: What is it? What is reasonable for a success in that country, where we leave and say, look what a good thing we leave behind, as opposed to a mess?

CLARK: I think that you have got to look at ways to see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, then issues in Pakistan, and then the spillover across the border, and then the results of 30 years of ceaseless conflict in Afghanistan. So, we have got to provide economic hope in the region. We have got to provide a modicum of security.

We can't impose our standards on peoples there that have their own ideas. We have got to respect them, probably decentralize a little bit in Afghanistan. Don't know. Going to have to work...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, you're right. You have got to look at this regionally.

So, let's talk region. Let's talk Pakistan. Barack Obama is saying we may need to fire into Pakistan, specifically to go after members of al Qaeda. I know that you can put on your political hat for us. You ran for the presidency as a Democrat, opposed Barack Obama. Is he wrong?

CLARK: No, I didn't oppose Barack Obama. I ran against John Kerry in 2003, and I campaigned for Barack Obama in this last election.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for the correction.

CLARK: I think he is exactly right. There may be times to do that.

I think the more we can help Pakistan to do this work themselves, the better off we are. The more we can be in a supporting role, instead of a leading role, the more we can take -- let Pakistanis' legitimate governmental institutions take the responsibility for the inevitable mistakes that occur when force is applied, the better off we are.

But I don't think you can say you will never, ever, if you get actionable intelligence on key figures, that you would never do it.

SANCHEZ: So, you could kind of have it both ways? You want to talk, as Petraeus said, talk to the reconcilables, in other words, try and get on the good side of those, but, at the same time, if you see one of the irreconcilables doing something, you fire at them, even if they are in Pakistan?

CLARK: Yes, but all things considered. Who else is there? What is the collateral damage? What is the likelihood of hitting them?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

CLARK: What is their real value in the organization? What is the impact of firing on them? How are you going to fire on them?

I think it is a dangerous thing for stability in the region to be too heavily overtly involved there. But, on the other hand, Pakistan needs support and assistance. And its government and military are in a very tough fight.

SANCHEZ: We're out of time, but I need a one-word answer for you. If Barack Obama asks you to be a part of his administration, will you accept?

CLARK: I would do anything I could to help the administration, but I am not asking for a position there. I just like to help.

SANCHEZ: Got it.

CLARK: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: General Wesley Clark, thanks so much, sir. Appreciate your time and your insight on this subject.

(CROSSTALK)

CLARK: Thank you very much.