Gen. Clark: McCain Is "Untested And Untried" On National Security

On Tuesday, Sen. Kent Conrad revealed that Sen. Barack Obama is including "former top military leaders" among the approximately two dozen names currently rattling around in a not-so-short vice presidential short list.

Such figures don't come much more "top" in either political party than retired four-star General Wes Clark, the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe for NATO during the Kosovo War. After a late entry into the Democratic 2004 presidential race, in which he won the Oklahoma primary and finished second in three other contests, Clark turned himself into a popular surrogate on the stump for Democratic congressional candidates during the midterm elections.

Relatively new to partisan politics, he seems to have taken to the enterprise with gusto. As an early backer of Sen. Hillary Clinton, Clark traveled in the last year to Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, Indiana and South Dakota. But even now that the spouse of his former Commander in Chief is out of the race, Clark isn't done for the season. In an email pitch to his nationwide network of supporters last week, Clark urged party unity and described the call to elect Obama as a "critical mission."

In a wide-ranging interview with The Huffington Post, Clark offered opinions on the current state of American foreign policy, the Democrats' emergence as a more "full-service" party on security issues, and -- lest anyone doubt his potential use as a running mate for Obama -- the shortcomings of Sen. John McCain.

"I know he's trying to get traction by seeking to play to what he thinks is his strong suit of national security," Clark said of McCain while speaking from his office in Little Rock, Arkansas. "The truth is that, in national security terms, he's largely untested and untried. He's never been responsible for policy formulation. He's never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own element on an aircraft carrier or [in managing] his own congressional staff. It's not clear that this is going to be the strong suit that he thinks it is."

Resume aside, though, Clark also took issue with the Arizona Republican's instincts on national security. "McCain's weakness is that he's always been for the use of force, force and more force. In my experience, the only time to use force is as a last resort. ... When he talks about throwing Russia out of the G8 and makes ditties about bombing Iran, he betrays a disrespect for the office of the presidency."

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RECAP from UCLA Rogue States Conference PART I:

Just in case anyone forgot, here is Part 1:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15014

And seeing as I was so late getting to Part 2 (insert very guilty faced emoticon) I thought you could use a recap. You can hopefully understand when you scroll down, and down, and down… why this took so long to pull together. Transcribing is a painstaking exercise in patience and rewind…

This intro is snipped from Part 1 to refresh your memory.

Well, Wes addressed members of the Oxonian Society in NYC this evening. It was a wonderfully intimate affair, with seats for only about 100. The room was full, with a number of folks standing when all of the seats were taken. Among the audience were three new Oxonians -- me, Gordon and Perry Barber (a fascinating woman who umpires Major League Baseball games and makes great T-shirts). We’d all joined after we’d seen Wes was scheduled to speak.

General Clark went well beyond the mainstream Democratic Party in preemptively positioning himself, and those who stand with him, to confront a growing threat to peace, and also to our Party. For those who picked up on Clark’s stance early the lag between him sounding an alarm and more people hearing it has been hard to accept, but as hard as it’s been for the netroots to take that danger in, compared to the institutional Democratic Party they have been relatively quick to respond.

by using force

final (?) draft for kos diary
thanks everyone for very helpful suggestions

It's sad that some of our leading Democratic presidential candidates feel compelled to compete with one another to show who's tougher on national security.

Wes Clark, a four star general with 34 years of military service, has the courage to tell us what we sense is the truth - that saber rattling and aggression make us less safe and that living up to our own ideals would give us the legitimacy to secure a safer more peaceful world.

Summer is rolling on and Labor Day is approaching. George Bush and Dick Cheney are now almost certainly the least popular President and Vice President team in American History. John McCain, the G.O.P. pretender to the throne who once was feared as the only man with sufficient stature and integrity to convince the American public to renew the Republican lease on the White House, has departed center stage after a war vote malfunction stripped bare his passion for the Iraq surge, exposing him as unelectable in the Super Bowl of politics.

Ladies & Gentlemen, Volunteers of all ages ~~

Recently, General Clark has asked for our help to not only change the debate from troops and tactics to strategy and diplomacy, but he has also asked, several times, for us to help several candidates get elected to Congress in 2008.

Link

July 12, 2007

Roll over the icons on the right to access full event footage from each panel and speaker.

The Center for American Progress and The Century Foundation hosted the “America in the World” conference to explore how the United States can restore its leadership for a more peaceful, prosperous, and secure world.

The conference brought together leading thinkers from government, academia, the military, and the non-governmental sector to discuss the peace and security issues that will shape the public agenda over the coming years. Keynote speakers included former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR), and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski. Panel discussions focused on four topics: energy and the environment, the Middle East, America’s defense posture, and the global economy.

<snip>

Karen Ballard

Questions for Wesley K. Clark

Generally Speaking

Interview By DEBORAH SOLOMON | New York Times Magazine | July 1, 2007

As a retired four-star general and former presidential candidate, you’re about to publish a memoir whose title, “A Time to Lead,” might seem to suggest you’re personally eager to lead this country. Is that an accurate reading?

“A Time to Lead” is a time for America to lead. That is the intention of the title. Certainly we are having a leadership crisis. We have an administration that has lost all sense of strategic purpose in the Mideast. I am very concerned that we have lost the foundation of America’s worldwide power and influence. It has been squandered.

Are you referring to our military strength?

The most important element of power is not the military. After World War II and through the end of the 20th century, we had a legitimacy that magnified our military strength and economic strength. We weren’t like other powers. We weren’t after an empire. We didn’t torture. What we’ve lost is our legitimacy. It’s time for every American to be a leader.

Is that practical? If every American were a leader, there would be no one left for them to boss around.

Leaders don’t boss. Not if they’re any good. They persuade. And I think America needs a whole lot more persuading and a lot less bossing.

It sounds as if you’re running for president again as a Democrat.

I haven’t said I won’t. I think about it every day.

The field is already overcrowded with aspiring presidents. Do you think we’ve become a country where everyone wants to be in charge and no one can tolerate being second?

Every American should strive to be all they can be. And that striving will make them better even if they end up in second place.

What do you make of all the how-to books and seminars on leadership? What true leader would ever take a leadership seminar?

I’ve never met an effective leader who wasn’t aware of his talents and working to sharpen them.

READ MORE at the New York Times Magazine

Today, during a Foreign Affairs Hearing on the Iraq Escalation, Major General Batiste offered an astoundingly realistic and frightening rassessment of Iraq, US Foreign Policy, and the near-broken state of our Military. His 13 minute assessment can be watched here . I tried to embed the video but had no luck.