More video from Netroots Nation 2008: General Wes Clark and Rick Noreiga
July 17, 2008
Rick Noriega is the Texas Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. General Wesley Clark was the keynote speaker at Rick's Dallas fundraiser on July 16, 2008. He also introduced Rick at a NETROOTS NATION reception organized by the Texas Democratic Party on July 17, 2008 in Austin, Texas. Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett (Tx-25) introduced Wes Clark to the packed reception.
General Wesley Clark at Netroots Nation
UPDATED
July 17, 2008
transcript by Reg NYC
Thank you.
(applause)
It is so good to see you here.
(continuing applause)
Thank you for that warm welcome. Thank you.
(more applause)
Thank you very much. Thank you.
(more applause)
Thank you.
Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Netroot Nation. We tell it straight.
(cheering)
That, that's the truth, and that's why I'm here. You all have been, you, you've been a major force in my life. And I know when Howard Dean comes, he's going to say the exactly same thing to you.
I was- I'l tell you my story. It's a, it's a long, sad story of, of ...of saying things that get taken and used by other people. (laughter) So, I was down at CNN. I was a - I don't call it a pundit - I was a military analyst, and I wasn't on the Pentagon's payroll. In fact, Don Rumsfeld hadn't figured this out at that point.
(applause)
And,
(more applause)
And I was talking about what was going on in Afghanistan. I was doing military commentary. I was talking about the possibility of the United States going to war with Iraq in 2002.
And the Times of London called, and they asked me to write an op-ed piece that could be published in the Times of London about whether Saddam Hussein was a threat and if he was what we should do about it. And this was August of 2002. And so, I was at home and working in my, in my study, and my wife came in and she said, "Honey, what are you doing?" I said, "Well, I'm writing this op-ed for the Times of London." She said, "Oh please," she said, "Don't do this!"
(laughter)
She said, (laughs) "You're going to disagree with the Pentagon," and she said, "When you do, the Democrats will use it, and you'll be drawn into electoral politics, partisan politics." She said, "Please, do you have to do this?" And of course, I said, "Yes." And-
(enthusiastic applause)
And you all drew me in. I, I did speak out. I was called in front of the Senate and I testified in September of 2002. And I testified in front of the House, and I warned about the dangers of going to war. I warned about the wording of the Iraq War Resolution. At the time I was in front of Senate, the White House had proposed that the Iraq War Resolution would say they had the authority to use force anywhere in the region at any time, undefined. So, at least we got that taken out of the Resolution.
And Ted Kennedy did use my words, and before I knew it all kinds of stuff was happening. One of the people I was in business with actually called me in. He said, "You know," he said, "if you stay here, we won't get anymore business deals." And I said, "Gee, I'm, I'm really sorry about that," and I left. And a lot of people talked to me about running for office, and I would never've done it except for 70,000 people on the internet who demanded (applause starts) that I show myself. You did, and I thank you for that.
General Wesley Clark on CSPAN2
November 10, 2007
Transcript to follow
On September 8, 2007 General Wesley Clark delivered the keynote speech at the International Institute of Counter-Terrorism (ICT) 7th International Conference: An Annual Gathering of the Counter Terrorism Community
September 8-11, 2007
“Terrorism’s Global Impact”
Herzliya, Israel
Thank you for that kind introduction. What a pleasure to be with you here this evening. Every time I return here, I am overwhelmed by the physical beauty, and in awe of the spirit and the courage and the energy of the Israeli people.
My first visit was in 1976, as a member of a White House team working foreign assistance in the region. We met with your Prime Minister, Itzak Rabin, and sat around his dinner table until well after midnight discussing the region, and all that had transpired, 1948, 56, 67, 73- with him and some of his cabinet. Afterward, we walked the walls around Jerusalem, ending up at the Wailing Wall at 4 AM. Jerusalem was bathed in the orange glow of newly installed sodium vapor lights, and basking in peace. And to a young Army officer, this was just an emotional, really overpowering experience.
I've been back many times, and dealt with the issues of the region in many roles during my military service, from sharing training techniques with IDF officers visiting my command in the California desert to, in my last capacity, as Commander-in-Chief of the US European Command, and helping work Israel's security needs with Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Shaul Mofaz and others.
And so it was with particular concern that I watched from afar as intense diplomacy in Maryland gave way to strife and open conflict - just as Shaul Mofaz had warned me it would when we conferred on my last visit in the spring of 2000 - and the terrible tragedy of suicide bombing after suicide bombing returned again, vicious attacks against innocent civilians, meant to terrorize and demoralize. And like every American, I took heart in Israel's courage, and pride in Israel's strength, and tried to understand and learn from Israel's experiences.
Today Israel has proved once again its mettle in a tempestuous region, but both continuing and new challenges are growing.
Wes Clark: Iraq- Military and Diplomatic Solutions
August 3, 2007 | Chicago IL
Now, from the President's perspective, Iraq is just a war. And he's real happy General Petraeus is over there, because General Petraeus is a General, and George Bush always listens to Generals. (laughter) He's told you that. And when he gets-
When he gets tired of listening to them, he replaces them.
I know these guys. They're all my friends. Many of them have worked for me or worked with me and, and I admire them, and they're doing a terrific job. And I admire Dave Petraeus. He's a fine officer, but he's going to do his best to make the surge work. That's his duty, and I think you can see by the results that where you put American troops, they're competent, they're capable, they're well led, they're well motivated, they're fearless, they do their duty, and of course they do make a difference. If you're a terrorist or you're Al Qaeda in Iraq or you're the Madhi's Army and you come face to face with American troops, you're in trouble. You take a shot at them, they shoot back. You miss, American troops hit. Our soldiers, they hit what they shoot at. They're trained to do that, and they're good, and I'm proud of them.
But what we've got to do is create not an argument in the United States over the troops or their tactics, but raise the debate to the administration's strategies and policies in this region. Here's why. We can't succeed in Iraq with the numbers of troops, no matter how good they are, because you can't succeed in this war just by killing people or intimidating the opposition.
Dave Petraeus would be the first one to tell you that. The military's part of the solution. It's not the answer. The answer's the politics. The politics inside Iraq are not just people who are afraid. It's not just a group of people who say, 'Gee, if I just, if I could just let my kids go to school, I wouldn't have to join a militia.' Maybe there's some of that, but there's a lot more than that going on. This is a power struggle within religious factions. It's a power struggle between religious factions. And it's a geo-strategic struggle between different nations in the region. - All playing out on the ground in forms of violence, intimidation, blackmail, corruption, payoffs, influence, healthcare, coaching, counseling, there's no telling how many different intelligence agencies and means of action and influence from different nations are present in Iraq. It's a whole lot more then the number of nations participating in our coalition. I can promise you that. (Applause)
And so, we're not going to solve this problem unless we work it at the diplomatic level and that means we've got to stop isolating people we disagree with and start engaging those people.
Click here for the complete transcript
Wes Clark: President Bush, Stop Hiding Behind Your Generals. Defend Your Strategy!
But now, here's our problem. Okay? We- the administration doesn't want to talk about this. What they want to talk about is troops. They want to say they support our troops, and if we question the numbers of troops or their effectiveness, they want to say, 'You people don't support our troops. If you don't support our troops then you're not patriotic, and if you're not patriotic, then you don't have a voice.' I mean, that's what leaks out from everybody from Undersecretary Edelman and Vice President Cheney all the way down in every dialog.
.... But you're not going to change the policy by arguing about the troops strength. We've done it. We're on record. We want the troops home, but may I suggest that if we can raise the dialog, take it away from George Bush's safe ground of troops and people in uniform and 'How dare you question these Generals and these people in uniform that are so patriotic,' and say, 'No, we're not questioning the Generals. Mr. President, we are questioning you, you're administration, your leadership!'
I want you to say to President Bush, 'Mr. President, stop hiding behind Dave Petreaus and come out here and defend YOUR strategy! This is your war. You defend it.'
Click here for the complete transcript
Wes Clark: George Bush - a Rookie Pitcher
George Bush reminds me of a rookie pitcher who thinks he's got a no-hitter going in the 7th inning, and he's just trying to skate through so the loss can be given to the relief that's coming in. ...
But it's not about the military. It's about the political. And it's not only about the political in Iraq. It's about the political here at home, and that's what I want to talk a little about today.
In the last year I've traveled all over the world. I've been in Asia, in China. I've been in the Middle East three times - Dubai, Qatar, Saudi Arabia twice. I've been in Turkey. I've been in Eastern Europe - Ukraine, Estonia. I've been in Scandinavia - Finland, Denmark. Been in Central Europe in Netherlands and in Italy three or four times. I've been in England a couple of times. Been in, in, in the Caribbean and in Panama twice.
Everywhere people love what America stands for. They respect Americans. They love us as people. They've read what we say we believe in. They just don't understand where we are.
...why is it that at every international foundation and forum, the official U.S. position is to block forward movement on issues of global warming, quarrel with the data, disagree with mandatory controls, push timelines back, argue, argue, argue, stall, stall, stall. Where is America?
...they ask me, they say, 'Well look, you know, the biggest cause of terrorism, the thing that we're most worried about is that you Americans haven't done your duty in trying to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
And oh, by the way, they get around to mentioning Iraq too. (laughter) Not one of them, not one, no statesman, no scholar, no businessman has come to me and said, 'What you Americans did in Iraq, you know, getting rid of Saddam Hussein, thank you very much. Come and do it to my country!'
Click here for the complete transcript
But what we can hope for still is a state that holds together, that doesn't break apart. And we can hope for a state that tries to work law and order issues with its own, within its own territory and doesn't become a breeding ground for future terrorist activities or for exporting violence in the region. And we can hope for a state that in some way will allow the wonderful, industrious, smart and capable people of Iraq to make their own way forward. And we can hope for a state in which thousands of Iraqis aren't dying every month.
Those are pretty modest, those are pretty modest objectives, and as we move toward those objectives, if we do it the right way, I think we can protect the larger U.S. interests in the region and we can withdraw our troops, but we can't do it without a change in the United States strategy of engagement in the region. We must engage people we don't agree with. We must take seriously our responsibilities to help bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
And, and we must do all this soon, because that war in Iraq is costing something like 100 billion dollars a year, and our children need healthcare and our country needs innovation and our roads need repair, and there's a long list of things we need to do for our country and the world that we can't do until we get out of Iraq. And if we are going to get out of Iraq. We got to get out the right way, because history doesn't stop when the last American troop heads down the road to Basra. We've still got our interests there. We need American leadership.
So, I'm looking to you, this community, you Kossacks.
Help put the intelligence in U.S foreign policy. Help put the intelligence in this debate. Help America get its priorities right. Help us recapture this vision of America, this great and noble country that protects human rights, that's generous, that welcomes strangers, that gives to the world its ideals, its ideas, its wealth, its technology, its selfless service. That's the America they're looking for. It's the America we're looking for, and it's the America that you can help us achieve.
| On August 3, 2007, General Clark delivered the keynote address at the YearlyKos convention in Chicago, IL. |
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Additional interviews are available from TalkingPointsMemo and UStream.tv. |
General Wesley Clark's Keynote Speech at Yearly Kos 2007
August 3, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC
"We are not questioning the generals. Mr. President, we are questioning you! Stop hiding behind Dave Petraeus." - Wesley Clark
Jon Soltz: ...an Iraq war veteran.
(applause)
(laughs) I find that so funny, because whenever you go to a Republican event, they don't seem to cheer for the troops. So, I (laughs) I, I thank you guys for that applause. I'm also the Chairman of VoteVets.org a group that (cheering) y'all have been so supportive of that without, without the support of the Kos community we would never've been where we are today. We obviously penetrated the political system from the outside much like everybody in this room, and for your support I, I thank you.
It's obviously an honor to be here. I'm here this morning to introduce General Wesley Clark who, who sits on the board of, of VoteVets.
(applause and cheering)
Click here for Jon Soltz's complete introduction
Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for General Wesley Clark.
(enthusiastic cheering and applause)
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
(more cheering and applause)
Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.
(more cheering and applause)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(persistent cheering and applause)
Thank you very much
Etc., etc.
Thank you. It makes me feel good and I haven't even announced yet.
(laughter and cheering)
That was a joke.
(laughter)
I'm, I'm really happy to be here, and I'm really happy to see all of you here. This community's made a huge difference in American politics. This is the centerpiece of a new politics, and you can feel it. You can feel it in the energy. You can feel it in the ideas. You can feel it in the enthusiasm and the commitment and the, the, the selflessness that you all have brought into the business of politics. You didn't work your way up to get positions. You weren't after a claim. All you wanted was an opportunity to have your ideas heard and to be able to resonate with others who have the same concerns and the same love for America that you have. And you built a community that's incredibly powerful, and I want to thank you for that, and I want to thank you for what you did for helping Democrats take over the House and the Senate in 2006. You're wonderful.
(applause)
And I want to, I want to also recognize we've got a lot of people here who are working in this community now, you've got a lot of people here, you may not have met them, but who are candidates for elective office in the 2008 cycle. And could I ask all the candidates in 2008, if you're here, would you stand up and let this community get a look at you, because they want to meet you?
(applause)
I'm real proud of those people who are running, because it takes a lot of courage to go out there and run for office. It's not the kind of courage that you might get a Silver Star for in the military. It's the kind of courage where you really think about it, where you worry about your family. You worry about what the impact is. You worry about what it's going to do to your life and whether you actually are pursuing a, a dream that's got some chance of becoming real. It takes true, deep courage to make those kinds of commitments. So, I salute the candidates, and I'm really proud of you. I hope every one of you win.
(applause)
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