General Wesley K. Clark Endorses U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 5:25 PM

Washington, D.C. – Retired General and Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley K. Clark today endorsed the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act and issued the following statement:

Wes Clark Urges President to Offer Real Change for Iraq

Joins Dem Congressional Leaders to Urge President to Offer Real Change for Iraq

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 | Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Clark: "After three and a half years of failed predictions and dashed expectations about our military's performance in Iraq, President Bush owes the American people a detailed justification as to why a marginal increase in troops and more promises from Iraqi politicians will make any difference in the outcome in Iraq."

More than two months after the American people delivered an historic call for dramatic change and an end to the war in Iraq, President Bush is set to deliver a speech tonight which reports suggest will reject that call and propose escalating the war. Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer, Conference Secretary Patty Murray, and Senator Jack Reed joined Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark and Iraq war veteran John Soltz today to urge the President to heed the will of the American people, listen to the advice of his top military leaders, and institute real change in Iraq.

Four years into what has become a civil war in Iraq, the generals and the nation agree: the time has come to transition our military mission, responsibly redeploy our troops, and end our open-ended commitment in Iraq. Democrats, Republicans, and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group have all offered President Bush a roadmap to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis and change the course of the war. Escalating the war, by contrast, is opposed by the military and the American people, and would only delay the day when the Iraqi government would reach the political settlement necessary to ensure their own future. The leaders today urged the President not to reject the advice of experts and the will of his nation, and called on him to announce a new plan to bring the war in Iraq to a close.

"The President may be putting the cart before the horse," said Senator Schumer. "To increase the number of troops without coming up with a workable strategy in Iraq doesn't make much sense. If we simply continue to police a civil war, even with 20,000 more troops, soon after they leave the Sunnis and Shiites will continue fighting with each other we won't have accomplished anything. And without a change in strategy, no amount of troops is going to make Iraq right."

Statement of General Wesley K. Clark (ret)
On the Appointment of Silvestre Reyes to the Chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee

December 1, 2006. Little Rock, AR.

“Silvestre Reyes is well regarded by the military and known for asking the right questions and for his follow through. He is a well respected public servant who has for years taken a deep abiding interest in matters of national security. I know him too as a man with high standards of integrity and a great patriot.

"The American people should see this selection as proof positive that Speaker Pelosi and House leadership take seriously their pledge to put our national security at the top of the national agenda.”

Democratic Leadership Call for a New Direction on Security

September 13, 2006

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and other House and Senate Democratic leaders joined former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski at a news conference to call for a New Direction for Real Security.

Click "READ MORE" for General Clark's comments regarding the state of our Armed Forces and the impact of this administration's policies on our veterans.

September 5, 2006

DEMOCRATS—JOINED BY GENERAL WESLEY CLARK—RELEASE NEW REPORT ON BUSH NATIONAL SECURITY FAILURES

Third Way report makes clear dangerous cost of Bush Republican policies, need to change course

Washington, DC — With President Bush touring the country on a new public relations campaign designed to sell his national security policies to the American people, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, and Senator Thomas Carper today joined General Wesley Clark and Sharon Burke, Director of the Third Way National Security Project to release "the Neo Con," a new report analyzing the dangerous effects Republican policies have had on the security of the nation. Prepared by Third Way, the study is a damning indictment of Bush Republican failure and incompetence that has left America less safe five years after September 11, 2001.

The new report throws the national security failures of the Bush Administration and its rubberstamp Republican Congress into harsh relief. Shockingly, despite repeated rhetoric from the White House citing the new realities of the post-9/11 world, Bush Republican incompetence has left America vulnerable in an increasingly unstable world. Bogged down in Iraq with its military stretched thin, America now finds itself less able to fight and win the war on terror. Around the world, Afghanistan, Iran, and North Korea have grown more dangerous. Meanwhile, terrorist attacks around the world have rapidly multiplied.