Wes Clark’s new book is in bookstores now!

Four-star General Wesley K. Clark became a major figure on the political scene when he was drafted by popular demand to run for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2003. But this was just one of many exceptional accomplishments of a long and extraordinary career. Here, for the first time, General Clark uses his unique life experience—from his difficult youth in segregated Arkansas where he was raised by his poor, widowed mother; through the horror of Vietnam where he was wounded; the post-war rebuilding of national security and the struggles surrounding the new world order after the Cold War—as a springboard to reveal his vision for America, at home and in the world. General Clark will address issues such as foreign policy, the economy, the environment, education and health care, family, faith, and the American dream.

Rich with breathtaking battle scenes, poignant personal anecdote and eye-opening recommendations on the best way forward, General Clark’s new book is a tour de force of gripping storytelling and inspiring vision.

http://www.palgrave-usa.com/catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1403984743

Pre-order Wes Clark’s book on Amazon HERE

Stan’s P(review) of a Time To Lead

Praise for a Time to Lead (by some other very special people)

pdf files:

Time to Lead Information Sheet
Time to Lead Brochure
Time to Lead Bookmark
Time to Lead Cover (8×10)
Time to Lead Cover with border (8×10)
Make Your Own Time to Lead Hand Fans/Signs
Hand Fans Photo

LIST OF 2007 “A Time to Lead” EVENTS

Updated 9/16/07 –

These have just been posted, and haven’t been included in earlier alerts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~

RADIO ALERT: 9/17/07 – Stephanie Miller Show, Monday Sept 17, 2007 @ 11:30am EDT / 10:30AM CDT

Start: Sep 17 2007 – 10:30am CDT

description:
General Clark will appear on the Stephanie Miller Show, Monday, September 17, 2007 at 11:30 AM EDT| 10:30 AM CDT | 9:30 AM MDT/ 9:30 AM PDT

You can listen online here: www.stephaniemiller .com/

To listen “live” you must register at the site. It’s free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~

MEDIA ALERT: The O”Reilly Factor, Monday, Sept 17, 8:00:PM EDT/ 7:00PM CDT

Start: Sep 17 2007 – 7:00pm CDT

description:
General Clark will appear on The O”Reilly Factor, Monday, Sept 17, 8:00:PM EDT | 7:00:PM CDT | 6:00:PM MDT | 5:00:PM PDT

All times of scheduled programs on Fox are subject to change. We recommend tuning in a little early.

RADIO ALERT: 9/17/07 – Alan Colmes Radio Show, Monday Sept 17 @ 10 PM EDT / 9 PM CDT

description:
General Clark will appear on Alan Colmes Radio Show on Monday, 9/17/07 @10:00 PM EDT | 9:00 PM CDT | 8:00 PM MDT/ 7:00PM PDT

You can listen live at here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(as of August 29, 2007 ). (Please check with the source as the time grows near as events have a way of shifting.)

More events will be added, and we will update as information becomes available.

MEDIA KICKOFF

Sunday, September 16 th / Washington DC
Television Interview: Meet the Press (on NBC)

Monday, September 17 th / New York

RADIO INTERVIEW (Live)
WNYC Radio – The Leonard Lopate Show
Interview Time: 1:20 – 2:00pm

RADIO INTERVIEW (LIVE)
KBCO-FM – “Morning Show”
Interview time: 12:00 – 12:10 pm (Boulder, CO area)

RADIO INTERVIEW (LIVE)
FOX – Alan Colmes Show
Interview time: 10:00 pm – 11:00 pm
1211 Avenue Of The Americas

Tuesday, September 18 th / New York (AM)

RADIO INTERVIEW (Live) WTKK-FM
Interview Time: 7:35-7:50 am – (Boston area station)
Interviewer: Michael Graham

Tuesday, September 18 th / Washington DC

DISCUSSION & BOOKSIGNING
Borders
Event time: 7:30
5871 Crossroads Center Way, Bailey’s Crossroads , VA 22041

Wednesday, September 19 th / Washington DC

RADIO/INTERNET INTERVIEW (Live)
WAMU-The Diane Rehm Show
Interview Time: 10:00-11:00 am WAMU-FM
Interviewer: Diane Rehm

New York

TELEVISION INTERVIEW (Tape)
“The Daily Show” on Comedy Central
Interviewer: Jon Stewart

READING , Q&A, SIGNING
Barnes & Noble
Time: 7:00
1972 Broadway @ 66 th St., New York , NY 10023

RADIO INTERVIEW (Tape)
WOR – Joey Reynolds
Interviewer: Joey Reynolds

Thursday, September 20 th / Washington DC

TELEVISION INTERVIEW (Live)
WUSA-TV 9 news at 9am
Interview Time: 9:00-10:00 am
Interviewer: Andrea Roane

READING , SIGNING
Barnes & Noble
Start time: 6:00 pm
555 12 St. NW, Washington , DC 20004

Friday, September 21 st / Washington , DC

RADIO/INTERNET INTERVIEW (Live)
XM Satellite –Bob Edwards Show
Interview Time: 10:00 am
Interviewer: Bob Edwards

Monday, October 1 st / Portland

BOOKSIGNING
Powell’s
Event time: 7:00 pm
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton , OR

Tuesday, October 2 nd / Seattle

BOOKSIGNING
Third Place Books
Event time: 7:00pm
17171 Bothell Way, NE, Lake Forest Park , WA

Wednesday, October 3rd / San Francisco
BOOKSIGNING
Commonwealth Club
Event Time: 5:30 pm
595 Market Street, San Francisco , CA 94105

Requires reservations in advance! This can be done online now. This event will have a wine and cheese reception and a one hour program before the book signing. Cost is a modest $18 for non-members of the club.

Wednesday, October 10th / New York
TELEVISION INTERVIEW (TAPE)
The Colbert Report
Interviewer: Stephen Colbert

Thursday, October 11th / Chicago
DISCUSSION & BOOKSIGNING
Borders
Event Time: 7:00pm
830 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago , IL 60611

Friday, October 26th / Los Angeles
TELEVISION INTERVIEW (Tape)
HBO’s Real Time w/Bill Maher
Interviewer: Bill Maher

Thursday, November 8th / Little Rock BOOKSIGNING
Wordsworth Books
Event Time: 5:00pm

Saturday November 10th / Miami
HEADLINE SPEAKER
Miami International Bookfair

http://www.fourstardemocrats.com/timetolead.htm

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)

It’s been a crazy year since those- since, since the last time we got together at Las Vegas, and I know we moved it out of Las Vegas. Chicago’s a great city, but also I hope we’re going to save you some money by being here in Chicago. (laughter) Seemed like a lot of people, when I gave a speech early in the morning, a lot of people were really having trouble. They’d been up all night. (laughter) They’d lost money. And so, maybe this is a, I don’t know, it’s a great setting. But it has been a crazy year.

You know, I listened to, to Rudy Guiliani on the debates, and it seems like everything reminds Rudy of 9/11 and his role in it. (laughter) But it took Michael Moore to take some of the people who were rescuing others at 9/11 to Cuba to get healthcare.

(applause)

It’s been a crazy year. We spent billions and billions of dollars in Iraq on infrastructure, and two nights ago we had a bridge fail in Minnesota. For just a fraction of that money put into our own infrastructure highway programs in America, we could’ve saved 30 or 40 American lives.

(applause)

And who would’ve believed a year ago that this time this year, we’d have more troops in Iraq than we had last year? 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. (scattered laughter) And I look at Iraq, and I’m so filled with admiration for the men and women in uniform. They’re, they’re doing such a great job there.

(applause)

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. They’re asking themselves, ‘Where is America?’ on issues like global development when we can’t figure out how to take care of American farmers without penalizing tens of millions of people living at the subsistence level all around the world who can’t do anything but agriculture. So, we’ve got the Doha round of trade talks tied up. They’re asking how sincere is our commitment to alleviating world poverty. They’re looking at how we’re doing on global warming. They, they’ve heard Vice President Gore. It’s, he’s done fabulous job. Hasn’t he?

(applause)

And they’re asking then, then 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’re looking at the enormous changes taking place in Asia, the coming together of the Shanghai Cooperation Council between China and Russia and the Stans, the meeting of the Presidents, the heads of state of Asian governments. They’re saying, ‘Where’s the United States in this?’ What- Where, where is America? ‘You’re the largest economic power in the world. You’re not participating in this?’ And the answer’s, ‘Well, I guess you know we’ve been really caught up in other things, (scattered laughter) and we didn’t play.’ We’re not there.

I go to the Middle East. I look at this enormous outflow of wealth coming created by oil and the development of liquified natural gas opportunities and the outflows of investments in the burgeoning economies in India and China. And where’s the United States in all this? What are we doing in that equation? And when I travel, 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.

(applause)

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!’

(laughter)

They’re, they love what we stand for. They don’t understand where we are. When it comes to protecting human rights, they listen to our rhetoric and they say, ‘But what about Abu Ghraib and then what’s this about your Vice President and these Presidential commissions and this secret rendition program. Where is America? Where’s the America that we thought we knew when we visited your country, went to school there, sent our children there, were in hospitals there? Where is America? We love America.’

I’ve traveled across this country a lot. I did, I did 26 states for the 2006 election cycle, about 86 districts and, and, and states there campaigning for people, and I’m in business and I’m back and forth five days a week, and I meet everybody from mayors and governors down to just people who sit next to me on regional jets or come up to me in airports. And we’re a great country. I love America, and I know you do too. That’s why you’re here.

And some people in America have never had it so good, but I’m asking myself why is it in Arkansas that we have to get 40 dentists together to give free dental care down in Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock and there’s 1000 people in line, most of whom can’t get treated that day, and women come out and say, ‘You know, I’m 30 years old. I can’t afford to have my teeth fixed. Thanks. They extracted this tooth, and…’ This is the wealthiest country in the world, and people are, people are losing teeth. They can’t get dental care. We’ve got nine million children who aren’t covered by health insurance, and President Bush wants to veto the legislation which is going to bring them under the states’ children’s health insurance program, because we’re going to put a 68 cent additional tax on a package of cigarettes. Where is America? What do we stand for as a nation?

People come up to me and they say, I-I ask people a lot, “What do you think the biggest problem is?” Of course, everyone says Iraq first, but then they say, but- jobs. You know, we’re working two jobs, three jobs. It’s a great thing Americans have a lot of energy, but we’re working a lot of (laughter), we’re working a lot of low paid, paying jobs and can’t, we can’t get- seem to move up. We’re just treading water and hoping we can get our kids into college and pay off the loans and not go bankrupt and the car doesn’t break down this month and we’re just struggling to stay alive out there in the greatest country in the world. And speaking of energy, why is it that we can’t have a sensible policy that takes America toward energy independence?

(applause)

All of that of course is just the intro to the latest National Intelligence Estimate which says that Al Qaeda is (chuckles) stronger than ever before and building, rebuilt their base area and they, in the, in the region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. And I don’t agree with those who say that the Al Qaeda is the Fourth World War. I don’t think it’s that way, but I do think that they are dangerous. They are a threat, and they need to be dealt with, and what we’ve done is we’ve actually strengthened Al Qaeda by not focusing on the problems in Afghanistan and diverting attention, putting our Armed Forces into and creating a cause celebre in Iraq, which has been a great recruiting incentive for Al Qaeda.

So, we’ve got some real problems out there, and we’ve got to address them. And I’m here with you today, because I’m going to ask for your help in addressing them the right way. We’ve, we can’t work what we need to work where we are right now. What we need to be doing is we need to be using this moment of America’s preeminence to reshape the international institutions that provide the framework for the global economy and addressing the problems of mankind that are too big for any one nation to handle – poverty, health, disease, global warming, the prevention of war, the protection of human rights. Those are beyond the range of any single nation no matter how… We need those inst- We need the help from international law and institutions. We need to work those issues.

And we need to rebuild American so we can compete more effectively in this global economy – healthcare, education, infrastructure, the environment, new technology, a better business environment, new relations with labor. We can’t do that until we find a way out of Iraq. We got to get out of there.

(applause)

But here’s where, here’s where I need your help. We got to get out of there the right way, because unlike Vietnam, when we leave Iraq, we’ll still be left with a whole passel of interests there. We’ll still have concerns about Iranian nuclear potential. We’ll still have worries about Israel and the Palestinians. We’ll still be worried about, yes, the security of the world’s principal supply of oil. We’ll still be worried about our friends in the, in the Persian, in the Arab Gulf who, who are dependent on us for some of their security. We’ll still be worried about Lebanon. We’ll still be worried about terrorists. Those interests won’t go away simply by pulling U.S. troops out. So, we not only have to come out, we have to come out the right way.

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-

(applause)

When he gets tired of listening to them, he replaces them.

(laughter, then applause)

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.

(applause)

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.

(applause)

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.

(applause)

The Iranians have tried several times over the last three or four years to engage us. We’ve rebuffed them every time. Of course, you understand the Iranians are not our friends. We’ve been in a virtual state of war. It’s a cold war. We’ve been in a state of war with them for 30 years, and that government is not our friends. Now, their population is the most pro-American population in the Middle East. They all love Americans and 61 of them, 61% of them think they’re government’s no good. That’s what the latest polls show. But the Iranian government is not going to have a friendly conversation with the United States. Look, they’ve got something they think we want. We want some support in Iraq and we want them to stop building their nuclear weapons. These people are in this for sort of the larger aggrandizement of their, of their purposes, their, their nationality, their heritage, their religious faith. And so, they’re going to bargain. They’re going to joust. They’re going to work. The United States has to engage. It can’t isolate and get what it wants. It’s time to engage.

The Bush administration says we don’t have enough leverage. Well, we’re the most powerful country in the world. We’ve got aircraft carriers on two sides of Iraq. We got air bases on the other two sides. We’ve got planes that can fly over. We’ve got military dominance over Iran. And we can go into Iran any time we want, and they know it. Not only that, we’re the most powerful nation economically in the world. Virtually every organization that Iran wants support from we either control, dominate or heavily influence. So, we don’t have enough leverage? We want to capture five more Iranian spies or something? It doesn’t make sense.

Let’s get engaged. Let’s talk. Let’s give our troops the kind of diplomatic support they need. We’re-

(applause)

Now, people usually say, ‘Okay well, what’s your plan?’ Well, we did this in the Balkans. We started with a statement of principles. We had, here’s the principles we’re looking for. Here’s what we can do, plusses and minuses for you. And then we sort of launched out. As Richard Holbrooke said, “It’s not exactly, it’s not exactly like a military plan, it’s more like jazz.” You know, the thing about diplomacy and engagement is it takes two, three, four sides to participate. So, you can draw up all the timelines and visits you want, but it doesn’t mean anything if you haven’t got the other side to sort of engage with you.

So, no one can sit up here and give you a timeline for diplomacy. No one can say, ‘Two trips to Tehran, then a trip to Damascus, then a trip to Riyadh, then back to…’ That all has to be worked out in the process, but what has to be done to start that process is the United States has to be willing to engage with a nation that we don’t like. And to do that we have to be willing to move away from the state of war that we’re a part of with that nation.

(applause)

I’m not saying that Iran is not a serious problem, but I’m saying you can’t, you can’t deal with that serious problem until you’ve tried to engage. I’m not taking any options off the table with Iran, but remember the rule: When you’re talking about the use of force, it’s only, only, only, ONLY as a last resort.

(applause)

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.

When we argue about troops, what we’re doing is we’re playing on George Bush’s home court. That’s what he likes. Now, I’m not up here saying, ‘Okay, let’s go play on his court. Let’s say he’s only put 170,000 troops. The Democrats, we should put 270,000 troops in.’ Listen, I would’ve done it if I’d had it at the beginning. I wouldn’t have gone into the mission, but having the decision been made, it was clear we didn’t, we never’ve had enough troops to do the job. 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!’

(loud cheering and applause)

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.’

(more loud cheering and applause)

I mean, I’ve been there in uniform, and when your boss tells you, ‘Go in there and do the best you can,’ (chuckles) you do the best you can, and you try to make it work. And that’s what Dave Petraeus is doing, but you can’t win it with what Dave Petraeus is doing. The only person who can make a difference is the person who controls the overall strategy in the region.

We need your help. We need you to hammer on the theme of the strategy and the policies. Stop Isolating people we disagree with. Start engaging. Come out with some real American leadership instead of simply leading by sending men and women in uniform into combat.

(applause)

I think what we ought to do about Iraq is pull two brigades back by Christmas, because I think the Army’s overcommitted.

(applause)

But i think what we really need is we need the United States Congress and the American people to stand up and be counted, and say, ‘Mr. President, the problem in Iraq is NOT troops strength, it is NOT the surge, it is NOT how good our men and women in uniform is, it is the FAILURE of YOUR leadership in the region!’

(applause)

So, I’m hoping that with your help, the energy that you bring, the contacts you have, the ideas that you take and roll around and work and come out sophisticated and smart and powerful, that you’ll be able to reach out and help influence our elected representatives to not only talk about troops and tactics, but to talk about strategies and policies, to give this administration in writing, in legislation a deadline for coming forward with its strategy in the region, defending it, receiving the guidance from the Congress about what it needs to do, because if we don’t get at the strategy, we’re not taking care of the troops and we won’t succeed.

I don’t think Iraq is, well I was going to say I don’t think it’s a total failure, but it’s getting pretty down, far down the list. It’s clearly not going to be a Western-style democracy. It’s not going to have the America flag imprinted on one corner of its constitution. (laughter) It’s not going to invite the United States Congress to, or the Presidency to send a representative to sit in permanent session with the Iraqi Assmebly. It’s not going to ask to become a member of NATO. It’s not even probably going to ask to host U.S. bases. In fact, the majority of Iraqis seem to want us to leave.

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.

(applause)

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.

(applause)

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.

(laughter and applause)

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.

Thank you.

(enthusiastic applause)

Thank you. Thank you very much.

We got a couple of minutes.

(continuing applause)

Thank you. I’d like to hear from you.

(more applause)

I appreciate the applause, but- Thank you. Can-

We got, we got about ten minutes for questions or maybe a little bit more than that, questions and do we have microphones out here?

unidentified: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Okay. He’s got a mic right here. It’s kind of hard to see with the stage lights. Go ahead, sir.

Bob Reuschlein: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Tell us who you are.

Bob Reuschlein: Bob Reuschlein, Madison, Wisconson. And isn’t the real problem in Iraq, doesn’t it start back with Cheney’s task force starting an oil map of Iraq and, and go on with the Downing Street Memos, where they planned the war long before they lied to Congress about the diplomatic route and so forth – you’re nodding your head – and that we’ve gone there and we’ve defended the oil ministry while everything else was ransacked? And does, doesn’t it really come down to the political benchmark now that we’re demanding 70% of the oil money go to international oil companies rather than Iraqi citizens, and that’s what we’re really holding out for before they’re willing to do something about Iraq?

(applause)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I, I, think, I think oil’s definitely a factor. I agree with what you said about the war being planned. I agree with what you said about the deceit in the intelligence community. It was a war we should never have had to fight. I can’t, based on what I personally know, lay it all to the issue of, of oil. There’s a lot going on in this region right now. It’s a cross-current, and that area at the head of the Persian Gulf, that’s critical, because Iran definitely is seeking to move Westward. Th-this is the historic Persian Empire. Darius wants to come back and assail the Greeks, and he wants the shores of the Mediterranean, and he wants Lebanon through Hezbullah, and he wants Syria as a corridor, and he wants his, his left flank toward Mecca and Medina protected by control of Basra. And all of that’s part of this equation. So, it’s not just oil, but you’re right. Oil’s a big factor, because who’s in Darfur right now, where no one’s discovered oil?

(applause)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right here.

Audience member: You called for one of the hopes for Iraq to hold together. Serious people in foreign policy thinking, some of them believe that that’s actually one of the impossibilities at this point in terms of Kurdish independence, Sunni-Shia splits, irreconcilable Sunni Ba’athists who are not going to reconcile to Shia dominance, et cetera, et cetera. In terms of split, three-way split versus holding together and what influence we can have internationally in, with the international community for a settlement in that direction?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, you have to be careful about the analogies with, with the Balkans. This is not quite like the Balkans. And so, I know a lot of people talk about this. They say, ‘Look, you guys separated, you stopped the war in, in Bosnia. You stopped all this. You separated..’ I-it’s a little bit different. It’s different because the Balkans is not the Middle East. These issues are more complicated. there’s oil involved here. There’s different populations. There’s powerful neighbors who are at odds with each other, and the populations aren’t actually separated. So, you’re right in that there are fracture lines that you can see forming. You know the Shias mostly have the South and they want it. And the Kurds mostly have the North, but they don’t have Kirkuk, and they’re prepared to fight Kirkuk. I don’t know if you saw the, the Bob Novak piece on the weekend that said we’re going to run a special operation inside the Kurdish area to eliminate the PKK guerrillas in combination with Turkish Special Forces. And THAT’ll make us really popular there. (laughter) And, and you’ve got Iran, Turkey.. i-i- This may well be what happens, but I would hate to see the United States propose it and have to worry about implementing it, because it’ll be one more recipe for conflict. There’s no simple mechanistic way out of this. This is about human dynamics. It’s about engagement. It’s about changing people’s minds. It’s about Westernization over a period of time, and it can’t be done in isolation in Iraq. You’ve got to reach out to Iraq’s neighbors.

Yes, sir.

Jeff Nyber:: Can you hear me?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yeah.

Jeff Nyber: I’m Jeff Nyber from Pleasanton, California. And you just answered most of my question. So, I’ll ask you another one. So, you just elaborated on your idea about pulling out of Iraq and how to end the Iraq war, and you yourself are not an announced candidate for President. I was wondering which of the candidates that are currently running (laughter) you feel is, is closest to your vision.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I haven’t, I haven’t endorsed anyone yet. I like, there’s a lot of great people in this race, and you know, I’ll just tell you, I’ll tell you this story. I’ve told some of you this before. But when I first got out of the military, I was approached by a lot of, when they heard I was moving back to Arkansas to take this investment banking job back there, people got the mistaken idea that I was going to go back there and run for office. And so, the Republicans started to come to me, and I went to see Mark Warner, who at that time was an investment banker, and I said, “How should you think about politics, about running for office?” He said, “Well, first of all,” he said, “don’t do it unless you’re prepared to lose.” He said, “Because no matter how many things you’ve won in your life, normally when you go into politics, you lose.” He said, “I did it. I ran for the Senate. I lost.” He said, “Secondly, when you lose in politics, you can lose everything.” He said, “Cost me 12 million dollars,” I think is what he told me, “to run for the Senate in ’96.” He said, “But you lose your money. You’re going to lose your reputation. You can lose your family. You can lose your profession. You can lose your community.” Says, “The, it’s unlimited downside.” He says, “So, my advice to you is if you can live without it, don’t do it.” (laughter) He said, “Politics isn’t for everybody, because your family situation’s not right or this is not right.” So, we’ve got some people in this race right now who are very qualified, capable, committed, motivated people. I admire them, and I think that any one of them is far superior to the guy that’s in the White House right now.

(applause)

This is the last question. I’ve got time for just one question here and and one quick answer. Yes, sir.

Tom Rinaldo: I’m Tom Rinaldo (inaudible), New York.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I know, Tom.

Tom Rinaldo: Good to see you.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It’s good to see you.

Tom Rinaldo: My question relates to diplomacy, and I’ve been pleased that Democrats in general, our Presidential candidates, our current Presidential candidates show a greater willingness to proclaim that we should be willing to talk with Iran for instance without preconditions, but what I hear them defining as diplomacy pretty much stops there. It’s like, ‘Sure, I’ll talk to them. I’ll lecture them. I’ll tell them what they have to do. I’ll tell them why they’re wrong and why we’re right. And sure I’ll organize diplomatically. I’ll organize a coalition of people to put pressure on them.’ It’s all the stick.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right.

Tom Rinaldo: There’s no acknowledgment that we shared-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yeah.

Tom Rinaldo: -intelligence with Saddam Hussein, when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. There’s no acknowledgment that it’s our policy of regime change which is pushing them towards giving us trouble in Iraq and elsewhere. And if our own Democratic Presidential candidates can’t even admit that diplomacy means really grappling as an alternative to war, it means its not.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right.

Tom Rinaldo: It’s not just, ‘Sure, I’ll tell them what they have to do.’ How can we break through on that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well okay, maybe you can break through by looking at it this way. According to O’Reilly diplomacy’s like having a chat. (laughter) But of course, then he’s never done diplomacy.

(laughter and applause)

This- Imagine diplomacy’s three levels. Okay? Level one is the most superficial kind of diplomacy that says, ‘Okay, I’ll talk to you, you no good, stinking you,’ you know, ‘Get out of here. If you ever do this, I’ll blow your head off.’ Okay. That’s check the block. Thank you very much for the diplomacy. The next level down is, this is what I call the Jim Baker diplomacy. You walk in to the guy and you say, ‘You know,’ (clears throat) ‘I’m here representing the United States’ (Texas accent) ‘and I wonder what it’s goin’ take for you boys to see things our way.’ (laughter) And so, you get into the sort of horse tradin’. Say, ‘I’ll give you this if you’ll give me that.’ That’s the second level of diplomacy.

The third level is the level that I’m talking about. You go in with a statement of principles. You say things like, ‘Borders should be respected.’ ‘People should have rights.’ ‘Nations should choose their own form of government.’ ‘No nation should use force to threaten another nation.’ Say, ‘Which one of these principles do you agree with?’ When they say, ‘We agree with all of them,’ you say, ‘Good. Can we, can we sign a statement and sort of say there’s an agreement in principle here on these things?’ And you work it through statements and agreements of principles into greater community of interests, into organizations that can deal with those specific interests. Is it about border controls? Is it about the movement of agricultural products? Is it about marketing petroleum. Is it about sharing refining assets? Is it about exchanging security? Is it about turning over Al Qaeda members held in Iraq? Is it about releasing reserves that have been held in New York, financial reserves? There’s a multiplicity of issues. There’s a long way we can go down there.

But diplomacy’s not simply going in and threatening them and saying, ‘There, I talked to them. Okay? You guys do this again, you’re dead.’ (laughter) Diplomacy’s not simply going in and say, ‘I’ll give you this. You give me that.’ It’s about changing people’s perception of their future possibilities. Imagine if Iran actually believed it could be accepted as a member of the world community, join the World Trade Organization, receive financial assistance from Western banks, major Western…, be invested in by the American oil industry (laughter), and participate in all the fruits of the economy. Imagine that. The Iranian people would love it. They want blue jeans, pop music, travel and access, just like the people of Eastern Europe. Surely, we can build a dialog which diffuses tensions and may give us an opportunity to find common interests or convergent interests, and surely we have to try to do that before we resort to threats or beyond. And that’s what I mean by diplomacy.

It hasn’t been done, and we need your help so our elected Representatives will put the pressure on this administration to do it or force the administration to acknowledge the bankruptcy of its strategies and policies. We need leadership from you Kossacks, the future. Give us that leadership! Thank you!

(applause and cheering)

Great to be with you. Thank you.

General Wesley Clark on The O’Reilly Factor

May 9, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC

(plays VoteVets ad)

Bill O’Reilly: Now that ad was paid for by VoteVets.org, which says it’s non-partisan, but a study of its PAC shows 93% of VoteVets donations go to Democrats. With us now Fox News military analyst General Wesley Clark, who is on the board of advisors of VoteVets.org . You know, I understand the dissent, and the General, certainly a patriot, has a right to say whatever he wants. I wouldn’t have done it. You got guys over there in bad situations right now. Congress is debating what to do about the situation. I wouldn’t have piled on like the General did. Am I wrong?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Bill, I think you’re wrong. I, I think-

Bill O’Reilly: You would’ve piled on?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Absolutely.

Bill O’Reilly: Yeah, piled on-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Look, this policy has been a mistake. We should never have invaded Iraq, but the American people supported it. And guys like John Batiste, who did a great job in the United States Army. He was a fine Division Commander. He was there on the ground. He saw it. He tried to make it work, and then he realized in perspective that the problem is not the troops. The problem is the policy and the strategy.
Bill O’Reilly: Right. But the problem is the troops now. Put yourself in a Company Commander’s shoes, because they watch Fox News. They’re watching us right now. And you see this, and your guys, you’re trying to keep your guys’ morale up, and you’re trying to get your guys to perform in very, very difficult circumstances, and this stuff comes on. I don’t think this is right. I, I really feel it’s wrong. You got to look out for the guys first. I don’t think Batiste is looking out for the guys. I think he’s looking out for politics.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don’t think so. I think the most important thing John Batiste can do to look out for the troops is to try to get them a strategy and policies that work and make their sacrifice meaningful.

Bill O’Reilly: But that’s already in play. If it wasn’t in play-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It’s not in play.

Bill O’Reilly: Sure it is. Congress is debating it-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It’s not in play.

Bill O’Reilly: -right now. What do you think they’re doing?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think there’s a big debate going on, and I think John Batiste’s voice is very welcome in that debate. He’s been there. He’s seen it, and-

Bill O’Reilly: Alright.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He’s a very credible source.

Bill O’Reilly: It’s a legitimate point. I’m not going to condemn the General. He’s, he’s a patriot and braver than I am, but I would not have done it. Makes me queasy.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: That’s his sense of responsibility.

Bill O’Reilly: Okay. You. I got a bone to pick with you.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You do?

Bill O’Reilly: You bet. You bet. George Soros donated 75,000 dollars to your WesPAC.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You brought this up the last time.

Bill O’Reilly: And we didn’t have time to get into it. Do you know how radical left this guy is? Do you have any clue about how radical left he is?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Listen, George Soros is, he’s, he’s an embodiment in many respects, Bill, of the American dream that every person aspires to. He came to this country. He’s done a lot of good. Do you know what George Soros’ foundations have done in Eastern Europe? Do you realize how-

Bill O’Reilly: He does some humanitarian work.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -how much great- No, not humanitarian work.

Bill O’Reilly: Yeah?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Democratizing work.

Bill O’Reilly: Well, okay.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He put millions-

Bill O’Reilly: He’s a convicted felon. He’s a convicted felon in France.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -And millions, and millions of dollars in.

Bill O’Reilly: He’s a convicted felon in France. He ruined the British pound by selling it short. He’s- And let me ask you this. Do you stand for euthanasia? Are you a euthanasia guy? You believe in that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Because someone gives you money on a common cause doesn’t mean-

Bill O’Reilly: 75K.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -you endorse all their political views.

Bill O’Reilly: 75K.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But here’s what I do stand for.

Bill O’Reilly: You don’t, euthanasia-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I, no. Here’s-

Bill O’Reilly: You don’t believe in that. Do you?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No. I’ve never endorsed euthanasia.

Bill O’Reilly: Okay. Legalized narcotics?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But here’s, here’s the point.

Bill O’Reilly: Legalized narcotics?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But here’s the point, Bill.

Bill O’Reilly: You’re not going to answer me?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I don’t think that’s the relevant question.

Bill O’Reilly: Sure it is.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No, it isn’t.

Bill O’Reilly: This guy gives you-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No, it isn’t.

Bill O’Reilly: -gave you 70,000 dollars-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Let me tell you something. People from all over the spectrum- And if a Republican had given me 75,000 dollars, I would’ve taken it also.

Bill O’Reilly: You’re gonna- Okay.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And I wouldn’t have quarreled with the Republican’s view.

Bill O’Reilly: David Duke gives you money, you’re going to take his money?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I wouldn’t have taken David Duke’s view.

Bill O’Reilly: Alright.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Is David Duke a good Republican? I’m not sure.

Bill O’Reilly: Well, you wouldn’t have taken David Duke’s money, but George Soros says we need de-Nazification in this country and compares the Bush administration to the Nazis and you’re taking 75K from him.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I can’t defend everything George Soros says.

Bill O’Reilly: You can’t defend anything he does.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But let me tell- Oh, yes I can.

Bill O’Reilly: No you can’t.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’ve seen the work he’s done. He’s made a huge impact in the world. He’s trained thousands and thousands of democracy workers. He’s put his personal reputation and his personal wealth behind it. He’s made a difference in the fall-

Bill O’Reilly: Are you an open border guy?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’m.

Bill O’Reilly: You want the open border? You want everybody coming in here?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’m in favor of democracy in Eastern Europe and George Soros has put his money-

Bill O’Reilly: Eastern Europe.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -into it.

Bill O’Reilly: I’ll tell you what.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Not only there, but he’s supported other groups that have helped around the world bringing American values-

Bill O’Reilly: I’m going to have my guys-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -in a realistic way, Bill.

Bill O’Reilly: I’m going to have my guys FedEx, because I know you’re travelling abroad, FedEx you a package of who this guy really is. I don’t care what he’s done-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Bill, that’s-

Bill O’Reilly: -in Bulgaria.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Listen.

Bill O’Reilly: It doesn’t matter.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Listen to me. That’s character assassination.

Bill O’Reilly: You bet it is.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’m not interested in character assassination.

Bill O’Reilly: You- No! It’s facts.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’m interested in-

Bill O’Reilly: It’s facts.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -advancing American values.

Bill O’Reilly: Not character assassination. Oh!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You’re going after a guy-

Bill O’Reilly: American values?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You’re going after-

Bill O’Reilly: Euthanasia? Legalized Narcotics?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: About freedom,-

Bill O’Reilly: Open borders?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -democracy, freedom of the press-

Bill O’Reilly: That’s false!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -open and free speech.

Bill O’Reilly: That’s false. This guy is-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He is in favor all of that, and he’s helped put his money there.

Bill O’Reilly: This guy is undermining the country abroad-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He’s put his money there.

Bill O’Reilly: -wants a one world government. I mean, this is as radical as it goes.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I don’t see any one world government guy.

Bill O’Reilly: There is a more- There isn’t a more radical person in the country-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’ve talked to George Soros.

Bill O’Reilly: -than him. You took, you took 75K from the most radical individual in the United States of America.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You’re just going after somebody.

Bill O’Reilly: You bet!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And it’s personal, and it’s wrong.

Bill O’Reilly: Not personal!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You ought to look at his results.

Bill O’Reilly: Results for what !?!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I don’t have to defend his views! I can look at the record of what he’s accomplished-

Bill O’Reilly: No!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -in Eastern Europe.

Bill O’Reilly: General, you are a patriot. Y- it’s who you associate with that people are going to judge you by.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I’m associating with you.

Bill O’Reilly: Well, that’s because you’re getting paid to do it.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’d be here even-

Bill O’Reilly: He gave you money.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’d be here with you even if you didn’t pay me.

Bill O’Reilly: Aw, General, you’re trying to charm me. You’re wrong on this guy.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I would be. No.

Bill O’Reilly: This guy’s dangerous.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think you’re wrong on it.

Bill O’Reilly: He’s dangerous.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He’s not. He’s a legitimate voice-

Bill O’Reilly: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -in the United States of America.

Bill O’Reilly: Moveon.org, you like them? You think they’re good?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think they’ve had a legitimate role to play.

Bill O’Reilly: You do?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: They’ve been a big voice.

Bill O’Reilly: You like that character assassination. You like them going in and, and cutting everybody up? You think that’s good?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You like the Swift Boats?

Bill O’Reilly: Aw, Swift Boats. Don’t divert the thing.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No. No. That’s the question. Do you believe in that kind of character assassination?

Bill O’Reilly: Lisen, I was on of the- No! I was one of the big critics of the Swift Boats. I was one of the big critics.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well-

Bill O’Reilly: I’m not hypocrite here. But you’re-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I, I think, I think

Bill O’Reilly: But you’re on the wrong side of the street here.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think, Bill, you’ve said a lot of things-

Bill O’Reilly: You’re on the wrong side of the street.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think you’ve said a lot of things that are very, very personal. You ought to be looking at the issues.

Bill O’Reilly: We back up every one of them.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You ought to be worried about- Let me tell you some thing. You ought to be worried about where this country’s headed-

Bill O’Reilly: I am.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -with its policy in Iraq.

Bill O’Reillly: I’m worried about George Soros-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Let me tell you what I’m worried about.

Bill O’Reilly: -giving guys like you 75,000.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I’m worried about every one of our soldiers and their families over there who haven’t had a decent leadership and decent policy.

Bill O’Reilly: I’m worried about them too.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -coming out of the White House in four years.

Bill O’Reilly: I’ll agree with you in that. I’m worried about them too.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And George Soros and people like him are putting the money in it to try to change that policy.

Bill O’Reilly: Alright. Always spirited, General. Thank you for coming in.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Good to be with you.

Bill O’Reilly: Alright.

~~~~~

WesPAC – Securing America

Clark, who served as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander and led missions in Kosovo and Bosnia during the 1990s, spoke for about an hour in the school’s Memorial Chapel.

The U.S. has lost legitimacy in the world under the Bush Administration, and needs to restore it through traditional American ideals if it is to conquer al-Qaida and other global terror cells, said Clark, a centrist Democrat who hasn’t ruled out another presidential run in 2008.

Toward that end, Clark recommended America move past its fear from the 9/11 attacks and talk without condition to every nation in the Middle East; renounce permanent American bases in Iraq; fully comply with all standards of the Geneva Convention; and do not torture detainees.

“We will never succeed in protecting this country if we become what they are,” Clark told an audience of about 900.

Clark retired from the military in 2000, after 34 years of service, and earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Silver Star, Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

But success in this new age of warfare requires winning battles of ideas, holding alliances together, respecting international law and removing the humiliation and outrage many Arabs feel in the face of American occupation, Clark said.

Incidents like Abu Graib only feed recruitment for al-Qaida, and Iraq has become the overriding political issue across America, he said.

Regaining American legitimacy can’t be achieved “until we can clear the decks of Iraq and the mistaken idea that the global war on terrorism can be won by military force,” Clark said.

Not pursuing Osama bin Laden in Tora Bora, Afghanistan, and entering Iraq was a tragic blunder, Clark said. He called Iraq “a consuming national tragedy.”

“The major threat to the United States is not Iraq, and it never has been,” Clark said.

Clark graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1966, he was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, where he earned a master’s degree.

Reports of American torture breaks his heart, he said.

“It can’t be this way and have us win.”

Times Union.com
 

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:

“House Democrats have offered a responsible approach that protects our Armed Forces, the troops and their families, and encourages both the Iraqis and the Bush Administration to work more effectively to salvage some success in ending what has been a tragically mistaken and failing mission. This conflict must be resolved politically – military efforts alone are insufficient – and this legislation strongly promotes that political solution. This legislation is the product of the kind of responsible legislative leadership that the American people voted for in 2006, and I wholeheartedly support this bill.”

 Securing America

Fri Mar 09, 2007

Crossposted from The Clark Community Network

Reg: Hi, I’m Reg. I’m here with General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and 2004 Presidential candidate. First, I’d like to thank you for your work with VoteVets and stopiranwar.com.

General Clark Thank you.

Reg: Everyone please go and sign the petition

General Clark Please.

Reg: at stopiranwar.com, all one word. But I also know that you’re more well-rounded than that. So, I wanted to ask some questions you are not ordinarily asked about.

General Clark Okay.

Reg: Okay. First thing was I was very pleasantly surprised to hear you say at one point that you supported refunding the National Endowment for the Arts.

General Clark That’s true. (laughs)

Reg: Culture is our largest civilian export, but a lot of politicians-

General Clark Exactly.

Reg: -in both parties attack the arts, but…

General Clark Yeah. Well, you need all, you need the arts. I mean, if- people have to have a means of interpreting their (chuckle) life experiences. You can’t just be mechanical in life. It’s about feeling and emotion and the meaning of life, and that’s what art does for us in all of its mediums.

Reg: Do you support restoring the grants to individuals instead of just organizations like it is now?

General Clark Absolutely.

Reg: Do you enjoy the arts yourself?

General Clark Yes. Well, I used to paint.

Reg: Oh, I didn’t know that.

General Clark And I used to do sculpture and stuff like that. And you know I, (chuckles) I’m a some-time attempted violinist.

Reg: Oh, I didn’t know that.

General Clark My, I got a violin from my father. I, I used to play the trombone. Then when I came back from Vietnam, I had this incredible sort of near-death urge to learn the piano. So, I stayed with the piano for about a year and a half until finally common sense overwhelmed my ability to practice an hour a night, and I just, I just couldn’t do it where we were living with a one and a half year old in the house. And then when I turned 60, Gert asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I wanted my violin restored from my father, and I wanted violin lessons. So, I took about six or eight months of violin lessons. So, I can pick out tunes on the violin. I can make some good notes and play the scales, and I feel really good about it. And it’s one of these things that’s better than golf.

Reg: (chuckles)

General Clark I’m going to get my violin handicap down to zero.

Reg: (laughs out loud) Okay. You were on Fox recently, and you wanted to talk about economics, but Neil Cavuto wouldn’t let you.

General Clark That’s true!

Reg: Do you think your economic plans that you had ’04, like your tax plan, your college tuition plan, do you think they’d still be possible now with all the new debt we’ve accrued? Would we have to sacrifice that because of the war?

General Clark Well, I want to be really careful about raising taxes. I really am going to try not to raise taxes, but I do believe we’ve got to take care of people. You have to- I, I’ve been telling people in business, I said, You know, we’ve got a potential legitimacy problem. When a CEO makes 400 time what a worker makes, then you have to ask, Why does he deserve that much?

Reg: Right.

General Clark And the answer is the, it’s just like in the military. You know, I’ve always said, Generals don’t win battles. They’re won by the people at the bottom of the organization – Sergeants and the Privates and the Captains and Lieutenants, not by the Colonels and the Generals. And the same is true in American business. You may make a great trade. If so, you’re an investment banker, but when it’s your company and you’re producing a product or something, you’ve got to give some of that back to the people who helped you make it. And that’s a legitimacy problem. You may not be able to give it all back in salary. I can accept that, but you better give it back in terms of educational opportunities, transportation and healthcare.

Reg: Okay.

General Clark And the arts!

Reg: Thank you. You were on the Ed Schultz Show the other day, and you mentioned personal debt. A lot of people who were unemployed or under-employed in recent years paid some of their bills with loans or with credit cards, and now they’re underneath all this debt-

General Clark Education loans you’re talking about. Well, education loans are the toughest loans.

Reg: Yeah.

General Clark You cannot skip out on an education loan. They’re coming after you. There’s a 99.9% repayment rate on education loans.

Reg: (laughs)

General Clark The government just takes it out of your taxes.

Reg: Well, what can be done about that?

General Clark Well, I think that you’ve got to emphasize employment in this country, but to do that, I’m favoring – and I’ve been talking to some of the union leaders – about a new paradigm for American labor. You know, when there was an industrial army in the Industrial Age, and you had massed workforces, and when you couldn’t off-shore produce and get away with it, because you didn’t have to the communications and control of it, then labor had more bargaining power, and unions emerged to exploit labor’s bargaining power. Today, that’s not the case. Labor doesn’t have that bargaining power in most instances. So, the purpose of joining together if you’re working is not to go gouge your employer for more benefits. Maybe that is, but it may not work. What you really have to do is have some self-help societies so that the purpose of it is professional development for the workforce. So, everybody who comes in, even if they are just a high school graduate, they should be given a roadmap and a roadmap that says if you work here you get your next level of skill, you’ll take some off-duty vo-tech courses and we’ll – I said off duty, but that’s because we did this in the military, and it works. You’ve got, you’ve got- The most precious gift you can give someone is aspirations and show them that there’s a way to better themselves and their family. To move from point A to point B, you must do these things, and you can get there. That’s what we need – help, because most people in the workforce have no help. A man came to me on an airplane past week. We were flying out of Little Rock. I asked him what the most, biggest problem was in America, He said, “Well, of course, Iraq.” He said, “But it’s employment.” I said, “Well, why?” I said, “Are you unemployed?” He said, “No, because,” he said, “I’m trapped in a job. I’m 53 years old, and I can’t get out of this job. I’m, I’m gone 28 days a month. I can’t get a pay raise. I can’t quit, and I don’t have time to find another job. And I’ve got five kids.”

Reg: Right.

General Clark And that’s what happens in America. We have a myth of labor force mobility, but it’s mostly a myth. When you’re right out of college, sure it’s easy, but when you’re married and have family obligations, kids in school and maybe your wife’s got a job and you’ve got sick relatives, and this labor market mobility’s not what it’s cracked up to be. You need some professional assistance, and we need to form a new paradigm so that ordinary working men and women can get that professional assistance.

Reg: Okay. Two more questions. One thing you spoke about in ’04 that I didn’t hear anyone else talking about was corporate welfare. Can you talk about that a little bit?

General Clark Well, actually John Kerry talked a little bit about it too, but you know we do have what we call tax expenditures, which is a subsidy or a- it’s the equivalent of a subsidy or it’s a special deal that comes through the taxation process. And a lot of this goes to big business. In fact, some goes to businesses who are actually off-shoring their jobs, and so they get a special tax subsidy for doing it. That’s wrong!

Reg: Right.

General Clark I think we got to go wipe those out, start with a clean slate. There may be things you want tax expenditures on, assuming you don’t completely rewrite the tax code and do away with them. Maybe they make a lot of sense in things like alternative energy.

Reg: Right.

General Clark But that should be a conscious choice of what we do, not a, just an absentminded byproduct of an archaic tax code.

Reg: Okay. The last question. You’re very- you have a very big following online. You’ve made great use of the internet, but you also have a very vibrant online community on your blog. Did that happen organically, or was that by design?

General Clark (chuckles) It wasn’t my design.

Reg: (laughs)

General Clark I think it’s just a lot of really great people who care about the country, and to some extent, they’re tired of politics as usual. They know that there’s more to politics than celebrity status, even though some people don’t seem to understand that. And so, they’re looking for, they’re looking for a way to express their ideas and to help shape elections.

Reg: Okay. That website is stopiranwar.com. General Wesley Clark’s website is securingamerica.com. Thank you very much, General.

General Clark Thanks a lot. Appreciate it, Reg.

Reg: Thank you.

 (From Daily Kos diary)

By Dave R. Choate

~ snip ~

“This administration’s foreign policy, in my mind, has not been adept,” Clark said. “I’ve been saying for years now that the Iraq war was one we did not have to fight, and with Iran the military option should be the last resort, after this country uses diplomacy and economic leverage.”

~ snip ~

On the subject of China’s recent anti-satellite missile launch, Clark said he saw the move as both a test of technology and a show of power. He said the best course of action for the U.S. would be to maintain a friendly relationship with the growing world power.

“We should consider a global environment in which it is no longer larger powers and smaller powers fighting. It’s important for the world to rebuild an international consensus behind the United Nations, so force is not proscribed for every situation,” Clark said.

He also asserted that energy efficiency was critical for the environment. Clark said he would favor the creation of a national energy policy that would restrict carbon usage to the lowest possible level and help make citizens more aware of the problem.

“It’s easy to say (that there’s no global warming) when it’s March and there’s snow on the ground in New Hampshire,” he said. “A lot of people say it’s a cycle, and yes, that’s partly true, but the majority of that impact is in greenhouse gases.”

Clark was in Portsmouth for a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., who he described as “really terrific.”

Shea-Porter worked on Clark’s campaign in 2003 and he returned the favor by appearing alongside her at a late-October forum in Hampton Falls.

“(Shea-Porter) has an incredible grasp of the issues. I think she’s a wonderful representative, and maybe that’s just the start of it,” Clark said.

 ~full article at Portsmouth Herald

Wes Clark to New Hampshire tomorrow

He will be in Portsmouth NH to honor Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter. She was a tireless Clark supporter in his 2004 primary race and credits Wes with inspiring her to enter electoral politics.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Wesley Clark is coming back to New Hampshire this weekend to help Representative Carol Shea-Porter celebrate her November win.

Clark, a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, will attend a 5:30 p.m. victory rally for Shea-Porter in Portsmouth.

The former general is eying another campaign. He last was in the state last fall.

Boston Globe/AP

Details on Clark’s public calendar.

Originally posted on A Wes Clark Democrat

Get this ad for your website at StopIranWar.com.

At Daily Kos, a strong call by Tom Rinaldo to the ‘Netroots.

The Netroots has to jump start the debate inside America about the approaching war with Iran. We can’t wait for the mainstream media to do that for us. Our numbers may be too small for us to wage and win that debate alone with all who need to hear it, but we won’t have to. America does not want another war. Once the issue of War with Iran is fully in public play the tide against it will surge with the strength needed to give real meaning to that word. Our job, the Netroots’ Greatest Challenge, is to make that public debate ever present and unavoidable. Over the coming week I intend to write letters to newspapers I never read, I intend to go to web sites that I never visit, I intend to send emails to people who have never heard from me online before, and I will ask them to heed the warning being sounded at StopIranWar.com. Please join me in whatever ways that you can.

And yesterday, General Clark himself.

The Bush Administration seems headed for a showdown in the Middle East over the issue of Iran’s nuclear capacity, and it’s clear that all Americans want to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons and interfering on the ground inside Iraq.

That said, military force must be viewed as the last resort, and not the first option. Yet the Bush administration refuses to engage in direct talks with Iran, and with each passing month that we remain stalled and the Iranian program progresses, we come closer to the US military option.

Don’t get fooled AGAIN. Sign up on StopIranWar for the battle of our lives.

-snip

I’ve never met or talked to Edwards so he may very well possess a deep understanding of what it takes to combat poverty. But I have yet to see that in anything he has said or has done.

But I have met Wes Clark. And, yes, I asked him one of my impassioned and pointed questions on poverty. What really surprised me was that he skipped the talk about what poverty is like–sparing me details that I’m quite aware of–and jumped right into the meat of possible solutions. I’m not one to be overly impressed with famous politicians–after all, I am a couple minute walk from more than one Nobel Laureate–but I was struck by his candor and his depth of knowledge on practical solutions. We talked about community and neighborhood based financial planning programs, microcredit, fair trade policy and national cultural impediments. A far cry from “we can do better”. That he was willing to discuss some of the hurdles in addressing this issue demonstrated that he knows what he’s talking about.

I won’t enumerate or elaborate the solutions discussed right now–I’ll save that for after he announces–but I just want to mention that as a person who cares very deeply about reducing poverty, Wes Clark is my clear choice as the anti-poverty candidate. Not platitudes, but practical solutions. Not just hope, but tangible solutions.

Stanford Democrats