Bad Sign

Are you serious? I thought he would be tough until I heard him talk. He's too old.

Howard Dean is much better.

 

He's only 60...

Biography

Wesley Clark was born on December 23rd, 1944 in Chicago, into an Orthodox Jewish Family. His father Benjamin Kanne, a lawyer and Democratic Party politician, died when Wesley was five years old. His mother, Veneta Kanne Clark, from Arkansas originally, moved the family back to Little Rock where she remarried a former banker, Victor Clark. Wesley was raised as a Baptist (he converted to Catholicism during Vietnam), and attended the local public schools. Influential in his youth was Jimmy Miller, a WW II veteran who coached swimming at the Boys Club. Wesley Clark became married to the former Gertrude Kingston of Brooklyn, New York, during Vietnam.

Clark is a 1966 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he graduated first in his class. After a brief stint in New York City working in the national poverty program, Clark was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University from August of 1966 until 1968, studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

After receiving a master's degree, Clark left Oxford to fight in Vietnam. The Vietnam War, a watershed experience for most American males coming of age in the 1960s, was the greatest influence of his youth. As an infantryman in command of a mechanized company, Clark saw combat in Vietnam and was wounded four times in action, while fighting against the Viet Cong. During his Vietnam service, Clark received the Purple Heart and a Silver Star.

After graduating from the National War College, Command and General Staff College, Armor Officer Advanced and Basic Courses, and Ranger and Airborne schools, Clark was a White House Fellow in 1975-1976, serving as a Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. He has also served as an instructor and later Assistant Professor of Social Science at the United States Military Academy. Including his service in Vietnam, Wesley Clark has served the United States throughout the last three decades. Among his military decorations are the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit (four awards), Bronze Star Medal (two awards), Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), and the Army Commendation Medal (two awards).

In April of 1994 until June of 1996, Clark became the J5, Director of the Pentagon's Strategic Plans and Policy operation, where Clark was responsible for world-wide politico-military affairs and U.S. military strategic planning. He also at this time led the military negotiations for the Bosnian Peace Accords at Dayton. From June 1996 until July 1997, General Clark served as Commander-in-Chief, United States Southern Command, Panama, where he commanded all U.S. forces and was responsible for the direction of most U.S. military activities and interests in Latin America and the Caribbean. From July 1997, until his retirement in June of 2000, General Clark was the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, serving then also as the Commander-in-Chief for the United States European Command.

In 2000, Clark voted with the Democratic Party in Arkansas. He is the author of Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat (2001, 2002), detailing diplomacy backed by force that was used to press back the Yugoslav troops from attacking the Albanians in the Kosovo province. From June of 2000 until February of 2002, Clark worked for Little Rock-based Stephens Group Inc. as a corporate consultant to help develop emerging-technology companies.

Clark is chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a business services and development firm based in Little Rock, and is the Chairman of the Board for ³Leadership for America², a non-partisan, non-profit educational organization dedicated to fostering the national dialogue about America's future.

General Clark also serves as distinguished senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a director of the Atlantic Council and a board member of the International Crisis Group. He was recently named chairman of the board of WaveCrest Laboratories of Dulles, Va., a technology company specializing in electric propulsion systems to help the country migrate from gas-based transportation systems to tomorrow's hydrogen based economy. As chairman of the board, Clark is supposed to provide leadership and direction for the company¹s business goals and objectives. Clark also serves on the boards of Messer-Griesheim, Acxiom Corp. of Little Rock and SIRVA Corp. He is a senior military analyst for CNN and provides expert commentary for the network about the war on terrorism and American foreign policy.

A native of Little Rock, Ark., Wesley Clark and his wife Gertrude now reside in Arlington, Va. Their son, Wesley Jr., also served in the military, and is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Clark likes to swim every morning wherever his busy travel schedulers can locate a pool. Plain, freshly made popcorn is one of his preferred snacks. Buddy Holly is among Clark's favorite artists, and he fondly recalls the folk music from Peter, Paul & Mary, Trini Lopez, and Bob Dylan.

 

I like Kerry and Clark both, but reserve my judgement until I read more on their positions.

 

Actually only 58 mc mark, but who's counting?

 

maybe it's me that's getting senile!



I was thinking about how old he would be come election time.

 

This is a bad sign:
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/168/world/U_S_troops_swelter_under_the_I:.shtml


U.S. troops swelter under the Iraqi sun, endure guerrilla attacks
By Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press, 6/17/2003 14:18
HABANIYAH, Iraq (AP) In the back of a Bradley fighting vehicle, the still air soars to 130 degrees and sweat stains the soldiers' desert camouflage uniforms as they patrol central Iraq, hunting for insurgents.

When the ramp door drops, the soldiers scramble into the blinding sun and a hot wind fails to cool them through body armor and helmets. The only thing cold is the reaction of Iraqis whose cars they search.

The unrelenting heat, the ambiguity of their mission, the longing for home and the indefinite duration of their deployment has crushed morale, the soldiers say.

Gone are the cool evenings of April, when U.S. soldiers played with laughing children and accepted sweet tea from elderly men. The Iraqi summer has arrived along with a growing anti-American insurgency.

With attacks against U.S. troops a daily occurrence, American soldiers are struggling to adjust as they seek to quell the insurgency with humanitarian largesse and combat power.

''We need to pull these guys out and put some other troops in here who are trained for peacekeeping, because our first impulse is to kill,'' said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Wright of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

''My guys question why we are going from warriors to peacekeepers, because the belief in what was told to us was that we would fight and win and go home and that someone else would do this (peacekeeping),'' he said.

For now there are no plans to send another division to Iraq. With attacks on the rise, senior commanders refuse to say when the 3rd Infantry which has been in the Persian Gulf region for seven months will go home.

A sniper killed a U.S. soldier late Monday in northern Baghdad, the latest of a series of attacks and mishaps that have left about 50 American troops dead since major combat was officially declared over on May 1. Between March 20, when the war started, and May 1, 138 Americans died from accidents or hostile fire.

On Tuesday, assailants carried out drive-by shootings at a police station, a courthouse and a mayor's office in two towns west of Baghdad attacks apparently designed to intimidate Iraqis who have cooperated with U.S. forces.

The fighting has taken on a new, more threatening tone in what some fear may be the beginning of a guerrilla war.

The men from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment code-named Attack patrol some of the most conservative parts of the so-called ''Sunni Triangle,'' an area north and west of Baghdad that has become a center of resistance to the U.S. occupation.

U.S. troops in the area have been shot at almost daily since they arrived April 24. Since then, four soldiers and 78 Iraqis have been killed in the area, including 18 people killed when U.S. soldiers fired into an anti-U.S. demonstration.

The infantrymen of Attack Company fought their way across Iraq and were among the first troops to capture downtown Baghdad on April 7. The battle-hardened combat unit is exhausted, and its equipment worn out.

''We're in this murky situation where it's not really combat, but it is in some ways, and that's difficult,'' said 1st Lt. Eric Hooper, the executive officer. Some days the men arrest looters, and on others, they fight guerrillas. Often the two are hard to distinguish.

One of the areas the company patrols is a five-mile long Iraqi ammunition dump covered with dozens of bunkers and filled with hundreds of thousands of artillery and tank shells. Looters often try to steal the shells to sell the brass casings for scrap, but the warheads have also been used to improvise anti-tank land mines along U.S. supply routes.

The soldiers are under orders not to shoot looters, but are allowed to kill anyone who carries weapons or ammunition or tries to run away. On Monday afternoon, soldiers shot two men trying to steal tank shells. Both young men one with a chest wound, the other hit in the arm were flown by Army helicopter to a military hospital for treatment and were arrested.

The shooting was allowed under the unit's ''rules of engagement,'' but it sparked a debate among soldiers about when and who to shoot and for what reason. The soldiers know they have to err on the side of suspicion rather than risk losing one of their own, but they don't want to kill civilians or anger residents by shooting too quickly.

On their way back to the dilapidated barracks on an Iraqi air base where they live, the soldiers can see the resentment of Iraqis they thought they had liberated from Saddam Hussein. No longer greeted as heroes, they recognize the potential for trouble.

''Little kids wave at us and their parents slap them in the back of the head and make them stop,'' said Spc. Anthony Combs of Hyden, Ky. ''It makes me feel like I wasted my time over here and they don't appreciate what we did.''

 

I think Kerry is the best hope for the Democrates, I wish that Edwards would join him as a VP. That would be a powerful challenge to Bush/Cheney in 04.

 

''We need to pull these guys out and put some other troops in here who are trained for peacekeeping, because our first impulse is to kill,'' said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Wright of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division.

Sounds like a great idea. Somebody put this man in charge.

 

Make it happen! I would love to see the two of them join forces--plenty of military and patriotic background for a Democratic ticket with a solid, liberal domestic policy. Dear Kerry/Edwards, Please give the Democratic party some balls again! your friend, The DNC.

 

Oh, please...I suppose you're gonna tell me that Bush II didn't graduate first in his class at West Point, wasn't a Rhodes scholar, didn't earn a graduate degree from Oxford for Politics , Philosophy, and Economics, didn't serve his country in a few wars, hasn't held several high offices in our military, especially in political strategy, including SACNATO, and CICEAF...


And, as some have said, clearly the man's a moron, especially with regards to his take on US militarism...Where does he get off thinking the US is acting militaristic? Whn some one more qualified says so, or when most of the rest of the world thinks so, then maybe we can talk...until then this guy's opinion is just like yours, mine, or Norman Scwarzkopfs...

 

I no, I no, dude probly cheetahed on his graduate first in class exams at West Point. Clark is a pansy democrat and he is rhetarded. I am not impressed. Democraps need to wake tf up and elect an onorrible man like the W. Clark is a sand ****** lover if he thinks that those towel heds in Iraq wern't behind 04/11. Electave sergery indeed, Wesley. Wesley is a girls name.

 

You mean like this?


" I'm not surprised. And he was on Pacifica saying the problem was US "militarism." I thought he was some old senile dude from the '70s. I was surprised it was this guy so many people love."


or this?


" is that Clark??

sorry..but that guy looked like an absolute idiot during CNN coverage of the war. week 2 he was like, "oh, things are going really poorly...quagmire...long extended war...slowed down..blah...blah...blah...there really doesn't seem to be much of a plan."

then a week later it all came crashing down...and he looked like a sad puppy. it was like watching Rather read back election returns."


or better still, this ?

Quote:
Originally posted by No Worries
Which we all know by now is not a disqualification for President (or even a hinderance).


to which MC responds "hindrance"...


Or, MM, is it only when those who oppose your argument phrase things in a certain manner that you find the phraseology objectionable?

P.S....if, at this point, you want to argue that my learning to paste and copy was a bad event for the world in general, I'd probably have to agree....

 

u ar right Max. Democraps are dumb, and hypocrips two. Youse nevar question the presidert when ther are towel heds to kill. Like when Clinton tried to distract me from his poon chase by killin' those poor terist back in 1998, I new I new it was all about poon, but I kept my mouth shut. Yu two huH?

do yu agree Wesley is a woman's name? herher. democraps will elect tha first presidert woman inded. Not that most evil of axe wunds, that stupood slut Halarry, but Ms. Wesley Clark. herher. Wesley.

 

But, on Clark in general ( heh...I made a funny..a military funny, hard to come by), and not being a Democrat, I remain largely unmoved. Certainly the man;s resume is incredibly impressive and more to the point, area specific regarding what a world leader should understand, but until I hear his platforms, he's just another flashy candidate. But, then, so is Powell, and I have tooted his horn for a while now...Clark is much better than Bush on paper, I'll give him that, but then so are a lot of people...Most are better than Gore, too...Maybe this time we'll get real candidates as opposed to the sad options we had last ime round.


Maybe that's the one good thing about this war, and all the civil rights crap...good people will start to pay the price and get back involved rather than than just complain from the sidelines like I do...

 

MacBeth,

Clark's resume is certainly impressive. As someone that jumped on his bandwagon a long time ago however, I have to admit, "you gotta bring it".

Clark seems capable, but until he starts drilling off his positions, there's no way in hell that he's going to get nominated. However, I think that he's capable. I also think that he's probably being drilled on position papers as we speak.

I hadn't seen Clark's mug in a few weeks and then this past weekend he gave an amazingly passionate response about the wisdom (lack thereof) of the tax cut.

 

Jeez, Macbeth and Achebe, take a couple of chill pills. You guys need one of these-

And the guy I heard on the radio sounded senile. Are you telling me there aren't people who aren't senile? I saw Clark on tv today, and now I don't think it was the same guy on the radio. So you guys have hope- "Vote for Clark- he's not a senile old fart!"

 

1) Where did I say I'd vote for him, let alone campaign for him? I just pointed out that the criticsm of him, coincidentally from those who support Bush, seemed to be a tad ill founded, based on objective criteria.


2) And current day Bush supporters should really not be at the head of the " He sounds like X so he's gotta be X!" line, unless you want a sophomoric, rambling, verbally challenged idiot as President.

 

1. I never said you said that.

2. You didn't take that chill pill did you? And whoever was on the radio did sound like a senile old man.