RAPID FIRE - Silver Bullets

In an article written in October of 2002 which was widely highlighted during the 2004 campaign to "prove" that Wes Clark was for "the" Iraq War Resolution, please take NOTE at what Clark actually said and what the choices were at the time that he stated that he would support "a" resolution....--He did not state that he would support "the" blank check resolution , and considering that amendments were being passed on the final language of the Resolution right up to the time that it was voted on....this leads me to believe that the press played gotcha with Clark one year later.

Read the whole article written in 2002 (as posted in this post), and understand that the context said more about Clark's true feeling on what was happening in America as we were debating the facts. Alongside the fact that when one makes the substitution of "THE" for "A", what the story told is "a" very different story than Clark simply supporting "the" resolution.

There is a current resurgence by certain Democrats who would like to believe that Wes Clark would have voted for the Blank Check Iraq Resolution that passed back in 2002. This may be occurring partially because so many of the Dem potential Candidates for 2008 did indeed vote for it, and so it would be useful for misery to have company.

One of the items used for their “proof” is that 2002 article that I previously discussed here
But there is one additional piece of evidence that has recently been pulled out again as proof of General Clark’s intent in terms of what he might have done had he been in congress.

It’s that ditty of an article written by Adam Nagourney based on an interview with General Clark on the day that Wes announced his candidacy in September of 2003. At the time, this article actually worked quite well in its aim (to squelch the General’s candidacy in the Democratic Primaries) due to the “headline” the New York Times so kindly decided on, and based on what was billed as a 90 minute “free rolling” interview by its author, Mr. Nagourney. Here’s a reprint of the original article http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0919-01.htm

Now on first glance the article “seems” damming! However, in closely reading this article, I had more questions about Mr. Nagourney's agenda than I did on Gen. Clark’s position on the Iraq Resolution.

Here are some of the actual statements made by Wesley Clark in September 2002, before congress-- Clark Testimony on Iraq

While politicians were busy being "misled" by Bush, Clark was predicting the future.

"The war is unpredictable and could be difficult and costly. And what is at risk in the aftermath is an open-ended American ground commitment in Iraq and an even deeper sense of humiliation in the Arab world, which could intensify our problems in the region and elsewhere."

What we should have done--

"We have to work this problem in a way to gain worldwide legitimacy and understanding for the concerns that we rightly feel and for our leadership. This is what U.S. leadership in the world must be. We must bring others to share our views not be too quick to rush to try to impose them even if we have the power to do so."

Versus what we did--

"But I will say this, that the administration has not proceeded heretofore in a way that would encourage its friends and allies to support it. One of the problems we have is the overhang from a number of decisions taken by the administration which have undercut its friends and allies around the world and given the impression that the United States doesn't respect the opinions of other."

More Clark Prescience in analyzing BEFORE the fact, NOT in Hindsight!

"Then we're dealing with the longer mid term, the mid term problems. Will Iraq be able to establish a government that holds it together or will it fragment? There are strong factionary forces at work in Iraq and they will continue to be exacerbated by regional tensions in the area. The Shia in the south will be pulled by the Iranians.

The Kurds want their own organization. The Kurds will be hemmed in by the Turks. The Iraqis also, the Iranians also are nervous of the Kurds. But nevertheless, the Kurds have a certain mass and momentum that they've built up. They will have to work to establish their participation in the government or their own identity."

The truth about our past policies and actions as Wes Clark saw it--

"We've encouraged Saddam Hussein and supported him as he attacked against Iran in an effort to prevent Iranian destabilization of the Gulf. That came back and bit us when Saddam Hussein then moved against Kuwait. We encouraged the Saudis and the Pakistanis to work with the Afghans and build an army of God, the mujahaddin, to oppose the Soviets in Afghanistan. Now we have released tens of thousands of these Holy warriors, some of whom have turned against us and formed Al Qaida.

also read:
"Clark Says He Would Have Voted for War "- Dissecting Adam Nagourney's '03 NYT article
What Wes Clark said prior to The Iraq War
The Iraq War Resolution - Did Clark support "a" resolution or "the" resolution?
Wes Clark in '08! Why Supporting someone who was Right on Iraq in 2002 makes sense.
Clark's 2002 Congressional Testimony - Youtube w/t Transcript
The Levin Amendment- The Resolution that Wes Clark was "For"!

First watch this Segment of Wes Clark on Charlie Rose dated September 23, 2002.
Watch here or here

As you clearly see and hear, General Clark was not for going into Iraq at the time, and felt that the U.N. should be totally involved, in addition to NATO....and that our priorities should have been getting Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda and working on strategies to fight a sensical war on terror utilizing our Allies as much as possible! In fact, the General clearly states towards the end of the Video, that a thorough Weapon Inspections program should be the goal, and it would most likely do the trick.

This video really tells the tale of the General's position on Iraq right prior to the IWR vote. He was definitely for the Levin Amendment to go the the UN and come back to congress for a vote....and since this was BEFORE the Resolutions existed, I'm sure that he was the one that provided the insight that led Sen. Levin to formulate the only Resolution that should have passed if congress would have been doing its job back in 2002.

Too bad that so many Senators and Representatives caved in and gave Pres. Bush a blank check instead!

If only we could turn back the hands of time, we could have avoided the biggest strategic blunder known as Iraq, and if not, we could have, at least, put Wesley Clark into the White House in 2004 as a minimum!

I'm telling ya, that there is too much common sense in what Clark states in this uncut segment for me to believe that we ended up doing exactly what he warned NOT to do. My heart is breaking for those dead civilians and soldiers who didn't have to be! For those who have suffered irreversable injuries; for all of the money that we have spent to date in Iraq for a cause that has only intensified the passion in our enemies and created thousands of new ones!

Senators Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John Kerry, Joe Biden, and Chris Dodd...... y'all were wrong! General Wesley Clark, you were right from the start. Those are the scores that count, and those are the scores that I am keeping.

John Edwards, in particular....if you would have just watched Charlie Rose on September 23, 2002, you'd have been a lot smarter for it, and maybe....just maybe, you woudn't have had to apologize for being "misled" in October of 2005. If you were not watching TV, you could have read Wesley Clark's OP-Ed published 2 days before the vote, or listened when he testified in front of congress. Not only were you lied to as you claim, but most importantly, you were simply just not paying attention to voices of reason. That is your burden to bear, and I will not reward you for not being more attentive and informed in respect to War and Peace. Leading from the rear is simply unacceptable.

and so I say

WES CLARK FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008!
Because you never know when you will need more life saving common sense decisions made. We are living in a dangerous and unpredictable world, and the leader of the Free World must make sense from the getgo!

Wesley Clark was also right on Rwanda

The United States, however, wouldn't invade Rwanda, although Clark pushed his mentor, General John Shalikashvili, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to push for an intervention. Shalikashvili declined after Clark told him twenty thousand troops would be required, and as Clark says now, "I watched as we stood by as eight hundred thousand people were hacked to death by machete."
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2003/030801_mfe_clark_4.html

and Kosovo

and Dafur before it became "fashionable" and politically correct,
(More on Clark's work on Darfur here).

On how we should have approached the War on Terror (Op-Ed from Clark three days after 9/11)

and now, Iran.

One has got to wonder why the Corporate Media Pundits who barely mention Wes Clark's name as a potential presidential candidate in '08 would prefer that he just "fade away"!

Also read my posts on on Clark's Domestic issues
and how well Clark did last time he ran!

Read the following for more on Wes Clark's stance on the Iraq War:
"Clark Says He Would Have Voted for War "- Dissecting Adam Nagourney's '03 NYT article
What Wes Clark said prior to The Iraq War
The Iraq War Resolution - Did Clark support "a" resolution or "the" resolution?
Mining and finding Prescient Gems-Clark's 2002 Iraq Congressional Testimony
Clark's 2002 Congressional Testimony - Youtube w/t Transcript
The Levin Amendment- The Resolution that Wes Clark was "For"!

I located an excellent post on Democratic Underground by Clark Supporter, Westcott.

It provides both the transcripts and Video Testimony that General Clark gave to Congress back in September of 2002.

It's priceless!

Go here and see what I mean!

also read:
What Wes Clark said prior to The Iraq War
The Iraq War Resolution - Did Clark support "a" resolution or "the" resolution?
Mining and finding Prescient Gems-Clark's 2002 Iraq Congressional Testimony
Wes Clark in '08! Why Supporting someone who was Right on Iraq in 2002 makes sense.
Clark's 2002 Congressional Testimony - Youtube w/t Transcript
The Levin Amendment- The Resolution that Wes Clark was "For"!

Wes Clark was "for" an Iraq resolution, it just happens that it wasn't the one passed in the Senate on October 10, 2002. Clark favored and pushed for the Levin Amendment, the only resolution offered that confined Bush to going to the United Nations to appeal to the U.N. the need for a possible use of force in Iraq. If the President couldn't get what he wanted from the United Nations, he was to return to the Congress prior to taking further action. In other words, the Levin Amendment was not a Carte Blanche to wage war. Instead it was a road map that pointed first to the U.N., and if unable to persuade them, Bush was to come back for a second authorization from Congress to use unilateral force.

The Levin Amendment was the Resolution that would have dramatically slowed our march into an elective war that we didn't need to fight aka, the Biggest Strategic Blunder in American History.

Sen. Chafee, the Rhode Island Senator, the lone Republican to have voted against the Lieberman IWR , and who was defeated in his 2006 re-election bid wrote a scathing Op-Ed in the NYT recently asking why Senators who were "sorry" about their "mistaken" vote hadn't bothered to vote for the Levin Amendment if they only "wanted" to give Bush the authority to work through the U.N.?

Just check out what EPIC was stating just a day before the 2002 Iraq War Resolution vote!