Posted on 10/15/2003 8:20:15 PM PDT by HAL9000
...bombed civilian TV stations/studios while they were on the air...
Government-controlled propaganda means are legitimate military targets. Sorry about that... if you don't wanna get bombed, just say no to Slobo's propaganda. (Given that Slobo was known to whack people left and right, saying no to him was probably not an option. But it was his decision that made those sites targets. Not fair to blame it on Clark). And... please tell me what difference it makes if they were on the air. Are we supposed to wait until they are sending a test pattern?
he also bombed civilian bridges while human shields were visibly present on them
If he had done that, it would be justified, because the target is still a military target -- and putting human shields on the target is a war crime for the Serb who ordered that, not the NATO guys that bomb the bridge. But that's all if any such thing happened, and in the incident I recall, a train of civilians was crossing the bridge when it got zapped. Rotten luck, that. I don't believe that there were any human shields emplaced or killed in the Serbian or Kosovar bombings - so you're giving both Clark and Slobo a bad rap they don't deserve, here (they deserve plenty of bashing, but not for this).
There was another incident, where US fighters mistook a train of carts being pulled by a tractor for something military, and creamed a bunch of refugees. This was bad luck, indeed, but these things happen in war, and nothing Clark could have done would have prevented it.
Clark also insured that foreign diplomatic targets, such as the Chinese Embassy, were also hit
Hey, the Chinese moved into a building that was still a Yugoslav defence-related ministry on our maps -- which were three years old. After all the outcry over an "outdated" map, ask some Vietnam vet how old the maps he used were (if he was lucky enough to have a map)... back in the eighties, a lot of our planning for the "big one" where we would have gone into Russia relied on maps based on 1942 photogrammetry done by Hitler's Luftwaffe. Anyway, there is no way that Clark can be blamed for this. It's one of those wartime things where **** happens.
Mike Jackson ... DISOBEYED Clark's direct order to open fire on Russian paratroopers
Nonsense. Jackson did refuse an order, but it was to advance to Pristina (as the original plan had his troops doing; the Russians had pre-empted that with a land grab). Clark never ordered him to shoot at anybody, and he was never in a position to fire on the Russians either. Jackson DID tell Clark he wasn't going to start WWIII for him, and Jackson does seem to share the distaste for Clark that has been expressed by at least two retired American generals. (Still, Clark could not have been made a 3-star or a 4-star without acquiescence from the other 3- and 4-stars).
Clark was then fired from NATO
True, basically; he was relieved of his position as SACEUR three months early
... as well as fired from the U.S. military
Not true. He retired, which is what a SACEUR normally does at the end of his tour, unless he is named Chief of Staff of the Army or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Those two slots are the only possible promotion for about a dozen Army 4-star generals, and the Joint Chiefs position is rotated among the services so it's really 1.25 slots. The Joint position was in the hands of another service, and the Chief of Staff of the Army was already filled by another Dem and Friend of Bill, Eric K. "Rick" Shinseki (an even bigger asshat than Clark, and probable future Senator. D-Hawaii). So with no promotion in the offing, Clark had no choice but to retire. He wasn't fired. (Maybe he should have been, but he wasn't).
Please check these things out before ya post them. I understand that Clark gets your goat, but because the entire press is on HIS side and against US, we have to make sure when we state something as a fact, that it's really true. If you think you remember something, say you think... makes backing down a lot easier if you were wrong.
Clark isn't really a danger to us. The guy he's deadly to is John Kerry. Kerry has no policy except to say he was in Vietnam, which untiil Clark entered was something only he could say. It's over for "the lesser JFK" -- stick a fork in him. On the bright side, he didn't spend too much of Teresa's money and strangle the charities she supports.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
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