Clark Hints at Bush's Military Service

PEMBROKE, N.H. - Wesley Clark (news - web sites) suggested Saturday that questions remain about President Bush (news - web sites)'s Vietnam-era service in the Texas Air National Guard, but the retired general stopped short of endorsing a comment by actor-director Michael Moore that Bush was "a deserter."

Moore, a Clark supporter, introduced the Democratic presidential nominee at a campaign rally here by saying he looked forward to debates between Clark, if he wins the Democratic nomination, and Bush.

"I want to see that debate: the general versus the deserter," Moore said to enthusiastic applause at a packed rally in a high-school gymnasium, reiterating a line he uses frequently.

Clark, asked later by reporters if he agreed with Moore's characterization of Bush as a "deserter," said: "I've heard those charges. I don't know whether they're established or not. He was never prosecuted for it. The question in this election is can we bring a higher standard of leadership to America."

The exchange recalled a controversy that was an element of the 2000 presidential campaign.

Bush served as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard from May 1968 to October 1973, mostly flying F-102 fighter interceptors. He did not go to Vietnam.

Bush spent most of his time in the Guard based near Houston, but in May 1972 he received a three-month assignment in Alabama with the 187th Tactical Recon Unit in Montgomery while he worked on a political campaign in the state.

Retired Gen. William Turnipseed, a commander at the Alabama base, said during the 2000 presidential campaign that he never saw Bush appear for duty for that unit's drills. Bush maintains he was there, but records have never been produced to document that Bush was there.

At a news conference after the rally, Clark insisted, "I'm not going to get into the issues of what George W. Bush did or didn't do in the past."

"I'm delighted with Michael Moore, I really appreciate his support, he's a fantastic leader. I thank him tremendously for being here."

Clark was the only Democratic presidential candidate campaigning in New Hampshire on Saturday. Most of his rivals were in Iowa. Clark, a late entry, decided to skip Iowa.

Clark, who has presented himself as a military man who opposed the war in Iraq (news - web sites), was to be endorsed on Sunday by 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern.

McGovern, a staunch opponent of the Vietnam war, was to campaign on Sunday with Clark in New Hampshire, Clark aides said.

In New Hampshire, his ratings in polls were increasing, putting him within striking distance of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (news - web sites), who remained the front-runner here.

Earlier, in Laconia, in the lake region of central New Hampshire, Clark said that one reason New Hampshire property taxes are high is the state has no income or general sales tax.

"Some of the responsibility for your high property taxes is a function of your state government and leadership in the state," Clark said in response to a question at a campaign stop.

High property taxes are a perennial political issue in New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary Jan. 27. Iowa's contest on Monday involves caucuses, rather than a primary.

In a brief interview after his appearance in Laconia, Clark said he did not intend his remarks as criticism of New Hampshire's tax system, which he said is the responsibility of the state's lawmakers and voters.

Clark was responding to a teacher who complained that underfunding of the federal No Child Left Behind Act was driving up local property taxes. Clark said he would fully fund the act and reform it, reducing the financial burden on communities.

"To be honest with you, in New Hampshire you don't have a sales tax for most of your purchases, and you don't have an income tax as most states do," he said to a large round of applause.

Only New Hampshire and Alaska have neither general sales nor income taxes, and Alaska has substantial oil revenues.

There is a link somewhere......Clark wanted/ordered the British commander to move tanks, men, etc. to an airport where the Russians were scheduled to land. Clark wanted them confronted and blocked from landing. The British commmander refused saying he was not going to start WW3.
Here is one editorial from antiwar.com (of all places) for what it's worth

'THE GUY WHO ALMOST STARTED WORLD WAR III'

In Waging Modern War, General Clark wrote about his fury upon learning that Russian peacekeepers had entered the airport at Pristina, Kosovo, before British or American forces. In the article "The guy who almost started World War III," (Aug. 3, 1999), The Guardian (U.K.) wrote, "No sooner are we told by Britain's top generals that the Russians played a crucial role in ending the West's war against Yugoslavia than we learn that if NATO's supreme commander, the American General Wesley Clark, had had his way, British paratroopers would have stormed Pristina airport, threatening to unleash the most frightening crisis with Moscow since the end of the Cold War."

"I'm not going to start the third world war for you," General Sir Mike Jackson, commander of the international KFOR peacekeeping force, is reported to have told Gen. Clark when he refused to accept an order to send assault troops to prevent Russian troops from taking over the airfield of Kosovo's provincial capital. The Times of London reported on 23 May 2001 in an article titled, "Kosovo clash of allied generals," that "General Sir Michael Jackson [was] told that he would have to resign if he refused to obey an order by the American commander of Nato's forces during the Kosovo war to stop the Russians from seizing control of Pristina airport in June 1999."

If General Clark had had his way, we might have gone to war with Russia, or at least resurrected vestiges of the Cold War and we certainly would have had hundreds if not thousands of casualties in an ill-conceived ground war

In his article titled, "A Long, Tough Job," which appeared in the Washington Post on 14 September, Clark writes, "And the American public will have to grasp and appreciate a new approach to warfare. Our objective should be neither revenge nor retaliation, though we will achieve both. Rather, we must systematically target and destroy the complex, interlocking network of international terrorism. The aim should be to attack not buildings and facilities but the people who have masterminded, coordinated, supported and executed these and other terrorist attacks.

"Our methods should rely first on domestic and international law, and the support and active participation of our friends and allies around the globe. Evidence must be collected, networks uncovered and a faceless threat given shape and identity."

"Rely on international law"? Clinton and his gangsters broke every international law on the books regarding Yugoslavia. "Evidence must be collected?" Evidence of what? The Serbs certainly did not have weapons of mass destruction; nor did they attack us first; nor were they ever a threat to us. His words ring hollow.

You can read "Wes" Clark's letter to the National Albanian American Council of 1 November 2002, in which he says, "Let's stay in touch." For an American general who was supposed to be impartial in a civil war, it is no secret that Clark is the Albanian lobby's fair-haired boy. And why not? He delivered Kosovo to them.

General Clark brags about the fact that not one solder was killed under his command. Even though the Serbs had every opportunity to kill American soldiers, I contend that the Serbs did not want Americans to die at their hands. This was illustrated when Sgt. Christopher Stone of Smiths Creek, Michigan, upon his release, left a note to his prison guards thanking them for treating him with "dignity and respect." The Pentagon declined to release a copy of Stone's note, but a copy was made available to The Associated Press (5 May 1999). The note ended with "Thank you, you are very kind" and "God help you."

Col. David Hackworth, in his 1999 commentary Defending America, wrote of Clark: Known by those who've served with him as the Ultimate Perfumed Prince, he's far more comfortable in a drawing room discussing political theories than hunkering down in the trenches where bullets fly and soldiers die.

Col. Jatras writes that "General Clark is the kind of general we saw too often during the Vietnam War and hoped never to see again in a position of responsibility for the lives of our GIs and the security of our nation. That it happened once again we can thank that other Rhodes scholar from Arkansas."

In this writer's judgement, what this guy is positioning himself for is the VP slot with Hillary running for President. It would be a marriage made in Hell...a Hell for all of us.

Knowing all the above, why would anyone want as president or VP a guy who was willing to start World War III for the sake of his own ego and self-importance?

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