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Clark Ran Afoul of His Bosses While NATO Commander Because He Was Less Than Forthcoming
Prnewswire ^
| Sunday January 25, 9:57 am ET
Posted on 01/25/2004 7:20:46 AM PST by Brian Mosely
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To: Brian Mosely
"The buck usually stopped on my desk...I had, by necessity, a certain independence." Indepenence??? I thot generals in the field took orders from higher up like everyone else.
21
posted on
01/25/2004 7:44:56 AM PST
by
cynicom
To: Trust but Verify
fitting isnt it?
22
posted on
01/25/2004 7:45:06 AM PST
by
cripplecreek
(.50 cal border fence)
To: Pikamax
well that kills clark.
23
posted on
01/25/2004 7:45:35 AM PST
by
camas
To: Brian Mosely
"If [Cohen and Shelton] gave me an instruction, I did it. I would never have not done what they told me to do." But if Cohen and Shelton didn't specifically tell him not to do something, he would do it.
To: The UnVeiled Lady
With Clinton, integrity was never an issue. Power and control were though. I suspect that Clark angered Clinton and therefore got the boot. Clark could have been totally devoid of integrity, but as long as he did what Clinton wanted him to do, he was safe.
25
posted on
01/25/2004 7:48:11 AM PST
by
Enterprise
("You sit down. You had your say. Now I'm going to have my say.")
To: Brian Mosely
He hasn't been very forthcoming about what he actually did to stop Osama bin Laden while he was in a position of power (SACEUR, JCS J-3)....
26
posted on
01/25/2004 7:49:32 AM PST
by
jhofmann
To: camas
Hah! It might fare badly among conservatives, but the dems, if anything, find such behavior attractive.
27
posted on
01/25/2004 7:51:36 AM PST
by
MizSterious
(First, the journalists, THEN the lawyers.)
To: Brian Mosely
"Yet no matter how many times I tried to bring Hugh Shelton and Washington to understand the allied side, it didn't compute. They just didn't see it."Oh, sure, Clark. You just knew soooo much more than Shelton. He is a clueless old geezer, isn't he, Clark? Go to hell, you elitist prick.
28
posted on
01/25/2004 7:53:43 AM PST
by
Future Snake Eater
("Oh boy, I can't wait to eat that monkey!"--Abe Simpson)
To: Enterprise
As others will undoubtedly point out, if Clark has no integrity or character then he's the perfect Democrat candidate for President. Exactly. That might be his ONLY qualification to be the Democrat candidate.
29
posted on
01/25/2004 7:54:35 AM PST
by
Jorge
To: Brian Mosely
If Clark has always been such an obnoxious and swarmy bastard -- it's amazing he exited Vietnam alive..
Army Officers, like himself - were frequently disposed of, by their own troops..
Semper Fi
30
posted on
01/25/2004 7:55:11 AM PST
by
river rat
(Militant Islam is a cult, flirting with extinction)
To: Brian Mosely
I am very curious. As supreme commander, is it his final call what to do in war, or does he still take orders from someone else?
To: cripplecreek
while the search for war criminals and violence continue in the balkans, clark can call it a win. seems to me that the situation isnt all that much different in iraq, yet clark calls it a miserable failure. Actually, Iraq is significantly different. The Balkana have been in operation for years. Itaq is less than one year.
32
posted on
01/25/2004 8:01:01 AM PST
by
stevem
To: Brian Mosely
"I would never have not done what they told me to do." But you would have done what they told you not to do apparantly.
"But the truth is, they weren't in touch with the situation well enough to tell me everything to do."
It doesn't matter. They are your superior officers and you were beholden to them.
"It's why you have the title supreme allied commander..."
It's not a title of royalty. It simply means you are the highest ranking military person in command of NATO forces. It gave you no power above the people you were answerable to -- Sheldon and Cohen.
"The buck usually stopped on my desk..."
Usually?
"I had, by necessity, a certain independence."
And you are selected, trained, and paid to exercise judgement commiserate with an O-10. If you didn't we might as well have put a E-2 in the job.
"Yet no matter how many times I tried to bring Hugh Shelton and Washington to understand the allied side, it didn't compute."
It's called "going native" in the State Department. You job was not to convince the ChJCS and SecDef of the goals and opinions of the snooty allied politicians, your job was to try and convince the allies to come around to U.S. goals and opinions. You gotta know who you work for. No wonder you were fired. It's amazing you got as high as you did. Being a FOB surely helped.
33
posted on
01/25/2004 8:03:57 AM PST
by
FreedomCalls
(It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
To: petitfour
Albright silenced the men in the room by remarking, "I forget what an orgasm is." Now, that's humor.
No, it explains at long last what really motivated American forgein policy for eight years...
To: Trust but Verify
Since when did tongues wear hats?
35
posted on
01/25/2004 8:06:11 AM PST
by
monocle
To: woofie
If Clark lacked integrity, how would Clinton know?
36
posted on
01/25/2004 8:18:43 AM PST
by
Tacis
To: Trust but Verify
As NATO commander, Clark told NEWSWEEK, "I wore two hats." Well, that clears that up...
37
posted on
01/25/2004 8:19:23 AM PST
by
Noumenon
(I don't have enough guns and ammo to start a war - but I do have enough to finish one.)
To: Brian Mosely
He had the choice of disobeying the administration (Klinton, Albrightdim, & Co.) that got him his general's stars in the first place or disobeying his military superiors. What's a little perfumed princeling to do?
To: Brian Mosely
I particularly liked it when Clark tried to start WWIII over his ego. That was a nice mark on his career.
39
posted on
01/25/2004 8:23:02 AM PST
by
Nov3
To: Brian Mosely
Clark ordered the pilots to fly at such high altitude that they were bombing civilians. The pilots complained bitterly, even tho flying lower would have jeopardized their lives.
After the bombing of the train carrying civilians, which Clark had ordered, he blamed the pilot and said the pilot was to blame for the bombs dropping on the train.
From what I have read.......that was the final straw.
40
posted on
01/25/2004 8:30:33 AM PST
by
OldFriend
(Always understand, even if you remain among the few)
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