Well, that clears that up...
Posted on 01/25/2004 7:20:46 AM PST by Brian Mosely
Press Release
Source: Newsweek
NEWSWEEK: Clark Ran Afoul of His Bosses While NATO Commander Because He Was Less Than Forthcoming, A Knowledgeable Source Says
Sunday January 25, 9:57 am ET
Clark Insists: 'The Buck Usually Stopped On My Desk'
# NEW YORK, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- When Gen. Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters last September that General Wesley Clark was fired as commander of NATO because of "integrity and character issues" an uneasy pall was cast over Clark's presidential bid. Now, Newsweek has learned that Clark ran afoul of his bosses while NATO chief because he was less than forthcoming, according to a knowledgeable source.(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040125/NYSU004 )
The problem materialized during the Kosovo war in the Spring of 1999, on morning conference calls with then Defense Secretary William Cohen and Shelton, report Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas and Washington Correspondent T. Trent Gegax in the February 2 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, January 26). From his NATO headquarters in Brussels, Clark wanted to wage the war more aggressively, but back in the Pentagon, Cohen and Shelton were more cautious.
They would give Clark explicit instructions on, for instance, the scale of the bombing campaign. "Clark would say, 'Uh-huh, gotcha," says Newsweek's source. But then he would pick up the phone and call [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair and [Secretary of State] Madeleine [Albright]." As Clark knew full well, Blair and Albright were more hawkish than Shelton and Cohen. After talking to the State Department and NATO allies, Clark would have a different set of marching orders, says the source, who has spoken about the matter with both Cohen and Clark. "Then, about 1 o'clock, the Defense Department would hear what Clark was up to, and Cohen and Shelton would be furious."
But Clark insists to Newsweek, "I was forthcoming. If [Cohen and Shelton] gave me an instruction, I did it. I would never have not done what they told me to do. But the truth is, they weren't in touch with the situation well enough to tell me everything to do. It's why you have the title supreme allied commander...The buck usually stopped on my desk...I had, by necessity, a certain independence. 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."
Indepenence??? I thot generals in the field took orders from higher up like everyone else.
But if Cohen and Shelton didn't specifically tell him not to do something, he would do 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.
Exactly. That might be his ONLY qualification to be the Democrat candidate.
Actually, Iraq is significantly different. The Balkana have been in operation for years. Itaq is less than one year.
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.
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...
Well, that clears that up...
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.
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