Time to expose Wesley Clark

The Brit General refused Madman Clark's orders twice because he knew the situation would erupt into gunfire, and death and possibly nuclear confrontation.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/982730/posts

Wesley Clark's 'High Noon' (Even Lefties Think Wesley Clark Is NUTS)
The Nation ^ | September 12, 2003 | Katrina vanden Heuvel

Posted on 09/15/2003 6:56 AM PDT by PJ-Comix

Will he or won't he? Will retired four-star General, ardent critic of Bush's national security policies, telegenic TV commentator, and recently declared Democrat Wesley Clark enter the crowded presidential race?

As a former military officer, Democrats believe Clark could make the party more viable on foreign affairs than it's been since a general named George Marshall was containing Communism under the command of a president named Harry Truman. (That's the conventional wisdom, though the staggering cost of the badly bungled Iraqi occupation has diminished the Republican advantage on defense no matter who runs against Bush.)

While media commentary on Clark's prospective candidacy has been almost entirely favorable--even adulatory--it's worth looking back at a forgotten chapter in his military biography that occurred when Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and Commander In Chief for the US European Command. Call it Clark's "High Noon" showdown. It's an incident that deserves scrutiny because Clark's claim to be an experienced leader in national security matters is tied, in significant part, to his record in the Balkans.

On June 12, 1999, in the immediate aftermath of NATO's air war against Yugoslavia, a small contingent of Russian troops dashed to occupy the Pristina airfield in Kosovo. Clark was so anxious to stop the Russians that he ordered an airborne assault to confront these units--an order which could have unleashed the most frightening showdown with Moscow since the end of the Cold War. Hyperbole? You can decide. But British General Michael Jackson, the three-star general and commander of K-FOR, the international force organized and commanded by NATO to enforce an agreement in Kosovo, told Clark: "Sir, I'm not starting world war three for you," when refusing to accept his order to prevent Russian forces from taking over the airport. (Jackson was rightly worried that any precipitous NATO action could risk a confrontation with a nuclear- armed Russia and upset the NATO-led peacekeeping plan just getting underway with the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo.)

After being rebuffed by Jackson, Clark, according to various media reports at the time, then ordered Admiral James Ellis, the American in charge of NATO's southern command, to use Apache helicopters to occupy the airfield. Ellis didn't comply--replying that British General Jackson would oppose such a move. Had Clark's orders been followed, the subsequent NATO- negotiated compromise with the Russians--a positive element in the roller- coaster relationship between Moscow and Washington, which eventually incorporated Russian troops into peacekeeping operations--might well have been undermined.

In the end, Russian reinforcements were stopped when Washington persuaded Hungary, a new NATO member, to refuse to allow Russian aircraft to fly over its territory. Meanwhile, Jackson was appealing to senior British authorities, who persuaded Clinton Administration officials--some of whom had previously favored occupying the airport--to drop support for Clark's hotheaded plan. As a result, when Clark appealed to Washington, he was rebuffed at the highest levels. His virtually unprecedented showdown with a subordinate subsequently prompted hearings by the Armed Forces Services Committee, which raised sharp questions about NATO's chain of command.

As a Guardian article said at the time, "The episode triggers reminscences of the Korean War. Then, General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the UN force, wanted to invade, even nuke, China, until he was brought to heel by President Truman." Of course, the comparison is inexact. The stakes were not as high in the Balkans, but Clark's hip-shooting willingness to engage Russian troops in a risky military showdown at the end of the war is instructive nonetheless.

Indeed, it is believed in military circles that Clark's Pristina incident was the final straw that led the Pentagon to relieve him of his duties (actually retire him earlier). Clark had also angered the Pentagon brass--and Secretary of Defense William Cohen in particular--with his numerous media appearances and repeated public requests for more weapons and for more freedom to wage the Kosovo war the way he wanted (with ground troops). At one point, according to media reports, Defense Secretary Cohen, through Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton, told Clark to "get your fucking face off of TV."

In recent years, it's only fair to note, Clark has insisted in interviews and in his memoir Waging Modern War that the incident was a surprising moment for him. Clark said that his order to confront the Russian troops was refused by an emotional General Jackson, who took the matter up the British chain of command, where General Charles Guthrie, British Chief of Defence, said that he agreed with Jackson. Guthrie, according to Clark, told him that Joint Chiefs Chairman Shelton also agreed with the British. This surprised Clark because he claims that the original suggestion to block the Russians came from Washington. Clark maintains that the matter was a policy problem between the US and British governments and insists that he was carrying out the suggestions of the Clinton Administration.

Despite concerns this incident raises, it remains a fact that the prospect of a Clark candidacy is tantalizing. Clark says he is a liberal Democrat who favors abortion rights, affirmative action, gun control and progressive economic policies. He has also spoken eloquently about basing America's role in the world on the country's better principles: "generosity, humility, engagement… "

"The pilots finally begged to be able to do their job properly saying they'd rather put their lives on the line in the air than take any innocent lives on the ground...."

the "civilian casualty" issue is going to be a much tougher issue for him than the Pristina / Russian troops deal.....especially among demorats.

Here's a question in need of investigation: How many civilian casualties were there in the tiny Kosovo conflict vs the much larger take-down of Iraq?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/877952/posts

(Wesley) Clark Tanks
American Prowler ^ | 03/28/03 | The Prowler

Posted on 03/27/2003 9:28 PM PST by Pokey78

DEAN-DUMB
So much for the Democrats' hope that retired General Wesley Clark was going to be their Colin Powell. "He's more Benedict Arnold than anything else, if you believe the mail we've been getting here," says the Democratic National Committee staffer who, only a month ago was touting Clark as his party's answer to the military star power aligned with Republicans.

"Any cachet he might have had he's pretty much pissed away on TV," says the staffer.

Since the outbreak of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Clark has been on CNN, bemoaning the Pentagon and Gen. Tommy Franks's strategy in the opening days of taking down Saddam. And while several other senior retired military men have made critical comments about the ongoing fighting -- Ret. Gen. Barry McCaffrey, another former Clinton-era official, has been quick to criticize during his stints on MSNBC -- Clark has by far been the most vocal.

"It just looks really bad that he's knocking the troops and the way we're executing this war," says the DNC staffer. "He's taking hits everywhere, on TV, in the newspapers, on talk radio. People are furious at him. We can't fundraise off performances like this. The only presidential candidate that would probably want to be seen with him is Howard Dean."

Prior to Clark's "tanking" on CNN, the DNC had Clark pegged for political stardom. He'd visited New Hampshire, and had hinted that he was interested in perhaps running for president as a Democrat. Now, the DNC isn't sure what they can do with the man who directed Bill Clinton's military machinations in Kosovo.

Clark is a madman who tried to start WWIII.

I heard Hitlery has signed on to become his "advisor". Enough said.

His so called military record from Waco to what you cited show the actions and mutterings of a dangerous madman.

One can only imagine what he would do to us, and anyone he perceived as his enemies.

The facts about Clark are good to get out but will they prevent his success? Will the story be presented by the networks as we might on this forum? My answer to these questions are that I don't think so. Clinton was a admitted liar, adulterer, alleged rapist, and a draft dodger and still got elected, twice. One can not presume that the left will engage in rational thought before they cast a vote, remember, they only "feel" before they act.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/984111/posts

Flashback: Brit General stops Wes Clark 'from starting WWIII' (Clark's Big Skeleton)
BBC News ^ | 9 March, 2000

Posted on 09/17/2003 6:03 AM PDT by jmstein7

Details of Russia's surprise occupation of Pristina airport at the end of the Kosovo war are revealed in a new BBC documentary on the conflict.

For the first time, the key players in the tense confrontation between Nato and Russian troops talk about the stand-off which jeopardised the entire peacekeeping mission.

The Russians, who played a crucial role in persuading Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to end the war, had expected to police their own sector of Kosovo, independent of Nato.

When they did not get it, they felt double-crossed.

As Nato's K-For peacekeepers prepared to enter the province on 12 June, they discovered the Russians had got there first.

A contingent of 200 troops, stationed in Bosnia, was already rolling towards Pristina airport.

'Third World War'

General Wesley Clark, Nato's supreme commander, immediately ordered 500 British and French paratroopers to be put on standby to occupy the airport.

''I called the [Nato] Secretary General [Javier Solana] and told him what the circumstances were,'' General Clark tells the BBC programme Moral Combat: Nato at War.

''He talked about what the risks were and what might happen if the Russian's got there first, and he said: 'Of course you have to get to the airport'.

General Jackson: Backed by UK Government ''I said: 'Do you consider I have the authority to do so?' He said: 'Of course you do, you have transfer of authority'.''

But General Clark's plan was blocked by General Sir Mike Jackson, K-For's British commander.

"I'm not going to start the Third World War for you," he reportedly told General Clark during one heated exchange.

General Jackson tells the BBC: ''We were [looking at] a possibility....of confrontation with the Russian contingent which seemed to me probably not the right way to start off a relationship with Russians who were going to become part of my command.''

Russian plans

The Russian advance party took the airport unopposed. The world watched nervously.

A senior Russian officer, General Leonid Ivashev, tells the BBC how the Russians had plans to fly in thousands of troops.

''Let's just say that we had several airbases ready. We had battalions of paratroopers ready to leave within two hours,'' he said.

Amid fears that Russian aircraft were heading for Pristina, General Clark planned to order British tanks and armoured cars to block the runways to prevent any transport planes from landing.

General Clark said he believed it was ''an appropriate course of action''. But the plan was again vetoed by Britain.

Partition fears

Instead, he asked neighbouring countries, including Hungary and Romania not to allow Russian aircraft to overfly their territory.

Russians are not under direct Nato command During the stand-off, Moscow insisted its troops would be answerable only to its own commanders.

Nato refused to accept this, predicting it would lead to the partition of Kosovo into an ethnic Albanian south and a Serbian north.

A deal on the deployment of Russian peacekeepers was reached in early July.

The Russians now operate as part of K-For in sectors controlled by Nato states, but are not directly under Nato's command

"Will the story be presented by the networks as we might on this forum?"

Ah, but there was no internet to speak of, and no FreeRepublic, in '92 when the Klintoon was perpretrated his hoax on an unsuspecting American public.

KNOCK CLARK OUT OF THE RACE! CLICK HERE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/984143/posts

We know what the NY Slimes will do with the documented record of Weasel Clark.

The NY Slimes will ignore the scary reality and try to present him as a modern Ike.

What the NY Slimes says about Weasel Clark this week and on this Sunday will show how they are part if not the driving force in the redo of Weasel Clark.

However, it will not work. We have conservative print media, conservative talk radio, Fox News and of course Free Republic to get the truth about this dangerous and insane POS out to the moderates, who will decide who is president in 2004.

From The Times, May 23, 2001:

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.

The British general, who had led the Nato peacekeeping force into Kosovo, had been ordered by General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Saceur), to block the runway to prevent Russian reinforcements from landing.

In his account of the dramatic confrontation with General Jackson, detailed in Waging Modern War, published in the United States this week, General Clark says: "I reiterated my instructions to Jackson, explaining carefully that if he didn't follow my directions he would have to resign his position."

General Clark's warning followed what was probably the sharpest clash between American and British military commanders since Eisenhower and Montgomery disputed strategy in the Second World War.

The Nato bombing campaign had ended, the Serbs had agreed to withdraw and General Jackson was gearing up his force in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to enter Kosovo on June 12. But 200 Russian troops based in Bosnia had entered Kosovo from the north and driven to Pristina airport -pre-empting the Nato deployment plan -and were awaiting reinforcements from Moscow. The Russians wanted to move troops rapidly into northern Kosovo at the end of Nato's bombing campaign to create a de facto partition of the province before General Jackson's force had arrived.

General Clark says that the Pentagon and Javier Solana, then Nato's Secretary-General, authorised him to use Apache helicopters to block the airport's runway to prevent Russian troop carriers from landing.

General Jackson refused, saying his mission was to return refugees to Kosovo and keep the peace, not risk a confrontation with Russia. The men met in General Jackson's headquarters in an old shoe factory in Macedonia.

General Jackson was "angry and upset", General Clark writes. It was a "rapid-fire exchange and became too personal".

"Sir, I'm not taking any more orders from Washington," General Jackson said.

"Mike, these aren't Washington's orders, they're coming from me," General Clark replied.

"By whose authority?"

"By my authority as Supreme Allied Commander Europe."

"You don't have that authority."

"I do have that authority. I have the Secretary-General behind me on this."

"Sir, I'm not starting World War Three for you..."

"Mike, I'm not asking you to start World War Three. I'm asking you to block the runways so that we don't have to face an issue that could produce a crisis."

END OF EXCERPT.

BUMP to read later. Thanks for the info!

You are welcome. I will post more links to this very dangerous lunatic.

Please share the links with your email friends and relatives and in particuliar any moderates you know.

Yes, the media is having a lovefest in hopes this will bolster Demonrat credibility on national security/foreign policy. Funny what blatant hypocrites they are since where was the imminent threat from Kosovo? What national security issue was involved in attacking a sovereign nation? And since Wes Clark is all critical of President Bush and not getting UN approval, etc. where was UN approval for Kosovo? Why didn't they work with our 'friends' Russia and China? And what is his brilliance in bombing the hell out of Kosovo for months-funny how the Demonrats are alright with bombing when Demonrats do it! Legitimate questions regarding a man who is critical of Iraq and what were his thoughts when his beloved pal Clintoon was talking of war with Iraq and WMDs? I think his ties to Clintoon alone can discredit him in regards to military. He is friends and supporter of Clintoon and how about the gutting of the military under Clintoon and the way in which the Demonratic party is overrun by extremists who are continually bad for our military strength. That's just on military alone. People are mentioning his lies that he said the Bush administration called him up and asked him to lie about Iraq-Republicans, the administration can in the campaign continually demand an apology and keep that a reminder in matters of his ways. The media is attempting to build him up, rah rah rah, but his record supports him being a Demonrat.

Back then considering there was Rush on the radio as well as Harder, and several large radio hosts in very large markets all telling the truth about Clinton, he still won. Although there wasn't FR back then I question how big a factor FR could be now or then. With lurkers and all, I believe the total number of folks partaking is less than a million for sure. David Brudnoy on WBZ radio 1030 AM out of Boston at 7:00 beat on Clinton incessantly for years and he is heard in 46 states and has millions of listeners. For the heck of it tune in some time. Middle of the road voters will be swayed by some facts but the vast middle and independent voter is going to vote for their pocketbook, job, health, and education. They want stuff from their nanny government and Clinton will give them what they want, I fear.

In addition, for the most part leftists will not spend much time on this forum unless to cause trouble. The vast middle is not motivated to go after political discussion lest they become political and will join this or other discussion forums. For us, this forum should be used to develop ones political thoughts for the purpose of taking our thought to others on the job, (be careful) to the family (careful again), to the girlfriend (be very careful for obvious reasons). If we all can ask the right questions to the Liberal so to allow for self examination of their mistaken beliefs then we may well have a convert to the world of rational thought and right thinking. To break through to a Liberal all one has to do is to initiate self examination by pointed questions.

One thing I also came across which is a little off the beaten path, but Clark claimed that a French spy in the office of NATO had provided Milosovic with the war plans. That was why he was able to counteract so successfully. Does anyone have any information on this claim by Clark? More than likely, he mentioned it in his book.

It's up to GOP commercials, getting the word out at rallies, etc. and then if it gets to that point-in the debates.

Clark's candidacy for president is an ego trip

yes