US plans to attack seven Muslim states

AlJazeera ^ | 9/22/03 | staff

[Mark Felton]

US plans to attack seven Muslim states

Monday 22 September 2003, 23:08 Makka Time, 20:08 GMT

Wesley Clark slams plot to attack seven Muslim states after 9/11

Presidential hopeful General Wesley Clark says the White House devised a five-year plan after the 9/11 strikes to attack seven majority-Muslim countries.

A former commander of NATO's forces in Europe, Clark claims he met a senior military officer in Washington in November 2001 who told him the Bush administration was planning to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.

The general’s allegations surface in a new book, The Clark Critique, excerpts from which appear in the latest edition of the US magazine Newsweek.

Clark says after the 11 September 2001 attacks, many Bush administration officials seemed determined to move against Iraq, invoking the idea of state sponsorship of terrorism, “even though there was no evidence of Iraqi sponsorship of 9/11 whatsoever”.

Ousting Saddam Hussein promised concrete, visible action, the general writes, dismissing it as a “Cold War approach”.

Clark criticises the plan to attack the seven states, saying it targeted the wrong countries, ignored the “real sources of terrorists”, and failed to achieve “the greater force of international law” that would bring wider global support.

"There was no evidence of Iraqi sponsorship of 9/11 whatsoever"

General Wesley Clark

He also condemns George Bush’s notorious Axis of Evil speech made during his 2002 State of the Union address. “There were no obvious connections between Iraq, Iran, and North Korea,” says Clark.

Clark’s culprits

The former NATO commander acknowledges Iranian and Syrian support for resistance groups such as Lebanon’s Hizb Allah and the Palestinian movement Hamas.

“But neither Hezbollah [sic] nor Hamas were targeting Americans,” he writes. “Why not build international power against Al Qaeda?”

Instead, Clark points the finger at what he calls “the real sources of terrorists - US allies in the region like Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia”.

Clark blames Egypt’s “repressive policies”, Pakistan’s “corruption and poverty, as well as Saudi Arabia’s “radical ideology and direct funding” for creating a pool of angry young men who became “terrorists”.

Clark with wife Gert after naming
himself a presidential candidate

The recent Democrat Party convert says Bush should have adopted a more preventive measures and targeted extremist leaders. “The way to beat terrorists was to take away their popular support,” adds Clark, though he offers little to suggest how this would be achieved.

But White House policy was quickly set in order to achieve particular goals, Clark writes, saying the US administration used the 9/11 attacks to address broader objectives in the Middle East.

Clark, who supervised NATO’s campaign to oust Serbia’s forces from Kosovo in 1999, also takes a swipe at the United States’ allies in Europe, which provided staging bases and planning headquarters for "radical" groups.

War record

The retired general last week declared his intention to win the Democrat nomination to challenge George Bush for the presidency in 2004.

Just days after entering the presidential race, Clark has raced ahead of the nine other Democratic contenders in the latest polls.

Many political observers have portrayed Clark as an anti-war candidate whose own war record – he was decorated after being shot and wounded while serving in Vietnam – means he cannot be accused of lacking courage or patriotism.

Clark has frequently criticised Washington’s policy towards Iraq.

He claimed previously that after the 9/11 attacks, he was pressed by the Bush administration to link the strikes directly to Iraq but refused - a claim the White House denies. However, once the war on Iraq began, he urged decisive action to achieve a rapid US victory.

Despite his anti-war stand on Iraq, the general has had a reputation for being belligerent. He was criticised during the Kosovo campaign for defending attacks on civilian Serbian targets, including the bombing of a television station that left about 20 journalists and other staff dead.

Aljazeera

[The South Texan]

Looks like Aljezzera is supporting Clark.

[Delphinium]

We Republicans need to learn the warfare of politics.

This is going to be a very ugly political season.

[Bobby777]

ah, that light of truth, Al Jazeera bringing knowledge to all ...

just like The Guardian ...

[MissAmericanPie]

"A former commander of NATO's forces in Europe, Clark claims he met a senior military officer in Washington in November 2001 who told him the Bush administration was planning to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan."

Sounds like a great plan to me.

[monkeyshine]

They are throwing everything at Bush. Shooting their wad. What will stick?
Are we witnessing Teflon-2?

[P-Marlowe]

Does Bush have the power to strip this guy of his rank even if he is retired? If so, he should be reduced to private and his pension revoked.

[roadcat]

"why do we have to stretch it out over 5 years? lets's speed this puppy up."

5 years because we have to go before the United Nations for each case. If not, then maybe 1 or 2 years would do it. Come to think of it, maybe we should first attack the United Nations and put our own people in charge.

[lainde]

Sounds like a plan...

[Robert_Paulson2]

arnold and mcc was a dry run for next election. The dems were testing their "divide and conquer" mode... knowing that bush is indefeatable from the middle... only from extreme left and right can he be dragged down to lose in a plurality election.

this is "demcraptic plurality elecitoneering" at it's best. We have just seen it in californicatia... and the righty tighties like tom mcc were suckered in for a few bucks from an indian mafiosa conglomerate.

Keyes will challenge bush from the right... perhaps another "big namer" as well... and then the dems will consolidate with a hillary/clark ticket.

With their willing accomplices in the terror industry, we will see an upswing in attacks, perhaps some succesful ones, just prior to the election, to try and bring down the economy, and give bush the blame for letting terror strike again.

YES, I do believe bill clinton did more than just IGNORE the terror threat. I think he KNEW about the plot... and his people still in place in the fbi, cia, dia and nsa all looked the other way, in hopes that the disaster would collapse a faltering economy an cripple a conservative president.

EXPECT the "true believers" to go into full attack mode on president bush on ABORTION even though he has done more to deal with ending it, than any other president in our recent history... Expect another group to go after Bush over homeland security... not being enough... and another group, the libertarians to go after him for civil liberties problems that they have with the same Homeland Security and patriot act...

Expect the jewish conservatives and evangelicals to go after him for NOT doing enough to protect and support Israel...

and expect hillary to be drafted into the run... for presidentress or veep, as a result of some campaign disaster on the dem side of the aisle... remember paul wellstone?

EXPECT IT... cuz it's on the way.
President Hillary... get used to it.
I personally think she is a very well groomed ....
ANTICHRIST!

[Robert_Paulson2]

They will try to pick off president bush from the right...
judge moore and alan keyes types... the religious conservatives.

wait and see.

[river rat]

If true, and Clark is talking "out of school"...
He'll be living in the BIG HOUSE, long before he makes it to the White House.

Semper Fi

[Free Vulcan]

Clark keeps inserting 1996 Clintonian rhetoric into the 2004 presidential debate. Sure fire recipe for losing. Get up with the times General. You know, adapt, improvise, overcome. Oh wait, you aren't a Marine, never mind.

[GOPJ]

And this was told to him by a French janitor -- or at least that's today's story.

Presidential hopeful General Wesley Clark says the White House devised a five-year plan after the 9/11 strikes to attack seven majority-Muslim countries.

[Imal]

A former commander of NATO's forces in Europe, Clark claims he met a senior military officer in Washington in November 2001 who told him the Bush administration was planning to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.

If he really said this and it is true, the man's a traitor and should be imprisoned.

If he really said this and it is false, the man's a liar and should be imprisoned.

If he never really said this, then it's just another news day for Al Jazeera, the New York Times of the Middle East.

[mercy]

What the world needs now is millions of dead Islamists and the rest of the Muslim world scared silly.

What is the overwhelming fact of the Middle East today? America has an overwhelming Military force in place and we are not going away. THIS is what is important. Iraq was just the most convenient place to start. Oil is the life blood of Western Civilization. We cannot afford to have it cut off. Thus Wahabi and other brands of Islamist extremisim MUST be met with ultimate force.

It's called geo-politics. It is much more important than presidential politics. Keep your eye on the prize.

All this present day politically correct BS will melt away as soon as the terrorists pull off more deadly mass murders. I actually think America is over indulging in it's family squabbles right now because it is in psychotic denial. We are scared and do not want to deal with the real problem. We will be forced to deal with it however.

We won't be bothering with questions about how much can we afford to spend on the War On Terrorism after a large, or multiple, radiological bombs are exploded or successful biological warfare is begun by Al Queda. We will mortgage the planet to pay whatever the cost.

[Imal]

"We won't be bothering with questions about how much can we afford to spend on the War On Terrorism after a large, or multiple, radiological bombs are exploded or successful biological warfare is begun by Al Queda. We will mortgage the planet to pay whatever the cost."

For that, and for the Prescription Drug Benefit, of course.

[Bon mots]

Outrageous!
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan should be at the top of the list.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Recall this 4-star and order him to lead the charge deep into the Sudan-Somalia borderlands.

He could then be the poster boy for the "Army of one" ad campaign. He should pose before he deploys.

His politicized mind reminds me of the kind of brass during Nam who got our good men killed for their own names in headlines and lead stories.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Look folks this clark is what a REAL WAR MONGER looks like make no mistake that what he is conflict at any cost American lives arab lives it dont matter as long as their dead and he gets the credit weather directly or indirectly in his mind he's the one who makes it happen .