[woofie]

I get it.... Clark is a hawkish dove

[Semper Paratus]

That type of behavior would get you fired as a store clerk.

In retrospect it is scary how much firepower that loose cannon had at his disposal.

[cripplecreek]

clark missed his meeting with honesty because he was off trading headgear with a war criminal.

[Enterprise]

"integrity and character issues"

As others will undoubtedly point out, if Clark has no integrity or character then he's the perfect Democrat candidate for President.

[leadpenny]

Notice who is NOT mentioned in the piece. Of course that person was busy with other matters of state and things under the desk.

[DoctorMichael]

Organizational Rule #1: It's not nice to go behind the boss's back; It's bad for your career.

[ChadGore]

Members of the military should follow orders, unless you're a purfumed prince ?

[Pukin Dog]

This is only the beginning of the things Clark did in Kosovo.

He deliberately misstated civilian casualties, and in the case of the F-15 that took out a civilian train, Clark had the film of the incident altered to make it look like an accident, then when discovered, he blamed the bombing on the pilot, who was only following orders to hit that target.

The drip-drip of information on Clark will become a steady stream should he do well in NH. I suspect he wont, and most of the dirt on Clark will not come out until much later.

[cynicom]

"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.

[rickmichaels]

"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.

[jhofmann]

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)....

[Future Snake Eater]

"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.

[river rat]

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

[FirstPrinciple]

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?

[FreedomCalls]

"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.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

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?

[Nov3]

I particularly liked it when Clark tried to start WWIII over his ego. That was a nice mark on his career.

[OldFriend]

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.

[Peach]

Today on the George Stephapoulous show, George asked Clark:
"You were previously supported of the Iraq resolution. What has changed that support."

Clark: "It depends on the meaning of 'the'"!!!

I know those reading will think this is a joke. I assure you, it is NOT a joke. We need a transcript of that show ASAP because ABC will expunge the record.

[hershey]

With Weasly Clark it's always somebody else's fault.