Two interesting pieces on Wesley Clark about his NATO/Serbia stint

[Gloria]

The first from Foreign Affairs reviews Clark's book, and discusses the almost impossible position he was in. Interesting is the discussion of how hard it is for many "coalition" members to actually work together...

http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20010701fareviewessay4999/richard-k-betts/compromised-command.html
Compromised Command
Richard K. Betts
From Foreign Affairs, July/August 2001

Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. General Wesley K. Clark. New York: PublicAffairs, 2001, 479 pp. $30.00

Summary: In Waging Modern War, General Wesley Clark describes how NATO bested Serbia -- just barely -- in the organization's first-ever shooting war. With confused priorities, a reluctant military, and overweening lawyers, the alliance was scarcely up to the task.

(Review follows....excellent read explaining Clark's job and how he was SNUBBED in DC

(snip)
Beginning with his assumption of command for the occupation of Bosnia, Clark became persona non grata in Washington. At one point he even heard that General Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was saying that Clark "had one foot on a banana peel and one foot in the grave." Several days into the air war, Clark reflected ruefully on how odd it was that he had never been invited into strategy discussions with either the secretary of defense or the president. As he plaintively recalls, throughout the war "I always flashed back to the television footage of General Schwarzkopf going with General Powell to Camp David to brief President George Bush on the Persian Gulf ."

Cohen and Shelton even tried to prevent NATO's supreme commander from attending the NATO summit held in Washington during the war. Clark went anyway, and he reports a poignant scene that took place at a reception hosted by the American leadership. As he approached a receiving line that included Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Cohen, and Shelton, several of them glanced at him. "'Stay away' was the clear message from the body language. It was jarring." But once Europeans entered the room, Clark was soon surrounded by a respectful group of ministers and heads of state, "making me almost the center of a second receiving line." If not a prophet, Clark was a commander without honor in his own country. Indeed, after victory the supranational commander received the ultimate snub from his national superiors -- they booted him from office several months early to make room for a top Washington player, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Ralston.

(more)



The second, from Serbia Info News, tells a story from the Serbian point of view...a crime and a coverup of a demand for his dismissal.

Bill Clinton demands dismissal of Wesley Clark
April 18, 1999
http://www.serbia-info.com/news/1999-04/18/11032.html

(snip)

According to the mentioned sources from the White House, the convoy of the Albanian refugees who decided to return to their homes was targeted on purpose due to the two reasons:

- To make everybody clear that there will be no returning because that is not in accordance with the determined NATO strategy

- To blame the Serbian military and police forces of that crime, together with the adequate media campaign

The sources continue in saying that William Coen, USA defense minister asked Wesley Clark, NATO commander in Europe to personally choose a pilot who would carry out this particular order and action. As Coen says, big mistake was done, because the pilot who was to attack the refugee convoy did not do it without notice by the other pilots who took part in the military actions on Kosmet that day. The name of this pilot is kept top secret.

(snip)

Allegedly, as the same source say, after the massacre carried out on the Albanian refugees, American President Bill Clinton demanded an immediate dismissal of Wesley Clark, but this demand of his was covered up because of the political reasons.


Make of it what you will....

[Gloria]

1. Kick--it's relevant.

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