Where is Hugh Shelton?

[kentuck]

Who is Hugh Shelton? The General that is helping John Edwards campaign and who spoke out against General Clark's campaign for the presidency. He said Clark was fired for reasons of honor and integrity. Clark has dismissed the charges as purely political.

General Shelton has not responded to Clark's dismissal of his charges so who is telling the truth? Clark appears almost too good to be true. Are there some skeletons in his closet that he doesn't want people to know about? Is he telling the whole truth about Shelton's charges?

And shouldn't the press get to the bottom of this story before Clark gets too far along in the primaries. Is Hugh Shelton that difficult to find? Shouldn't they get his comments to further clarify these issues? Why wait until the time is more timely for the Republicans...like when he might be chosen the VP?

[deminflorida]

1. Well, Shelton should respond.....

If there's anything there....and Dean should open up his sealed records if there's really not anything there....

So there ya go. Does that simplify if for you?

[mikehiggins]

2. Shelton is a lot easier to find than Osama bin Laden

that's for sure.

He lives in the US and consults with the Edwards campaign on a regular basis. Anyone that really wanted to find him would have no problem.

So why don't they? Maybe because it is more Clark's opponents' liking to repeat the offhanded remark he made than find him and put the question to him, directly.

What if Shelton told them he overstated his case, or that he didn't mean it the way it came out? What if he had no evidence or example of what he was talking about? What if it was just a policy dispute that he, as the reputed superior officer lost to a junior officer?

Of course, maybe Shelton has proof that Clark eats Muslim babies, or at least small, fuzzy kittens. That would be bad.

Us Clark supporters aren't losing any sleep over that possibility.

But we do wish some newspeople would find Shelton and just ask him that one simple question: General, WTF are you talking about?

Don't hold your breath.

[grannylib]

3. Here is some information; from what I have heard and read and researched

it seems that there was a personal conflict between Clark and Shelton, and some disagreements over policies in Bosnia. This link contains some early information; since then, Clark has spoken out somewhat on this issue, explaining this quite well to Tweety on Harball last Monday night.
An exerpt from the article on the link:
http://www.epivox.com/wesleyclark-knoxville/glowing_reports_NYT.cfm

The comments of his commander when he oversaw a tank battalion in
Germany in 1977 were typical: "The most brilliant and gifted officer
I've known." The commander, Col. Charles G. Prather IV, added: "I
have never been more impressed with an officer's talent and
dedication." He added that he should rank with men like Douglas
MacArthur.

A year later, the future General Clark, now 58, had advanced to
assistant executive officer to Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr., then
Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. In his evaluation, General Haig
wrote: "Major Clark is an officer of impeccable character with a rare
blend of personal qualities and professional attributes which
uniquely qualify him as a soldier-scholar."

The documents, given by the campaign to The New York Times, are
performance evaluations that begin with General Clark's admission to
West Point in 1962 and cover more than 30 years of his military
career, in which he earned such decorations as a Silver Star, a
Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

The records include high praise from Colin L. Powell, now secretary
of state and then an assistant division commander at Fort Carson,
Colo., who called then-Lieutenant Clark an officer of "the rarest
potential." The evaluations end in 1993, when General Clark earned
his second star; officers at or above the rank of two-star general do
not receive such performance reviews.

Another link with some comments about this issue:
http://pub73.ezboard.com/fwesleyclark200463811frm12.showMessage?topicID=36.topic

This link has comments from then-secretary of defense William Cohen, who states that there were NO job performance issues, and that many positions were being replaced at that time; I had read somewhere not too long ago (can't remember where, will search, sorry!) that the guy that replaced Clark was a buddy of Cohen's who had no other position to be promoted to so he got the NATO thing.
http://www.southernfriedmind.com/cgi-bin/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=146

Hope that helps!

[mmonk]

4. the point of Shelton's remarks

is to leave it open ended without reply. It will leave Clark giving his version and thus create doubt particularly in the democratic primaries. It has been the right's strategy from early on since Clark is critical of the war.

[Lefta Dissenter]

5. Clarkies, correct me if I'm wrong, but I BELIEVE that Shelton has said

that he wouldn't talk about it. Clark has asked him to clarify his remarks, since it's hard for anyone to know the truth when a vague accusation is thrown out there, and then not backed up with anything, not even an explanation. I truly believe that if there were anything there other than just a political hit by a pissed off man, he would have explained himself.

Let's see, Clark went over Shelton's head, was very successful in Kosovo, and the two guys (Shelton and Cohen) who had disagreed with him decided that he should retire three months early. Clinton was PISSED OFF when he found out what had happened, but had to choose between overturning his #2 on Defense (Cohen) or letting the early retirement be forced on Clark, so he didn't reverse Cohen's decision.

At the time of Clark's retirement, Shelton and Cohen had high praise for Clark, and it was after that retirement that Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

A snippet about that award from http://www.medaloffreedom.com/WesleyClark.htm


The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to people who have made especially meritorious contributions to U.S. national security, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. The medal may be bestowed on citizens of other nations and may be awarded posthumously.

“Wes Clark richly deserves the Medal of Freedom, not just for the outstanding job he did leading NATO in its first and only conflict, but for a lifetime of distinguished service in the United States Army and for the Department of Defense. He brings energy and imagination to foreign and security policy and will continue to serve his country with distinction. All of his new colleagues at CSIS celebrate his well-deserved honor,” said CSIS president and CEO John Hamre.

OK, fellow Clarkies, would you please make sure I'm correct on this all?

[mmonk]

7. From all I've heard

you are correct.

[AP]

6. Shelton was asked that question at the end of discussion about something

else at a small college in CA. It wasn't planned. I get the impression that it was an off the cuff remark that he may have regretted. He may have been surprised by how the media jumped all over it.

I get the imrpession that people did have personality conflicts with Clark, but that personality conflicts are not unusual, especially between the sort of grunt kind of army person, and smart, accomplished people like Clark.

What's crazy is how the media is exploiting something they know isn't unusual.

[Donna Zen]

9. Planned?

If the Shelton remark wasn't planned, then the Cohen etc follow ups surely were. It should be noted that Clark has promised that all parts of the budget are on the table, especially the military budget. Now, Shelton currently works for several weapons companies, including Red Cap, that recently was awarded a large contract in Iraq.

Shelton both endorsed junior in 2000, and donated $$$.

Why is this entire primary season making me feel filthy?


(edit) It should be noted that while this means nothing in my world, Shelton is not West Point. Apparently in the E ring, this means you lose the pissing contest.

[leetrisck]

8. Shelton just attended a reunion at Ft. Bragg

last Wed night. Don't know if subject came up. He was asked to clarify his statement at some point and would not talk about it. See Blumenthal's book "The Clinton Wars" and Halberstam book "War in a Time of Peace"