Wes Clarks terrific appearence on FOX this a.m.FOX Gave WKC kudos!

[capi888]

Here is a rundown on what he said: Fox recognized his HASC report in 2002 as being on target with what is going on in Iraq today!!! Was a shocker!
Wes Clark on FOX:



WES: Says he is horrified by the crime and more horrified that this woman would walk into the hotel and try to blow them up. "But as I said before this is a very dangerous indication,... people like this who are willing to blow up people."

Q: She is now in the hands of Jordian police in intelligent services. They don't have many civil rights over there, they will get information from them that would probably violate torture rules here in the U.S.

WES: That's why you have to be careful with these techniques because a lot of the information you are going to get is contaminated. ... So you get false confessions.

Q: Right. VP of Iraq as well as Chalabi are here in the U.S. and both said in 2006 we could begin pulling out a significant number of our troops, do you think this is realistic?

WES: Yes, I think it is realistic, it is a little difficult to know what the training is, it puts pressure on us, series of events going on, like how many have been trained, the kind of training, and maybe we can take one American brigade and bring it home. Wes talks very quickly here about the insurgencies, Zarqawi.....

Q: Talking more broadly about Iraq. Next month's election should prove successful about establishing a Democracy. Are you optimistic about this?

WES: I wouldn't say that I'm optimistic. This Administration went thru the process the wrong way.... didn't work with diplomacy. Iran is a huge influence, Syria is a problem. So there are many problems... pushing and tugging at these people. So the fact that people are voting is not a guarantee that there won't be a war.

Q: Triple bombings in Jordan this week marked a breakthrough for Abu Musab Zarqawi, and now there are marches against him, will that diminish him?

WES: We are not winning on the fight against terror. He is aliening the citizens,...

Woohoo..... He gave Wes credit in 2002 for telling the HASC committee that going into Iraq was a mistake!

[dogman]

1. Faux News actually acknowledged a truth?

That's an amazing thing. It's especially amazing when there are still people on our side who don't want to acknowledge it.

[capi888]

2. Totally Correct dogman!

I think WKC is reaching an audience that hasn't heard the facts for a long time. There are many who watch FOX that are NOT republican die hards. My sister is one that I know of, and she is a Democrat but watches FOX, as she is not really informed on policies...SHE LOVES Clark!
HE IS REACHING THEM...whether he runs or not, its not all about winning, its about getting your ideas accepted. That is most important!

[incapsulated]

3. It was pretty stunning

At the end of the interview, to bolster Clark's points about Jordan, he said he gets credit for warning the HASC committee back in 2002 that an invasion of Iraq would be a recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda!

[Clarkie1]

24. Was anyone else saying this back in 2002? Nominated. eom

[Donna Zen]

4. Did you ever think the day would come...

when fox would give credit and tell the truth about a Democrat when progressives will not?

Not long ago, I wrote to a progressive board (it's in their title) that refused to include Clark in a list of someone who was against the war. They wrote back to say that considering he's from the military, they did not agree that he was against the war.

Head--hit--table.

[capi888]

5. My Head is Bouncing Too Donna Z!

This is unbelievable! Progressives ???? Wes Clark is totally pregressive and HAS been against the War from the beginning!!!!

[LandOLincoln]

6. I tell ya, there's not a dimes worth of difference these days

between the dogmatic far right and the dogmatic far left. Both sides are bigoted, self-righteous, and totally unwilling to entertain opposing ideas.

[LandOLincoln]

7. He also agreed with Wes that torture simply doesn't work.

The implication being that you can argue morality, human rights and the end justifying the means 'til you're blue in the face, but the bottom line is, it doesn't work. The information you get is contaminated and unreliable. End of story.

[Jai4WKC08]

14. The Fox anchor didn't start out agreeing

But when Clark brought up the details of the bogus information from al-Libi it was pretty hard for the Fox guy to disagree.

[Texas_Kat]

8. I couldn't believe they acknowledged that he had been right all along!

Pretty damned amazing.

The parade of mea culpas lately from candidates who have an eye on '08 reinforces why I've always been so cynical about politics and typical politicians.

There were plenty of leaders (including Wes Clark, Barbara Boxer, Dick Durbin, Paul Wellstone and Bob Graham) who already knew better than to swallow the Bush admin's spin hook, line and sinker. (There were others as well)

I don't know if these newly enlightened (or politically expedient) potential '08 candidates just showed bad judgment, poor leadership or electoral cowardice while voting for the war, but any of those 'character flaws' is enough to make me question their commitment to doing the right thing in the future.

Clark took lots of heat in the 04 campaign for standing up for his principles regarding Iraq. Now, even Faux news had to acknowledge that he was right.....

It's been hard to get even some Democrats to see that Iraq was wrong, but Clark has never stopped trying.

[capi888]

9. Tenacity is Wes Clark

His honesty,knowledge and intelligence makes his decisions, not for political gain, but what is best for the American people and the World.
We are fortunate to have him out there, regardless if he runs for President or not!

[Amonester]

60. If not for President, for Secretary Of Defense anytime, IMO.

Rumsfailed doesn't reach the bottom of his toes in that matter.

(Or in ANY matter, in fact)!

Secretary Of State is also perfect for Clark (if not Prez or VP).

[LandOLincoln]

10. Wanna know what's really amazing, to me at least?

In November 2005, we have a Fox News anchor citing Wes's 2002 HASC testimony and agreeing that he'd been right from the beginning.

Flashback to April 2005, and the Clark/Perle rematch before that same HASC, WHICH THIS TIME SIDED WITH WES VIRTUALLY TO A MAN, with the notable exception of Duncan Hunter.

Yet it was never, ever shown on C-Span, that bastion of <cough>unbiased<cough> political coverage.

Which just goes to show, I guess, that if you have to choose, bet on a pragmatist who's interested mostly in his bottom line (Rupert Murdoch) rather than an idealogue like Brian Lamb, who'll go down with the ship rather than admit he's backed incompetent crooks and liars.

Or something...

[capi888]

11. So True , so True.

Duncan Hunter is a loyal RW shiest-er! Everyone else agreed with Wes, and C-Span refused to air the meeting...I did hear it on internet...but something so important, wasn't allowed on C-Span. Guess Brian Lamb is in Bushes pocket!

[LandOLincoln]

17. Texas Kat is right (see the post just below this one) and I

remembered that just as I hit "post."

Murdoch is a force unto himself, and can pretty much do what he wants--i.e., what's best for his bottom line.

Lamb is totally beholden to the cable companies, and will only change his policies when ComCast et al. come to realize what's already obvious to Murdoch: BushCo are losers, and he's not about to go down with them.

[Texas_Kat]

13. The anchor also agreed with Clark

that torture results in bad information.

I was cheering at the point and speechless after the comment about Clark's HASC testimony.

On anther note:

You know that cspan is a joint effort of the telecommunications and cable industries. Not surprising that they neglect his appearances. He called for the roll-back of the Media Consolidation effort. It's not in their collective financial interest to have him speak out.

[ArkySue]

12. I'm still scraping my jaw off the floor!

I couldn't believe it that Fox News actually said General Clark was right! Well, of course he was, and many of us knew it all along. Now, if the rest of the folks would just wake up to what an outstanding and visionary leader and patriot he truly is....

[Auntie Bush]

19. I've always known that...and it's why I wanted him to run for

President long before Aaron Brown asked him if he might run. I was so thrilled that night...to think others thought the same. I immediately jumped on the Draft Clark movement. That was before Kos joined the Dean movement. When I first started checking out this site...it was all Dean and only a couple clarkies...who got a lot of flack. I remember the first post I made I was called a liar. Thank goodness I came back and get to listen to so many intelligent Clarkies.

" Now, if the rest of the folks would just wake up to what an outstanding and visionary leader and patriot he truly is."

[capi888]

28. Yes Arky Sue...ME Too

He is truly a visionary leader! A True Patriot in every sense on the word. When, people finally realize he speaks from the heart humbly, for no other reason, then to protect and lead our Country, the world, not for personal gain, will they realize what a great gift he is to our Democracy.

[Sparkly]

15. Aw phooey, I missed another one!!!

:cry:

[capi888]

29. SPARKLY I think it repeats at REPEATS, REPEATS

6:00 EDT p.m. on Fox! Check your channel listings....

[Eric J in MN]

16. Which host?

Here are their photos:
http://www.gogomag.com/talkingheads/foxnews_m.htm

[LandOLincoln]

18. From the photos, I'd have to say Neil Cavuto. n/t

[Eric J in MN]

22. incapsulated says Gregg Jarrett

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.gogomag.com/talkingheads/foxnews_m.htm&h=112&w=150&sz=5&tbnid=VzdTiSnoE0kJ:&tbnh=67&tbnw=90&hl=en&start=10&prev=/images%3Fq%3DGregg%2BJarrett%2B%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

[incapsulated]

20. Gregg Jarrett n/t

[dogman]

21. Not in that group.

He is a regular but maybe not an anchor.

[Clark2008]

23. Please let us know when there's a link online

I hate it when I miss these things.

:cry:

[capi888]

31. Repeats at 6:00 p.m. EDT

Clark2008 check your tv listing !!!! You may catch it. Clark looked great.

[Clark2008]

40. Do you happen to know the name of the show?

I can set my TV to flip to it.

Is it Fox News Sunday?

[capi888]

44. FOX News Live...Clark2008

Hope I am not to late!!!!

[Clark2008]

46. Shoot... then I missed it.

Fox News Sunday with Roberts and the Dem guy is on.

Or is he maybe after this?

[capi888]

48. Hope you caught it !

I think Sparkly said it was just coming on....so hope its the same for you ! :D

[Clarkie1]

25. TRANSCRIPT: September 22, 2002 you warned the Armed Services Committee,

quote "War with Iraq will supercharge recruiting for Al Qaeda." Thanks very much, General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme commander. Thank you.

Full transcript...

General Wesley Clark on Fox News Live Sunday
November 13, 2005
Transcript by Reg NYC

Greg Jarrett: Fox News Alert: It happened a short time ago. This woman, a failed homicide bomber in Amman, Jordan captured by Jordanian police. And then dramatically on Jordanian television, she confessed. She said, "I didn't plan anything. My husband did. We entered the hotel, stood in separate corners." She went on to describe how her husband blew himself up, but her detonator switch apparently didn't work, and she fled, and she confessed to all of it on Jordanian television. She was nabbed today by Jordanian police at a safe house somewhere in Amman, Jordan. Let's bring into this conversation for reaction former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark, a Fox News analyst. General, always good to see you. Your reaction to this?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think it's terrific that the Jordanian police caught her. Secondly, I'm horrified, just horrified by the crime, and even more horrified that this woman could have walked into a wedding, seeing women and children there, and tried to blow them up. I just can't imagine, but maybe this a kind of instant, now that we've got her, we'll get a better understanding, and certainly it should give us a help in running out the network, but as I've said before, this is a very dangerous indication. He's, Zarqawi, has a network in Jordan with people like this who are willing to murder innocent people.

Greg Jarrett: Her dead brother is a top aide to Abu Musab Zarqawi, the notorious Jordanian terrorist operating in Iraq. So, she is now in the hands of Jordanian police and intelligence services. They don't have a lot of civil liberties over there and civil rights. So there's no constitutional protection when you're being interrogated. I mean, they're going get information from her in ways that would probably would violate torture statutes here in the United States.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, my suspicion is that this woman is probably in so much shock right now that she's going to spill everything anyway. I mean,-
Greg Jarrett: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -the problem of being in there, and this is why you have to be very careful in these techniques. I've been one of those people who is strongly against torture by anybody-

Greg Jarrett: Um-hm.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -as a way of getting information, because a lot of the times the information that you're going to get has been contaminated. You know there's the case of this man Al Libi, who was one of the key people giving information before we went into Iraq about the threat from Iraq, and apparently the information was delivered under torture, and it turned out to be completely false.

Greg Jarrett: Sure. So you get false confessions a lot of the time.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right.

Greg Jarrett: Alright, let me move on to what we were going to talk about and the remarks by the Vice-President of Iraq, here in the United States- Dearborn Michigan- as well as Deputy Prime Minister Chalabi, who both have said that in the year 2006, which is coming up in another month and a half, we could begin pulling out a significant number of American troops. In your judgment, is that realistic?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yes, I think it is realistic. It depends on how the situation unfolds, really. It's a little hard to gauge how effective the training process is, and I wouldn't want to get into a timeline for the pullout. I think if you lay out a fixed timeline for the Americans to come out, I think it works against us. It doesn't put pressure on the Iraqis. It puts pressure on us, politically, at home. I think what we have to do is have a series of events like how many of the Iraqi forces have been trained, and then for each Iraqi, let's say, three brigades that are trained, maybe you take one American brigade and bring it home. So, I think it's possible-

Greg Jarrett: Sure

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -to have a formula like that that could work, and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be possible, but remember we have two distinct problems inside Iraq. We have the insurgency and then we have Zarqawi, and we cannot give up the ability to go after Zarqawi.

Greg Jarrett: Well Said. Talking more broadly now about Iraq: if the huge voter turnout and approval of Iraq's new constitution, General, is any indication, next month's election should prove successful in establishing a permanent democratic government in Iraq. Are you optimistic about the future of Iraq?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I wouldn't say I'm optimistic about the future. I just, I don't know. I'm concerned. I don't think the administration's gone about the process the right way. They wasted the first year without really working the politics. The second year they didn't work the diplomacy. We're still behind on the region. Iran's got a huge influence. Syria is still leaking in. Syria's a problem. Both the neighbors are deeply involved- in fact, all the neighbors are deeply involved- inside Iraq. They're pulling and tugging at these people, and remember an election does not prevent civil war. We had a great presidential election here in this country in 1860, and a few months later we went to war. So the fact that people are voting, it's not a guarantee that there won't be a war.

Greg Jarrett: Yeah. General, finally returning to the subject of the bombings in Amman, Jordan: There was a front page story in today's Washington Post- you may have read it- and it makes the following claim, in fact I'll quote them: "Triple Suicide Bombings in Jordan This Week Marked a Breakthrough for Abu Musab Al Zarqawi in His Efforts to Expand the Iraqi Insurgencies." Would you agree with that, or will his attack on Muslims and their corresponding outrage at him- and there were thousands upon thousands over the last several days who were demonstrating against him- will that diminish his influence in the long-run?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, The expansion of his network into Jordan is a very serious indicator that we're not winning in the War on Terror. Remember, Zarqawi is not in a popularity contest. He doesn't care what the Jordanians support. What he's looking for is the Jordanian government to crack down hard on its citizens in an effort to find him, alienating the citizens, and then he'll be able to point out that the King of Jordan is just, in his words, some kind of a tool of the United States, and he'll eventually build up hardcore- and insurgency doesn't take a mass following. An insurgency takes 1 or 2% of the people, who are committed to it enough to give up their lives. So, you could have 90% of the people against the insurgency. If they've still got 1 or 2% of hardcore followers, we're in for a very difficult time.

Greg Jarrett: Well, and I will give you your due General, because I remember September 22, 2002 you warned the Armed Services Committee, quote "War with Iraq will supercharge recruiting for Al Qaeda." Thanks very much, General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme commander. Thank you.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

http://securingamerica.com/node/327

[renate]

58. Yay! Thank you, Clarkie1!

:yourock:

[sarcasmo]

26. Nom and Kick. Clark/Boxer in 08

[ananda]

27. What's WKC?

White Klan Channel.. the other name for Faux News?

[Texas_Kat]

30. Wesley Kanne Clark

[judy from nj]

32. I missed this

So thanks for the report and the transcript.

[capi888]

33. Repeats at 6:00 p.m. EDT

Check your listing Judy...Fox...worth watching comes on about 40 min into the session...

[ArkySue]

34. Thanks for the transcript!

:kick:

[Donna Zen]

35. Question????

Has anyone else purposed the concept of the formula for removing American troops?

This to me is the most important thing he said this morning.

[Tom Joad]

36. Train Iraqis to protect US-installed govt. Makes sense if you want

thousands more do die for an unjust war.

Listening to anti-war protesters demand that we withdraw troops now would just not be acceptable. In fact, if it were left to those same anti-war wackos in the first place, we would not even be in Iraq, on the verge of "success".

[Sparkly]

37. So what do you suggest?

Leaving there *without* a trained Iraqi force in place? You don't think thousands would die that way, not to mention the danger to the whole region? I'd like to hear your plan.

[Tom Joad]

42. Troops must be withdrawn now. No preconditions. eom

[Sparkly]

43. How is security going to happen on the streets then? nt

[Donna Zen]

39. Are you calling me a "wacko"?

n/t

[Tom Joad]

41. Obviously i was sarcastic. It is the folks in Congress who voted for the

war who are the real wackos.

[robbedvoter]

38. 2002? But, but...everyone is against war now - we were just celebrating

that it's safe enough for those who voted for war to say they were wrong. You mean, there were actually candidates who opposed war in 2002? geez, I wish someone had told me...

[Donna Zen]

54. You're the best Robbed!

n/t

[robbedvoter]

55. You're not so bad yourself!

:pals:

[Donna Zen]

57. I just came from a thread at kos

where people are busy acting like the thought of this war increasing terrorism is a brilliant and altogether original thought. There are quoting the usual come-latelies. I'm sizzling! Where have these people been? On another planet? All of them were told exactly this in 2002.

[robbedvoter]

61. Lots of PR activity on these boards/blogs I see

The moneyed ones start early

[Sparkly]

45. Repeat on now?

How far into the program is his appearance? (It's so painful to watch the rest of it...)

[capi888]

47. Sparkley

Its about 40 min into the show...go have a snack...its worth the wait!

[Sparkly]

50. Thanks!!

I used the time to take a shower. (Probably should have waited until afterwards, since watching Faux makes me feel slimy.) I'm enduring these bloviators in anticipation of the General (Brit Hume is SO insufferable!)!

[Sparkly]

51. It's almost 7:00... Don't tell me I missed it again!!!!

:cry:

[Sparkly]

52. I musta missed it again!!!

WAHHH!!!!

Excuse me while I compose myself...

[LandOLincoln]

53. They didn't re-run it (surprise, surprise). I don't know

if this was an entirely different program, but I would assume so, since Chris Wallace anchored this one.

Maybe they'll re-run it in the wee small hours, when no one will be watching...

[sharonking21]

49. 10/10/02: Retired General Reflects on United States’ Policy Towards Iraq

www.umb.edu/news/2002news/reporter/november/iraq.html


University of Massachusetts at Boston


Retired General Reflects on United States’ Policy Towards Iraq (October 10, 2002)

By Michael McPhee

Wesley K. Clark, retired general of the US Army, was the distinguished guest of the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs on October 10. Over seventy-five people came to hear the former Supreme Allied Commander of Europe discuss his reflections on the US policy towards Iraq.

Edmund Beard, director of the McCormack Institute, introduced Clark and gave an account of the general’s impressive military career, which includes command at every level from company to division. Clark is both a soldier and scholar, graduating first in his 1966 class of the United States Military Academy at West Point and holding a master’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.

Clark, who was the NATO commander in charge of the effort to stop the crisis in Kosovo in 1999, spoke of his experiences in Bosnia, where he learned first-hand about the chaos of unleashed ethnic hatreds. It is exactly this chaos that has led Clark to raise a voice of concern over possible conflict with Iraq. Clark believes that a military war with Iraq could be over in as little as two weeks. He is concerned with the lack of a long-range plan for the chaos that would ensue among the Kurds, Shiites, and those factions loyal to Saddam Hussein, which Clark believes would play out on a much larger scale than what took place in Bosnia.

Clark spoke of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, seeing it as a time when the U.S. lost its adversaries and failed in its foreign policy strategy. At that time there were two groups in Washington debating the role of the military; one group saw the military merely as the fighter and winner of wars; another group, led by Madeleine Albright, saw the military as a useful tool in aiding third world countries.

In comparing the two most recent presidencies, Clark described the Clinton administration as pursuing a foreign policy of engagement and reaching out as opposed to the Bush administration’s preemption policy and striking out.


Clark, when asked where the push to invade Iraq was coming from, rejected the idea that it was the military that wanted to go to war. He blamed civilian advisors to President Bush who were pushing in that direction.

Clark stated his view that terrorism is the problem, not Iraq. He also voiced concern that Americans not blame Islam, and spoke of his belief that US interests are best served in reaching out to those who do not embrace the ideals of radical Islam.

[capi888]

56. Thanks for Posting the Artical

I haven't seen this one before. Just goes to show that Wes Clark Iraq stance has always been the same. He gets it!

[Gloria]

59. Glad to see this picked up at DU....he was fabulous!

I commented on this over at the WesPac site, but didn't have the time to really expand on it....

Clark has really honed his talents at FAUX. He doesn't take the bait that many of the anchors try to dish out...he keeps talking to HIS points, and talks over them when necessary, but in a nice way.

His message is clear and on point and challenging...he offers little discussed bits and pieces of info that firmly back up his view of things.

When he talked about on 1-2% of a population being all that's necessary to create havoc, it was gripping. Jarrett tried to say that 90% of Jordanians didn't support Al-Qaeda or terror....but Clark educated him right damn quick!

By the way, since then I've posted to the WMW a story from AFP that quotes Jordanian analysts who say that this attack all about Jordan being so close to the US...and there is also a new story about which I posted here at DU about Jordanian soldiers seem to have been drawn in and aided Al-Qaeda. Jordan's underbelly is being exposed. And don't forget...Abdullah has millions of unemployed and poor Palestinians under his regime and and months ago, the regional press was already worried about the stability of his regime....it stays afloat mainly because US inflows....All the more reason to be concerned by the recent events....