Clark discusses current Middle East Crises.

[Clarkie1]

Video here:


http://www.newshounds.us/2006/08/01/wesley_clark_delivers_another_wow_performance.php#more

Highlights:

We wouldn't be where we are in the middle east today if I were president because I would have been talking to people.

Should have gone imnediately to Lebanon and offered humanitarian aid.

Fighting right now is jockeying for a diplomatic solution. This will not be solved militarily. Diplomatic settlement will validate what is achieved militarily.

We can't occupy Syria, Iran, and Iraq.

We should be talking to Syria and Iran directly.

Syria and Iran are not threatening the U.S.

Can't treat nations like they are 3rd graders.

U.S. ideals are no reckless bombing, humanitarian assistance, end quarrels by peaceful settlements. Should help Israel and help also help the government of Lebanon and innocent civilians throughout the area.

[Reckon]

1. My kind of prez.. thanks.... nt

[Cameron27]

2. What a sane and sensible man

I never watch Fox, so thank you for posting this.

[Clark2008]

3. So - do you agree with this, OP?

Or do you still think that it's OK for Israel to bomb everyone to Kingdom Come?

Because, this sounds well more peaceful than you've been advocating. I can agree with this assessment. It's fair-handed and not simply a "let Israel do anything it must" attitude.

[Clarkie1]

4. It's in line with what I've been saying.

Israel is going to do what Israel feels it needs to do to defend itself.

I never said it's "O.K. for Israel to bomb everyone to kingdom come"...WTF????

[JackNewtown]

5. No call for a cease-fire but the best we can get from a major Dem

Realistically, this is as good as it gets for a major Dem, especially one with presidential aspirations. Clark is no Carter on this, although he came across as sincere and not whoring for campaign contributions like certain other Senators..., but he is far better than the likes of Hillary and Joe on this.

His grasp of world affairs is amazing and in stark contrast to the profound ignorance of "Mr. Russia's big and so is China."

I will recommend this thread.

[JackNewtown]

6. Correction

What Clark said is the best we can get from a major Dem with presidential aspirations. Senator Leahy has stepped up to the plate and called for an immediate cease-fire.

[karynnj]

15. "whoring for campaign contributions like certain other Senators"

This is pretty despicable - and I assume you can back it up. What Senators are you talking about? Is this about AiPAC contributions?

I think Clark's comments are pretty balanced and ok - why slam others.
(His first comment is identical to the first statement Kerry made - and I think is likely true for any Democrat - many have been concerned about the lack of diplomacy there and had said so long ago.)

The key difference is diplomacy.

[JackNewtown]

40. Exhibit A: Hillary

Guess who is the #1 reciepent of AIPAC money during this election cycle?

[w4rma]

7. Gen. Clark seems to be repudating your Israel is never wrong stance, #1.

"We wouldn’t be where we are in the Middle East today. We would have been talking to people."

'insisted innocent civilians in Lebanon should not have to suffer as a result.'

"the interests of the U.S. and Israel are not identical."

"We don’t believe in reckless bombing. We believe in humanitarian assistance. We believe in ending quarrels by the peaceful settlement of disputes and we believe in the use of war only as a last resort. So we have to follow our own principles, and in the process we should help Israel, but we should also be helping the government of Lebanon and the innocent civilians all through the area."


I expected exactly this type of statement from Gen. Clark and I support his points almost exactly. He is a very wise man on just about any matter of policy.

[Clarkie1]

8. What "Israel is never wrong" stance are you talking about?

He's also said Hezbollah is a cancer on the body politic of Lebanon and has to be removed.

Please tell me what it is you are talking about. I never said Israel is always right. I said, as Clark has said, that Israel has a right to defend itself. I also said, as Clark as said, that there will be civilian casualties. I have also said, as Clark has said, that I hope Israel is doing everything it can to avoid the loss of innocent life.

Please read my posts more carefully in the future.

[GAPeace]

11. Focus more on the general statements than the preson (no pun intended)

Instead of constant apologism to make Clark seem more liberal, focus on what he has always said. He mostly agrees with what Israel does now and has always done.

His soft-criticisms are nothing like what's coming out of the Europeans or the progressive left.

[Totally Committed]

46. While I agree with him that Israel has a right to defend herself,

I am disappointed that I have yet to see a statement from Wes about the horrendous disproportionality of the Israeli response, and their continued refusal to have a ceasefire, even for humanitarian reasons.

I am also disappointed that he, himself, has not called for a ceasefire.

TC

[GAPeace]

9. Well I don't agree with General Clark here or much on foreign policy

It's mostly softer rhetoric but on actual policy positions he's still very hawkish. Too hawkish for my standards. Robert Fisk and others who saw the effects of what he did in Kosovo first hand have spoken out about this.

[Clarkie1]

12. "What he did in Kosovo"

was stop genocide. Something for which Albanians and all of Europe is quite grateful for. NATO, under the leadership of
Clark, did it with a minimum loss of life and no American casualties.

But maybe you are a pacifist and prefer to do nothing in the face of evil?

I would also note that Clark was the first to call for interevention in Rwanda to stop the genocide there...of course, there was little chance for that and nothing ever came of it. Clark, unlike many, is color blind when it comes to the human race.

[jonnyblitz]

14. people will be dying for ages from the Depleted Uranium he

dropped on Kosovo. He DECIMATED that place. Some call him the Butcher of Kosovo.

[Clarkie1]

18. Yeah, that's what ignorant fuckheads call him. nt

[GAPeace]

20. OK you like him, but did you ever think that maybe some disagree

with what he did? Do we not have plurality of mind here?

[Clarkie1]

28. You lost me when you said he had no compassion.

Read my response to your post below, educate yourself on the Rwanda genocide and Clark's public statements at the time, and get back to me.

A good place to start is the movie "Hotel Rwanda," if you haven't seen it.

[GAPeace]

30. I said he has no compassion for US victims

for victims of what we do. I have no doubt he has compassion in his heart, he has shown himself to be compassionate and an internationalist at times. But the criticism he makes of US policies are too soft and make it look like its more misguided than criminal or immoral. And I just can't bring myself to take the Kerry view on these atrocious events anymore.

[GAPeace]

16. It's well reported the ethnic cleansing started after the bombing

as Clarke himself predicted. It was also quietly admitted that of all the casualties of the previous year perhaps a plurality came from the Kosovo Liberation Army.

I also detest his fair weather support of the bombing of Iraq, calling the conquering of Baghdad a "liberation"

[Clarkie1]

23. What a bunch of bullshit.

Read the whole fucking article...that article has been discussed over and over here on DU for years, and people like you who don't look at the context and twist Clark's message have been completely discredited.

It WAS a liberation! He was pointing out, however, that that "liberation" was not the end and "serious questions" remained about where things would go from that point.

[GAPeace]

24. "Serious questions"

That's your brave antiwar hero? You're trying to alter him to make him more liberal than he really is. He just isn't an antiwar person. He's no Eisenhower either.

[Clarkie1]

29. Clark was against the Iraq war from the beginning.

However, if you are looking for a pacifist, look elsewhere.

[GAPeace]

32. He's not a pacifist, he's an "against this war because its unstrategic"

No words of compassion for the victims, the slaughtered. That doesn't take a pacifist but a decent human being who looks at war outside of the Anglo-centric US political spectrum.

[cynatnite]

25. Couldn't have asked a better man to for the job

I agree...something had to be done and he was brilliant in his performance. It was a spreading conflict and I can't think of anyone who would have handled it better.

He got to do his job with the tools he needed. His boss let him do his job and didn't tell him how to do it.

Clark didn't have the likes of Rumsfeld disrespecting and ignoring him.

Geez, this stuff always makes me think of what should've been.

[jonnyblitz]

13. I need to google and see if I can find Fisk comments on CLark

I can't get past the fact he endorses the School of the America''s. that is all i need to know and his supporters here at DU freak out every time i mention this. I won't return to this thread after I post this because I know there will be all this nasty comments and I am getting enough of that from the DU Israel warmongers and I just don't wanna hear crap from his more "intense" supporters..

[Clarkie1]

17. Don't bother, I don't give a fuck what you google.

I've heard it all before. You are against Clark, and nothing will change your mind.

[GAPeace]

22. I can speak for myself I'm against him on foreign policy

His strategic analyses are too US-centered and show little compassion for US-Israeli victims. He supports general American hegeomony over the world, and I don't. His domestic agenda when he ran for President I supported mostly.

[GAPeace]

19. He is a general hawk, I keep saying that

He's generally very hawkish. How many wars and US interventions has he been against of the past 50 years?

He was against the attack on Iraq mainly for strategic, US-based reasons. He doesn't have compassion for victims of US-sponsored murder, and he's playing along with the White Man's Burden if he keeps that up.

[Clarkie1]

26. "Doesn't have compassion for the victims of US sponsered murder"

Yet, oddly, Clark had compassion for the victims of the Rwanda genocide and called for U.S. and international intervention before anyone else did...of course, no one listened.

What a load of crap you spew when you say he has no compassion for humanity. Educate yourself, or I will put you on ignore

[GAPeace]

27. The US killed the Rwandans?

Non-intervention isn't the same thing as murder in my book.

OK I respect you and your views AND Clark's, but I don't agree with him, OK? I'm not into someone who doesn't recognize US crimes and hegemony and continues to carry the "White Man's Burden." It's not my game.

[Clarkie1]

31. Oh, it's murder.

Those Germans who did not intervene when they saw the smoke from the death camps...murderers all.

We have very little in common to discuss.

My God, do you realize how ridiculous you look talking about the "white man's burden" in your response to Clark's view on the Rwanda genocide?

[GAPeace]

34. I can't see non-intervention as murder

I see it often as immoral but I can't place it on the same plane as murder at all definitely not.

[Clarkie1]

36. So, in your view there was no "white man's burden"

in relation to the Rwanda genocide.

Have you seen "Hotel Rwanda?"

[GAPeace]

37. Yes I have and I disagree with what Clinton did

That and his bombing of the Sudanese pharmaceutical plant showed exactly what his African agenda was about.

[Clarkie1]

39. Great. Let's end on a note of agreement then. nt

[Sparkly]

43. That statement alone shows what YOU'RE about. nt

[Clarkie1]

45. Clarification: Not agreeing with the pharmaceutical plant BS

But your implied disagreement with Clinton not following Clark's advice in Rwanda.

[GAPeace]

47. It's BS? It happened, didn't it?

I guess because we killed those thousands of people that died as a result of having no medicine, that well it didn't happen.

[cynatnite]

10. I love this guy

:patriot:

[oberliner]

21. Reasonable Words from Gen. Clark

as usual

[Rex]

33. 'Can't treat nations like they are 3rd graders.'

Thank you!!!! If only Clark was in charge. But we had to settle for President Bunnypants. :(

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

35. "Clark said, the interests of the U.S. and Israel are not identical"

That's a point of view we don't hear very much in the media, one that requires some degree of courage, especially on Fox. While Clark looks upon Israel with favor, he apparently isn't the type of President who would give them carte blanche and never correct them when they are wrong. And he recognizes that here, they are wrong ("we don't believe in reckless bombing").


"...One of his best answers came in response to an audience member who insisted Israel is really a symbol of the free world, including the U.S., in fighting Hezbollah.

While Israel may be a unique country in the Middle East due to its level of literacy and strength of its democracy, Clark said, the interests of the U.S. and Israel are not identical.

"What the United States can do to advance our ideals, and I’m speaking as an American now because that’s who I am," Clark said.

"What we can do is we have to stand for what we believe in and our values. We don’t believe in reckless bombing. We believe in humanitarian assistance. We believe in ending quarrels by the peaceful settlement of disputes and we believe in the use of war only as a last resort. ..."

[Clarkie1]

38. Thank you for pointing that out.

It's not a question of being for or against Israel...it's about promoting our values. Our values include the right of sovereign states to exist, to defend themselves, and we also value all life so reckless bombing is against our values.

I'm wondering if he also felt he had to say "as an American" because of his Jewish ancestory (he is 1/2 Jewish). I thought it was curious that he would point out "as an American" because obviously he's an American.

[JackNewtown]

41. It should be. Ask the Palestinians about our values

Sponsoring the stealing of Palestinian land, the subjugation of the Palestinians, etc. is not consistent with American values. In reality, values mean little to states when it comes to their foreign policies.

[Sparkly]

42. That's My General!!

:patriot:

[wiley]

44. Clark gets it and gets it right again

and again and again, for years now. It seems the same people who oppose his views and viable suggestions won't buy the latest Dixie Chicks CD.