Clark Vows to Refocus NATO, Crush Al Qaeda

REUTERS ^ | 1/14/04 | By Andrew Clark

[Flavius]

Clark Vows to Refocus NATO, Crush Al Qaeda Wed January 14, 2004 08:42 PM ET

(Page 1 of 2) By Andrew Clark CONCORD, N.H. (Reuters) - Retired general and U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark on Wednesday promised to refocus the NATO alliance on a counterterrorism role and form an elite international strike force to "stomp out" Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

Clark, a former NATO supreme commander, has bitterly criticized President Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq as a distraction from the core task of protecting America from future terrorist attacks.

"Like many Americans, I've lost faith in our commander-in-chief," Clark told a campaign event in New Hampshire, where he has been steadily gaining strength in recent polls. "He has failed to lead effectively and honestly and, every day, Americans live at risk because of his failures."

Clark said the fight against al Qaeda should not be seen primarily as a military operation, but rather as an ongoing effort to mobilize broad international cooperation to deny it safe havens and public and material support.

To that end, he proposed broadening NATO's scope to become more than a military alliance, making it an instrument for member nations to harmonize anti-terrorist laws, share intelligence and law enforcement resources and reach out to the Islamic world -- particularly Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

"We must restore the alliance that the Bush administration has spent the last three years undercutting," Clark said.

Central to the plan, he said, would be the creation of a joint counterterrorism strike force grouping elite special forces troops from the United States and its NATO partners, as well as key Arab allies and other pivotal nations -- like South Africa, Singapore and the Philippines -- in troubled regions.

That level of international cooperation should help to overcome the reluctance of some governments to allow anti-terrorist operations that primarily involved American forces on their territory, Clark said.

"The first mission of this new Joint Counter-Terrorism Strike Force will be to take down Osama bin Laden," he said. "With help from Arab countries ... I will send that strike force into the border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan where most believe bin Laden is holed up and where he and his deputies continue to order terrorist attacks."

Clark has sought to make his gold-plated national security credentials a cornerstone of his candidacy. But he has also had setbacks in an arena where he was expected to dominate.

An early critic of the war in Iraq, he stumbled over whether he would have supported a congressional resolution authorizing military action -- initially telling reporters he probably would have, then switching his stance 24 hours later. Continued ... 1| 2 Next

[Flavius]

RAINBOW SIX (PC GAME)

[Sir Gawain]

No Clark, Americans' lives are at risk when you're anywhere near a position of power.

[OldFriend]

Is he going to start dropping bombs on the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, or just bomb Pakistan and be done with it.

[MJY1288]

MESSAGE TO THE "SUPREME BEING": You were fired as NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Barracks Emperor, REMEMBER?

[RightWingNilla]

You were fired as NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Barracks Emperor,

No,no,no...Clark wasn't fired. He was just asked to retire three months early.

[Shermy]

An early critic of the war in Iraq

No, an early supporter.

[MJY1288]

Oh that's right, I forgot.

And Nixon wasn't driven out of office, he just opted for an early retirement

[caisson71]

And who will crown Clark king for him to reshape NATO?

[Cautor]

Clark on Wednesday promised to refocus the NATO alliance on a counterterrorism role and form an elite international strike force...

More ruminations from the perfumed prince. This gas bag was too much even for the sink emperor. If they think Dean is the prince of gaffs, wait til herr General gets into prime time.

[mystery-ak]

Mike, your goona like this one.....this POS 4star FORMER General is just full of ideas.

[dodger]

So, Cap'n Queegs is yammering on again ....

[b4its2late]

He's cranking up to start WWIII.

[Falcon4.0]

Clark Vows to dump the "We HATE America" problem on the UN or more to the point. The people who hate America!

[PhiKapMom]

He was fired by General Shelton/clinton and now clinton claims he was duped -- yeah right -- only claimed that after the clintons got Clark to run. Maybe you should read what the people under Clark at NATO have to say about him -- he almost got us into real trouble with the Russians when he wanted to bomb them.

No one can defend Clark's military record at NATO and would bet there is a lot more to come out from military that served with the egotistical General. Freepers didn't ping all of us to the Dr. Strangelove movie here last night for nothing.

Hate to tell you this, but you are on the wrong site to be defending clark -- a lot of Freepers with military ties on this site that have zero, zip, nada respect for Clark! I am one of them -- I wouldn't vote for Clark for dog catcher!

[Flavius]

Pretty soon maybe going to mars would not be such a bad idea (who wouldnt want to go..)_,

No religion of peace on red planet yet, i imagine its against curry (get it curry) to send people in outer space...

Unless powered by various grade home build tnt...

JMHO

[PhiKapMom]

Can you believe Clark? His ideas get worse by the day! How anyone can support this man is beyond me.

[mystery-ak]

As my Mike would say, *he's insane*.....I don't know who's worse, Dean or Clark. Do you know anyone in the military that likes Clark, I sure don't.

[Peach]

Clark was fired. It was written about when it happened in the mainstream press that he was fired as NATO commander. I believe it had to do with asking NATO British troops to fire on Russian troops who had taken control of an airport. The Commander famously told Clark "I'm not going to start WWIII for you."

He has a credibility problem. First he said he believed there were ties to Iraq and Al Qaeda; now he denies it.

As well, when he was on CNN as a commentator, he claimed that the White House called him on 9/11 and asked him to go public to say that Iraq was behind the attacks. (As though the White House, which was vacated that day, thought to call a Clintonite fired General!). Anyway, he said he'd do it but wanted proof.

Then Wesley Clark admitted the White House DID NOT pressure him to lie that Iraq was behind 9/11. He said it was a Canadian based Middle East think tank that called him. George Will outted his lie on that one though because there is no Middle East Canadian based think tank.

He has a terrible credibility problem and it's one of the reasons why Clinton fired him. And if Clinton thought he was so bad he had to go, well, need I say more?

[PhiKapMom]

I don't know anyone in the military that likes him. In fact, some people I know think his promotion to 4-star was based on his helping the clintons -- nothing else makes sense to them.

Until Clark came along, I thought I knew some Generals who were pomposs, but they cannot hold a candle to Clark. He beats them all for being egotistical and pomposs. I cannot imagine what it was like for the military to have him as their Commander. Bet some of them got out of the Army because of him.

[mystery-ak]

That's what I've heard about him getting his 4th star and that he loved military parades..I wish some other high-ranking officers wuld speak up...but they live by their code to never speak ill of another officer....maybe Shelton will break it.