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Gen. Shalikashvili, former head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, hospitalized with massive stroke
Bakersfield Californian ^ | 8/9/04 | AP - Ft. Lewis,WA

Posted on 08/09/2004 11:55:13 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

FORT LEWIS, Wash. (AP) - Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the early years of the Clinton administration, has been hospitalized in guarded condition at an Army hospital here, a spokesman said Monday.

Shalikashvili, 68, entered Madigan Medical Center on Saturday morning, and the family is requesting that no more information be released, said Mike Meines, a hospital spokesman.

Shalikashvili served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs in the Clinton administration from 1993, the year Clinton took office, until 1997, when the general retired from the Army.

At a gathering honoring Shalikashvili when he retired, President Clinton pointed out that he made the recommendations that sent U.S. troops into harm's way in Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia, the Persian Gulf and a host of other world hotspots that had proliferated since the end of the Cold War.

"In every conversation we ever had," Clinton said at the time, "he never minced words, he never postured or pulled punches, he never shied away from tough issues or tough calls, and most important, he never shied away from doing what he believed was the right thing."

Shalikashvili's willingness to commit U.S. forces to crises in remote countries rarely if ever seen on the list of "vital national interests" set him apart from his better-known predecessor, Gen. Colin Powell.

Earlier, under President George H.W. Bush, Shalikashvili served as NATO's supreme allied commander and also commander in chief of all U.S. armed forces in Europe. At the end of the first Gulf War, he was in charge of the Kurdish relief operation in Iraq.

He came to the United States in 1952 from his native Poland when he was 16. He enlisted in the Army six years later, beginning his rise through the ranks.

He and his wife, Joan, moved to Steilacoom, near the Army base south of Tacoma, in 1998.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: chiefs; clinton; former; head; hospitalized; joint; shalikashvili; staff
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1 posted on 08/09/2004 11:55:13 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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Shalikashvili's willingness to commit U.S. forces to crises in remote countries rarely if ever seen on the list of "vital national interests" set him apart from his better-known predecessor, Gen. Colin Powell.


2 posted on 08/09/2004 11:56:55 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ...... "Shovin' it .. annNND Loving it since 1996! ....... FRee Republic)
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To: NormsRevenge

Clinton butt-boy...


3 posted on 08/09/2004 11:57:13 AM PDT by quark
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To: NormsRevenge
Well at least he was healthy enough a few weeks ago to endorse John Kerry.

That's all that matters.

4 posted on 08/09/2004 11:57:17 AM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave soldiers and their Commander in Chief)
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an activist general.. ?


5 posted on 08/09/2004 11:57:30 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ...... "Shovin' it .. annNND Loving it since 1996! ....... FRee Republic)
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To: NormsRevenge

Was he struck by lightning for telling lies?


6 posted on 08/09/2004 11:59:14 AM PDT by OldFriend (WAR IS THE REMEDY OUR ENEMIES HAVE CHOSEN)
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To: NormsRevenge
He came to the United States in 1952 from his native Poland when he was 16.

I thought he was Estonian, although a Georgian swore he was Georgian. (No, not like Scarlet, like in SSR.)

7 posted on 08/09/2004 12:05:17 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Take Luca Brazzi, make him an offer he can't refuse.)
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To: wideawake
Yup,, I remember him speaking.

Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili gestures in this July 28, 2004, file photo at the FleetCenter in Boston during the Democratic National Convention. Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the early years of the Clinton administration, has been hospitalized in guarded condition at an Army hospital at Fort Lewis, Wash., a spokeman said Monday, Aug. 9, 2004. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

8 posted on 08/09/2004 12:14:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ...... "Shovin' it .. annNND Loving it since 1996! ....... FRee Republic)
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To: NormsRevenge; Criminal Number 18F
I met General Shalikashvili when he was the ADC of 1st Armored in Bamberg in 1985 (we were doing something close to the border). What a helluva lot of folks don't realize is that the future Chairman had previously commanded 10th SFG back when that element was located at Ft. Devens.

CN 18F can fill in some of the details about this including the power struggle between 10th and the always colorful, always controversial Col. Kater.

9 posted on 08/09/2004 12:15:00 PM PDT by Archangelsk (Beware the man with a pig farm.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Arkancide?


10 posted on 08/09/2004 12:19:45 PM PDT by Old Sarge (JFKerry: It Takes An Idiot To Raze A Village!)
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To: NormsRevenge

Wouldn't send troops to bring Scott Spiecher home.

Didn't want them "to die collecting a bunch of bones".

Clintonization of the military.


11 posted on 08/09/2004 12:36:58 PM PDT by Finalapproach29er ( Election day: FOUR Supreme Court Justices! Enough said.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
His last name is clearly a Georgian last name.

There are Georgians living in Poland.

12 posted on 08/09/2004 12:41:29 PM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave soldiers and their Commander in Chief)
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To: wideawake

That's funny because in 1994 the head of the Estonian military (their equivalent to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs) was a retired Estonian-Born retired U.S. Army Colonel. I knew I guy who trying to do business with them and he thought that Shalikashvili was Estonian as well and I think he got that impression from the Estonians.


13 posted on 08/09/2004 12:49:41 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Take Luca Brazzi, make him an offer he can't refuse.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
According to his bio, his folks were Georgian Czarists who fled to Poland in 1917.

He was born in Poland in 1936 and his family emigrated to Illinois in 1952.

He never lived in Estonia and doesn't have any connections there.

His father fought for the Nazis in WWII, but his father served in the Ukraine and in Normandy, not in the Baltics.

He was involved in talks with Estonia prior to their joining NATO when he served as SACEUR.

14 posted on 08/09/2004 1:34:10 PM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave soldiers and their Commander in Chief)
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To: wideawake

Thanks.


15 posted on 08/09/2004 2:02:17 PM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Take Luca Brazzi, make him an offer he can't refuse.)
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To: Old Sarge
Massive stroke...

Gen. John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was in intensive care on August 9, 2004 at an Army hospital in Tacoma, Washington, after suffering a massive stroke, officials said. Shalikashvili, 68, who was the U.S. military's top official between 1993 and 1997, waves to the delegation after taking the stage on the third night of the Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter in Boston, July 28, 2004. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn/File

16 posted on 08/09/2004 5:33:23 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi .. Proud member of the FR Special Ops manuremovers crew .. moving manure&opinion since '96)
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To: NormsRevenge

Whatever the man's politics, I think that we should honor him for his service. He wore our countries uniform faithfully for a long long time.


17 posted on 08/09/2004 5:37:27 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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To: AndyJackson

countries=country's AAARGGGHHHHH


18 posted on 08/09/2004 5:37:55 PM PDT by AndyJackson
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President Clinton and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Colin Powell look on as Army Gen. John Shalikashvili speaks in the Rose Garden in this Aug. 11, 1993, file photo. Retired Army Gen. Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the early years of the Clinton administration, has been hospitalized in guarded condition at an Army hospital at Fort Lewis, Wash., a spokeman said Monday, Aug. 9, 2004. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)

President Clinton (news - web sites) and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Colin Powell (news - web sites) look on as Army Gen. John Shalikashvili speaks in the Rose Garden in this Aug. 11, 1993, file photo. Retired Army Gen. Shalikashvili, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the early years of the Clinton administration, has been hospitalized in guarded condition at an Army hospital at Fort Lewis, Wash., a spokeman said Monday, Aug. 9, 2004. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)


19 posted on 08/09/2004 5:40:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi .. Proud member of the FR Special Ops manuremovers crew .. moving manure&opinion since '96)
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"In every conversation we ever had," Clinton said at the time, "he never minced words, he never postured or pulled punches, he never shied away from tough issues or tough calls, and most important, he never shied away from doing what he believed was the right thing."


20 posted on 08/09/2004 5:40:56 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi .. Proud member of the FR Special Ops manuremovers crew .. moving manure&opinion since '96)
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