Gen. Clark Weighs Presidential Bid; Accuses Bush of inaction before 9/11

AP ^ | September 13, 2003 | nwrep

[Republican Wildcat]

"Now I haven't made up my mind whether I am going to run," Clark

He's not quite as polished a liar, though. This one is especially bad.

[Holden Magroin]

Clark ought to ask his buddy Bill Clinton why his response to the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Kobar Towers, two embassies, and the U.S.S. Cole was to fire a cruise missile at an aspirin factory. While the "number one threat" to America was growing, Weasel Clark and the rest of Comrade Billy's "national security team" were busy bombing the daylights out of the Serbs, who posed no threat to America or its vital interests. Clark is rewriting history and shamelessly exploiting September 11 for political gain.

[JulieRNR21]

Clark ignores his buddy Clinton's 8 years of inaction & then blames Bush for 9-11.....gimme me a break!

The only thing that stands between us and the barbarians is ......George W. Bush!

[Jorge]

Un-believable.
The field of Dem candidates is turning into a real freak show.

[Bringbackthedraft]

PS, When that action figure was announced, I predicted it would backfire. The timing was bad for its release and it will leave Bush open for ridicule if he is up against Clarke. You think they had a hey day at the last moment with Bush's DWI? Wait. I can see Clarke on the networks with that item in his hand and a grin on Hillary's face.

[Bringbackthedraft]

PPS, That action toy isn't going to be an action figure, its going to be a voodoo doll for the opposition!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

LOL. I don't care what his credentials are, he comes across as a little (derogatory word beginning with the letter B).

[Timesink]

Now matter how much perfume, he is still a sinking POS.

What a perfect typo. That's exactly what he's going to do once he enters the race: sink.

[WillowyDame]

Wesley Clark is an opportunist!

an ugly person!

a coward!!!

[TADSLOS]

Wesley Clark is what Bill Clinton could have been if he had stayed in the ROTC program and served in uniform.

[J_Bravo]

My loyalty to the Republican Party is not so strong that I would call a man who dedicated his life to military service a coward or whatever this nonsense about perfume is. I might not agree with the guy on a lot of stuff but I'm not gonna choose to like some military people because they like Bush and hate other military people who don't like Bush.

Doesn't make sense.

[TADSLOS]

You miss my point. This is not a question of whether he likes Bush or not. Clark has been and is now nothing more than Bill Clinton personified. He was that way in uniform, and being a close FOB, rose in prominence before Bill, visa vis Cohen/Albright,(ironically)fired him from his post as SACEUR. Sure he wore the uniform, saw combat, et al...but he's a tainted product of the Clinton Administration, with all the character traits of his good bubba Bill (and a few of Hillary's also). This guys has brought brown nosing manipulation and the art of false perception to a high art form, and there's PLENTY of anectodal evidence out there to back up the assertion that surfaces throughout his career in the military.

[J_Bravo]

Hey, that's a valid argument. Unfortunately a lot of the people on this board don't use that. The truth is that I agree with your summation of Clark. I do not agree with some of the people calling Clark a coward and all that. Personally, I wish we (Republicans) could have a few more guys in the top ranks who actually served in the military.

[wku man]

"Now I haven't made up my mind whether I am going to run," Clark, in shirt sleeves, told the crowd. "But I have my jacket off. And you can figure this out."

Yeah, but in your 34 years in the Green Suit, did you ever get your boots muddy, Weasely? Kinda hard to get dirty from 35,000 feet, huh? Hard to tell real tanks from decoys, too. You suck, Clark.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

[My2Cents]

What a dip! Here this guy's been "weighing his options" for months about making a run. and he accuses Pres. Bush of "inaction"!

BTW, who other than Wesley Clark wants Wesley Clark to run for President?

[My2Cents]

"What happened on 9-11, Mr. President? Why is it that eight months into your administration, why is it that there was no plan to deal with the number one threat that Bill Clinton's national security team warned you about when you took office?"

This is low!...If he wants to drag the name of Bill Clinton into the debate, the Republicans can have a field day about why our intelligence and the FBI were so unprepared for 9/11, going right back to Clinton's failures.

[ravingnutter]

FYI...

Wesley Clark’s career in the U.S. military was solid but not stellar. It included a variety of backwater assignments as well as one high point, White House Fellow 1975-76.

But an unexpected bolt from the blue suddenly ignited Clark’s life, turning mediocrity into a skyrocket ride that could yet land him in the Oval Office. He was named Commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, III Corps, at sweltering Fort Hood southwest of Waco, Texas.

On a late winter day in 1993, Texas Governor Ann Richards suddenly called the base, later meeting with Clark’s Number Two to discuss an urgent matter. Crazies at a Waco compound had killed Federal agents. If newly-sworn-in President Bill Clinton signed a waiver setting aside the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits the military from using its arms against American citizens within our borders, could Fort Hood supply tanks and other equipment?

Clinton did. Wesley Clark’s command at Fort Hood “lent” 17 pieces of armor and 15 active service personnel under his command to the Waco Branch Davidian operation. It is absolute fact that the military equipment used by the government at Waco came from Fort Hood and Clark’s command.

The only issue debated by experts is whether Clark was at Waco in person to help direct the assault against the church compound in a scene remarkably similar to the incineration of villagers in a church by the British in Mel Gibson’s movie “The Patriot.”

What happened at Waco was the death, mostly by fire, of at least 82 men, women and children, including two babies who died after being “fire aborted” from the dying bodies of their pregnant mothers.

Planning for this final assault involved a meeting between Clinton Attorney General Janet Reno and two military officers who developed the tactical plan used but who have never been identified. Some evidence and analysis suggests that Wesley Clark was one of these two who devised what happened at Waco.

As Leftist journalists Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair noted, the ruthless tactics and attitude on display at Waco are strikingly similar to those Clark has used on other battlefields in his career.

Odd, isn’t it, that the Leftist establishment press has told you nothing about the connection between General Wesley Clark and Waco – or what happened to him immediately after the service he rendered the Clintons at Waco? Immediately after Waco, Wesley Clark’s flat career began an incredible meteoric rise.

More at:Wesley Clark: General Issues

IOW, his career was advanced by Waco from which he reaped rewards from Bill Clinton for attacking the religious right. That in itself, undermines any credibility in your argument about his "stellar" military career.

[ravingnutter]

More info for you:

Wesley Clark - A War Criminal?

[Dilbert56]

• The President served in Air National Guard.
• Donald Rumsfeld was naval aviator.
• Colin Powell was Chairman Joint Chiefs.
• Dick Cheney was not in the military but was SecDef in Gulf War I.
• Tom Ridge was a Marine.

[Tarl]

You make your point well!! His statement of questioning Bush as if implying Clinton's guys gave plenty of warning is a "puppet statement"...Clinton is now engaged in damage control on the ONLY thing that matters to him - BEING A LEGEND IN HIS OWN MIND. This is why he "defended" Bush earlier on the war...he knew if criticism continued, those wanting to defend Bush's character would dig up the root causes of 9/11 and realize they existed during Clinton's administration. He is only Clinton's mouthpiece and the proof is in the question "leveled" at Bush.