[Wesley "Puppet"] Clark to testify at Milosevic Trial

AP ^ | November 16, 2003 | JENNIFER C. KERR

[nwrep]

WASHINGTON - Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (news - web sites) will interrupt briefly his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to testify at the U.N. war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites).

AP Photo Slideshow: Wesley Clark

Clark said Sunday the Swiss chief prosecutor in the trial at The Hague (news - web sites), Carla Del Ponte, has asked him to appear in mid-December to testify against the ousted Serb leader.

"Because of the historic importance of this proceeding — the first trial of a head of state before a war crimes tribunal — I have agreed to appear," Clark said in a statement.

He said the U.S. government has authorized his participation.

As the former supreme commander of NATO (news - web sites), Clark led a 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 aimed at expelling Yugoslav forces involved in a bloody crackdown on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Clark also served as director of strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the mid-1990s when the United States was trying to negotiate an end to the war in Bosnia.

[Free_at_last_-2001]

"Because of the historic importance of this proceeding ... and it the only way I can get my ugly face on television...."

[pachanga]

Would like to see him cross-examined by milosevic--that should be interesting. Wonder if Mary will be there to help with the responses?

Carla del ponte-wesley clark, et al. at the hague--can we move the trial to france so that everyone feels that this is really important?

[duckln]

Clark will eat up as much time as he can, by droning on and on, in response to questions.

Judge May will limit and chide Milosevic each step of the way. He was, is, and will be an protagonist, assigned by the court, to prevent a 'fair trial'.

On the bright side, this should be well covered, in that Clark is a presidential candidate. It may be the turning point, where we begin to understand how badly Clinton errored with the General from Arkansas he promoted to do the 'dirty work'.

[Admin Moderator]

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[Grut]

...the first trial of a head of state before a war crimes tribunal...

Not exactly correct; Hitler's successor, Grand Admiral Doenitz, was tried at Nuremburg, although not for his actions as head of state.

[Incorrigible]

Balkans Bump!

[Cicero]

Clark is lucky that this kangaroo court assembled by clinton and the EU Socialists is only interested in persecuting Serbs, or they would put the arm on him as a war criminal.

[Hoplite]

What specific crimes are you implying Clark should be prosecuted for?

And how do you differentiate these purported war crimes from those your compatriots in the anti-war, anti-America crowd are calling for prosecution of in regards to Afghanistan and Iraq?

Clark is running as a Democrat, which is reason enough to remove him from serious consideration - but by accusing him of committing war crimes you also accuse the men who acted under his command of those same crimes - do you really want to do this, or did you just not think about what you are saying before you put it in writing?

[Honorary Serb]

For a CONSERVATIVE'S (and retired Air Force Colonel's) point of view on KLArks's war crimes, see George Jatras' article on the "Perfumed Prince's" phony book-signing at http://home.ix.netcom.com/%7Esparta13/wesley.htm

Clark not only commanded the "Kosovo war", but helped instigate it as an member of the clinton inner circle.

Waging aggressive war against countries that never attacked or threatened us or our allies is a WAR CRIME!!

Using a strategy that mainly involves targeting the civilian infrastructure "to break the will of the Serbian people" is a WAR CRIME! That especially includes bombing chemical plants near major cities, poisoning thousands of people and their environment, and using the red crosses on hospital roofs as TARGETS! I myself saw pictures that proved that that tactic was used, and that cluster bombs were dropped on the city of Nis, which was not a military target. These pictures were taken by people in the US whom I know and trust, right after the "air campaign" was over.

NATO pilots would bomb a bridge (such as the one in Varvarin), and then wait for people to come to help the victims. then they would bomb again to kill the rescuers! In the case of Varvarin, the second wave of bombing blew the head off of a brave Orthodox priest--his head was never found. Those actions were WAR CRIMES!!!

Working in concert with the mass murdering drug-lord terrorists of the KLA, and stealing Kosovo and giving it to them was also a WAR CRIME!!!!

Finally, Hoppy, your classifying of anyone who opposes the criminal "Kosovo War" and the war criminal tactics by which it was fought as members of the "anti-war, anti-America crowd" is OUTRAGEOUS IN THE EXTREME!!! But it is typical not only of you, but of the great majority of the Serbophobic posters on FR. You Serbophobes have proven time and time again that you are totally incapable of anything resembling civility.

[Hoplite]

Say it Honorary Serb - the USAF pilots who carried out your laundry list of war crimes are criminals.

I'm not Serbophobe, I'm not even idiotophobe - you don't scare me in the least.

[Cicero]

What specific crimes are you implying Clark should be prosecuted for?

How about complicity in starting a war that was not authorized by the UN, that had NO compelling defensive or national security interest (as was the case in Afghanistan and Iraq), and that was built on lies about one-sided "genocide"?

Add to that the deliberate bombing of civilian targets. The most famous of these was the obliteration of the Belgrade TV station, with the people working there. It was bombed solely because it was telling unpleasant stories about NATO behavior and calling Clinton and Clark war criminals. But the bombings also included trains on bridges and refugee convoys, apartment buildings, civilian factories, power plants, and dams.

Add to that that there was a deliberate effort to freeze and starve the civilian population of Belgrade by cutting off communications and supplies, cutting off power, cutting off oil, cutting off water, and cutting off all traffic along the river. All this in the cold of winter.

Collateral deaths are inevitable in war, but it has generally been considered unjust and criminal to kill innocent civilians deliberately. It violates the Geneva Convention and accepted international standards that have been in force throughout modern times.

Aside from his conduct of the Yugoslav War, Clark was also responsible for supplying Janet Reno with the armor that was used to kill the children at Waco. That's not a warcrime, perhaps, but it is an atrocity of the first magnitude, much worse than the kinds of thing the International Court of Justice has so far concerned itself with.

They have been persecuting Milosevitch for years, and they still haven't proved much of anything, except that he was a participant in an ugly war in which all the parties share some guilt.

[Cicero]

The pilots share some of the guilt. But, contrary to what was said at the Nuremberg Trials, it is sometimes very difficult for soldiers to disobey orders. Most of the blame goes to their commanders.

If you were told to knife a woman who was just standing there, you would be justified in refusing. But if you are told to drop bombs on an enemy target, it's very hard to know whether such an order should be questioned.

Yes, our troops were ordered to do disgraceful things in the Yugoslav War, but I don't blame them for following orders. I blame the leaders of the time--Clinton, Blair, Schroeder, Albright, Cohen, Clark--the liberal press that cheered them on, and the members of congress who sat back and permitted it to happen.

[Hoplite]

No backing out now, Cicero.

Say it: You want our servicemen charged for war crimes committed during Allied Force.

I want the entire chain of command from Radovan Karadzic on down held accountable for Srebrenica, and the entire chain of command from Milosevic on down held accountable for Serb actions in Kosovo, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to say the same of Americans who were involved in Allied Force, should it?

[Travelgirl]

You are right.

[WackySam]

[NYC Republican]

When two of the most evil folks (Klintons) support this scumbag Weasel Clark, you know he's got to be stopped at all costs. Luckily he's shooting himself in the foot time and again

[NYC Republican]

Say it: You want our servicemen charged for war crimes committed during Allied Force. I want the entire chain of command from Radovan Karadzic on down held accountable for Srebrenica, and the entire chain of command from Milosevic on down held accountable for Serb actions in Kosovo, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to say the same of Americans who were involved in Allied Force, should it?

Excellent post.

[NYC Republican]

The great majority of WAR CRIMES were instigated by, and committed by, the Serbs, plain and simple, end of story. The rest of your rant is rhetoric and fluff.