“Most important to me was his integrity as shown in his determination …to prevent the killing of innocent Kosovars”

“Most important to me was his integrity as shown in his determination …to prevent the killing of innocent Kosovars”

Lt. Col. Fred Seamon
U.S. Army (ret.)
Soquel, California

I retired from the US Army in 1983 after a career spanning almost 23 years, I was perhaps the leading expert on Yugoslavia and the Balkans in the US military. I concluded my military career as US Army Attaché to Yugoslavia. I served in positions directly associated with the region for fifteen years and after my retirement engaged in economic development activities in the former Yugoslavia.

During my service as Army Attaché in the US Embassy in Belgrade, I became aware of the desire of the Serbs to replace Albanians as the majority ethnic group in Kosovo, the medieval birthplace of the Kingdom of Serbia, and that they were willing to go to virtually any length to do so.

I first became aware of General Clark in 1999 when, as NATO commander, he led a coalition that prevented the Serbs from killing or displacing thousands of innocent ethnic Albanian residents of Kosovo, without a single loss to NATO Forces. I found much to admire in the General.

Most important to me was his integrity as shown in his determination to do what was right, to prevent the killing of innocent Kosovars, despite the opposition of his superiors. I personally believe that humanitarian intervention to prevent of the killing of innocent civilians is one of a very few valid reasons for engaging in war.

I was impressed by his political skills in creating a multi-national coalition among NATO countries who had never before been involved in a conflict and his skillful military leadership which resulted in zero coalition losses during the war with the Serbs.

As an officer who was engaged in political-military affairs involving cooperation with US government agencies outside the Department of Defense, I was especially impressed with his work with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke in preparing the Dayton Accords that brought the war in Kosovo to an end.

I support Wesley Clark because of his integrity and intelligence. He is a proven military and political leader; a coalition builder and multilateralist who supports the United Nations at a time when we need to cooperate with other nations to combat terrorism and other threats.