Wesley Clark and Andrew J. Bacevich speak on "Reinstating the National Draft"
Submitted by MA3 on April 6, 2008 - 4:37pm.
Andrew J. Bacevich | Gen. Wesley Clark | Joseph E. Stiglitz | Reinstating the National Draft
Wesley Clark, Andrew J. Bacevich and Joseph E. Stiglitz ’64
Left to right: Cullen Murphy '74, Wesley Clark and Andrew J. Bacevich speak on "Reinstating the National Draft" at Amherst College on April 5, 2008.
Wesley K. Clark, 2004 presidential candidate and retired four-star U.S. Army General, and Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston University professor of international relations and former U.S. Army Colonel, participated in a discussion titled “Reinstating the National Draft” at Amherst College on Saturday, April 5. The event, which took place on campus at 1 p.m. in Johnson Chapel, was part of the Amherst College Colloquium Series (ACCS). Joseph E. Stiglitz ’64, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics, joined the discussion, which was moderated by Cullen Murphy '74.
Hear audio of Andrew Bacevich's presentation
Hear audio of Wesley Clark's presentation
Hear audio of the question-and-answer session
View an image gallery of this event
Read the news release for this event
https://cms.amherst.edu/news/eventsmultimedia/2008/node/44118/
Mrs. Clark asked the Wall Street Executive whether his sons would serve... Go Mrs. Clark!
KPMG =:-O. I work for that company but as a graphic designer. The dept. I work for supports KPMG... I met veterans and veteran's sons and daughters that work at the same company.
I guess volunteer force is better but I am afraid this administration’s reputation has diminished the true calling for serving our country, another damage to our nation.
Gen. Clark idea of assistance and backed-up with volunteering database is a very ambitious and great idea.
I have to continue to listen to the audios later...
MA3:
unfortunately my computer for some reason won't access the audio format; I do remember what Wes has said about re-stating draft having domestic volunteer programs as well as option for military;
During Greenspan's 1987-2005 tenure, the sum of public and private debt in the United States quadrupled from just over $10 trillion to $43 trillion.
thank you for posting this, MA3.
I was hoping someone would capture this too when Reg mentioned it yesterday. Really looking forward to hearing this.
I'll listen to the audio while doing my chores tomorrow. There are some wonderful photographs of Wes in the photo gallery. Very nice.
I do feel bad for Mr. Bacevich because he did lose his son in the Iraq war in May of 2007. Maybe I am over analyzing the pictures, but Mr. Bacevich deep thoughts and a bit self absorbed expresses his pain of losing someone dear... And to tackle this kind of subject must be very difficult.
Gen. Clark was very passionate about this subject and he takes it to heart because he knows what it's like to give up freedom and make a sacrifice for our country.
I was listening to my pastor today and he made me think what it's to be a true Catholic. And later today, I listed to Gen. Clark and he made me think what is to be a true citizen and they both require sacrifice and giving up freedom... wow, a lot of work.
I didn't know Joseph Stiglitz was going to be there too.
I highly recommend his book Globalization And Its Discontents.
but apparently very smart man and I thought the topic was strictly from a military perspective and how it effects us civilians.
Ah, money ties in everything and it was interesting to listen to Mr. Stiglitz as well.
no one minds if I post a couple of Iraq items here.
Fighting resumes in Baghdad; rockets kill three Americans
BAGHDAD — The U.S.-backed Iraqi government Sunday began deploying Shiite Muslim volunteer fighters in neighborhoods dominated by the rival Mahdi Army militia of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr.
As the new volunteers took to the streets on the eve of key congressional testimony by Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. forces clashed again with the Mahdi Army in the Shiite slum of Sadr City, and U.S. aircraft attacked militants.
In the heavily fortified Green Zone, where U.S. and Iraqi officials live and work, rocket attacks killed two U.S. soldiers and injured 17, at least five of them seriously. Rocket attacks on a U.S. base in southeast Baghdad killed another American soldier and wounded 14.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/32852.html
4,022. 31 wounded in these two incidents. 31.
Yes. There will be Senate hearings and testimony by General Patreaus and Ambassador Crocker on the status of the Iraq "war" Tuesday. The CSPAN website says they will cover it starting at 6:30 AM ET.
The right person (for me) is not running to be POTUS.
http://blog.masslive.com/localbuzz/2008/04/interview_wesley_clark.html
"At best, we didn't have a ton of time. But nonetheless, my four minutes and nine seconds with Mr. Clark are below. He'd slung his arm over the back of his chair when I shook his hand goodbye, and I think I might have accidentally bumped his forearm against the top of the backrest. Which made me feel like a jerk."
"It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and one to hear." - Henry David Thoreau
Wes is a good ambassador for the military, isn't he? Thanks for the transcript, PA.
Stan Davis
Lakewood, CO
Wes Clark -- Make America All It Can Be!
Figured out right away who the main subject was from among the group. :) Thanks for posting this MA3.
Proud to be an American.
Wes was terrific as usual. Looking forward to the Q&A
"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood of ideas in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." JFK
https://cms.amherst.edu/media/view/44119/original/clark.mp3
this link works if you copy and paste into your computer address space - if other link doesn't
https://cms.amherst.edu/media/view/44122/original/qanda.mp3
Q & A
During Greenspan's 1987-2005 tenure, the sum of public and private debt in the United States quadrupled from just over $10 trillion to $43 trillion.
(Wes mentions David Hume is his favorite philosopher at the start of this...)
wiki
Hume was the first great philosopher of the modern era to carve out a thoroughly naturalistic philosophy. This philosophy partly consisted in the rejection of the historically prevalent conception of human minds as being miniature versions of the divine mind. This doctrine was associated with a trust in the powers of human reason and insight into reality, which possessed God’s certification. Hume’s scepticism came in his rejection of this ‘insight ideal’, and the (usually rationalistic) confidence derived from it that the world is as we represent it. Instead, the best we can do is to apply the strongest explanatory and empirical principles available to the investigation of human mental phenomena, issuing in a quasi-Newtonian project, Hume's ‘Science of Man’.
Wes knows awful lot about particle physics and beyond Newton and classic physics;
things are happening there; Cern is going to switch on THE GRID sometime this summer date to be announced and
it will make the internet obsolete in a short amount of time;
Wes knows a bunch about physics and applied physics this I feel sure of; there was a video clip of Patreus ( sp?) on broadcast news media this weekend think it was from 2007 saying
they were working on 'alternative futures' well he was taking about Iraq but I think 'alternative futures' is the whole point of the new particle smashing accelerator and the projects attached;
once more about multi-verse dimension is worked on ( has been worked on and applied ) this new phase will include more about alternative futures;
hope those alternatives don't become the property only for/of the world's elite;
During Greenspan's 1987-2005 tenure, the sum of public and private debt in the United States quadrupled from just over $10 trillion to $43 trillion.
;-)
Seriously, I almost hope they don't find the Higgs Boson, then there would be more questions than answers, right?
my first point is that Wes has a brilliant mind and that he has expressed and I feel he has kept up with particle physics which is where we are at the present time whereas Hume and Newton sort of share the same world cultural time frams Newtonian physics and classical physics;
but Wes has a mind that understands gets particle physics and advance technology deriviative from it;
that is my feeling from what I have read in his speech, etc so on so forth;
so that is a compliment; he wouldn't be where he is in the world both military and future-oriented business career without have a good working knowledge of particle physics and the developments all leading edge;
no I dislike LOST because they shake the trees as a device to create the suspense and the illusion of mystery; I like really good mysteries;
AP - did you listen to the tape paraphrase : the part about if you want freedom then you should give your first born child or your first grandchild : was he saying no draft but if there was a draft then those conditions or
because he thought the volunteer system for all citizens ( which he spoke about 2004 -2006 ) might not be workable; I can't say what he thinks exactly on these points do you know?
During Greenspan's 1987-2005 tenure, the sum of public and private debt in the United States quadrupled from just over $10 trillion to $43 trillion.
she pointed out about this event that was held yesterday. I was curious whether there was anything posted on Amherst College website. Well, here it’s. I was listing to it as I was posting this and I could only say from looking at the pictures, Gen. Clark needs to rest; as I am sure he was probably already told by his wife and his loved ones. I hope he was and is feeling well...
My first impression from Mr. Bacevich was that he was a very serious guy, smart, and well informed, but his body language shows signs that he doesn’t agree with Gen. that much… but lets see what the audios above will determine.