Good to see Gen. Clark... I hope everything is ok on his side.

This was a delicate situation, it's like in the movies but with real life and death decision making...

Pres. Obama did a good job and Ed slammed the GOP this time… And I hope more good decisions are to come.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30210652/

'The Ed Show' for Monday, April 13
Read the transcript to the Monday show

Guest: Wesley Clark, Tim Pawlenty, Neal Boortz, Joan Walsh, Chris Cillizza, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Rev. Barry Lynn

ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Joining me now is General Wesley Clark, former NATO supreme allied commander for Europe.

General Clark, good to have you on the program tonight.

GEN. WESLEY Clark, FMR. NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER (RET.): Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Give us a grade now. Was this a real tough call for the president? And how does he score as far as leadership is concerned, in your opinion, in the wake of this?

CLARK: Well, I think it‘s an outstanding call by the president. I think he did the right thing.

He gave the authorization to use force. He also did the right thing in keeping his own personality and his name as far away from it as possible, because it doesn‘t do any good to personalize something like this.

So I give him A-plus on judgment and handling of this. And obviously I give the captain of the Bainbridge a lot of credit. He made the right call at the right time. And then the execution by our great Special Forces team there was just outstanding.

So I think this shows what many of us said during the campaign, that it‘s a matter of judgment. And Barack Obama has it. He showed it here as our president, and the commander in chief for the men and women in uniform. And I think that he will build a great relationship with them. I think they‘ll come to trust him increasingly.

SCHULTZ: And speaking of that, General Clark, is this incident going to help President Obama bring in other countries into the fold, that this is the direction the United States will go in dealing with piracy?

CLARK: Well, I think that this does underscore the gravity of the situation, and I think that it gives the United States a chance to use leadership. But the European Union has already been seized with this problem. We can enlist and work with the European Union, it‘s a good opportunity to do so, but we don‘t want to have to take the lead in this.

There are other nations that are doing the shipping. They should also be engaged, and the United States should do its part. And we‘ve shown we‘re prepared to do that.

SCHULTZ: General, do you think that this would call for any type of different military focus when it comes to where we spend our money? Would this take us in a different direction with the budget? And, of course, the budget has been a big conversation in recent weeks.

CLARK: I don‘t think so. I think that this is something that you can do with the forces that you have. It‘s a matter of—well, we did it here.

But are we going to be the sole power that guarantees the safety and security around the Horn of Africa? I hope not, because basically other countries have commercial interests there. They should be working this. The United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, all those institutions are also in line here to work, and they should be working to promote stability in Somalia, and to undercut the authority of the pirate leaders that are there in these coastal towns.

So I think you‘ve really got three situations. You‘ve got ships that have been seized already, and you‘ve got some hostages. You‘ve got the current navigation channels and trying to avoid the pirates for ships that are moving through the area, and then you‘ve got Somalia itself.

There needs to be a plan to work all three. It may not be the same plan, and in no case should the United States have to lead, but we should be prepared to do our part and encourage others to take the lead.

SCHULTZ: General, great to have you on with us tonight. Thanks so much.

CLARK: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: General Wesley Clark here with us on THE ED SHOW..."

A great analysis in a compact space--that's our General. I haven't seen anyone else give as succinct and yet comprehensive a statement about the piracy issue--I learned more from this than from all the tedious babble re the issue.
The General gets it right.
Competence--What a concept!