Clark stumps for Democrats in western Kentucky

September 26, 2006
By GREG TRAVIS | Murray Ledger and Times

PADUCAH, Ky. - Gen. Wesley Clark, a highly-decorated veteran, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and former Democratic presidential candidate, brought his “Kentucky Candidate Tour” to Paducah Monday afternoon. Clark was stumping throughout the Commonwealth for House and Senate candidates while spreading his message that the Democratic grassroots organizations can change the face of America.

I am here today because I want to re-enforce the efforts” of the Democratic candidates from this area who are running for office and to “share some of my thoughts with you,” Clark said.

He noted that he grew up in Arkansas, had lived in Kentucky twice (both times while assigned to Fort Knox) and always felt that Kentucky was real close to home for him. “I think that people here and in Arkansas have about the same values and the same concerns. We're worried about the same things. We're worried about jobs, education, health care, taking care of our families and we're worried about the war in Iraq,” he said.

Clark told the group the war was “not going well for our country.” He added, “We love the men and women in uniform. They're doing a great job, but they are not getting the leadership they need from the White House.”

The focus of the general's address was that of questioning the current administration's leadership abilities. He did not specifically hammer the Republican party, or anyone in particular, but rather the leadership being displayed.

Clark, who retired from the military two years ago, commented that when he got out of the service he was determined not to be in politics. “I did my best to stay out of it. So when I first retired, Condoleezza Rice was the National Security Advisor. I asked her if I could come over to see her and discuss some things, but she said she would come to see me.”

He went on to say, “Here's what she told me in the summer of 2000. She told me that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin was a good guy and we could work with him. She told me that our troops were the only ones who could fight a war and therefore they shouldn't do peacekeeping or nation building. She told me that our military was over-committed and had to do less. And it went on, and on and on.

“Basically after I listened to her, I knew I couldn't support that line of thought. And I became more and more determined not to be affiliated with one side or the other on foreign policy issues. I think when you are talking about foreign policy, you've got to rise above partisan politics if you can.”

He said he was reviewing what he was going to do. “I was looking for a new career. Somebody said why don't you do some broadcasting, and I said fine. I got a contract with CNN but they never called me for about two months. Then after 9/11 happened I was on every day.”

He said he went through the Pentagon about 10 days later and he discovered from talking to the generals that even though we had been attacked by Osama bin Laden, it was already decided in the Pentagon that we were going to war with Saddam Hussein.

Clark said he asked them why when no one could establish any connection between Iraq, Saddam and bin Laden. “A year before, I had read all the intelligence. I was responsible for bombing Saddam Hussein. It's like a two-foot long copperhead in a box. Now if you stick your hand in the box you might get struck. But there's no reason to do that. So there was no reason, that I could see, to go to war with Saddam Hussein.”

He said the generals told him we were getting ready to go to war with Iraq but they didn't know why. “It's like the old saying, if the only tool you have is a hammer then every problem has to look like a nail,” Clark remarked.

“I thought it was a war we didn't have to fight. I testified in front of Congress and said that. I told the American people that on television, and I stand by that. This is a war that we did not have to fight,” he said.

“It's been three-and-one-half years since that statue of Saddam fell in the square in Baghdad. We've lost 2,700 American lives in the process. We've spent $300 billion and there is no end in sight. This administration has only one strategy and that is to try to tough it out until Bush is out of office and that is not a strategy for success. That's a strategy for mistreating the men and women in our armed forces.”

Clark said “the truth is” this administration has not provided the leadership that was required to win. “Americans support the men and women in uniform. We love them. They're doing a great job over there. We just want them to have a chance to succeed. And we want to make sure when they come home they and their families receive the attention they need. A grateful nation owes that to the men and women in uniform.”

He told the group that America now finds itself at war in Iraq and Afghanistan with bin Laden on the loose, with North Korea having created nuclear weapons and Iran threatening to create nuclear weapons. “We've got three problems in the Middle East plus North Korea. And then we've got Israelis and Palestinians and we're caught in the middle of it all,” he pointed out.

Clark said, “Somehow we have to have leadership that will solve these problems. We've got to put some men and women in Washington who have the courage to make a difference.”

Clark said he was “fed up with phony patriots” - ones who didn't serve their country but “wear an American flag on their lapels then vote against the kind of leadership and support that is needed for the men and women in uniform.”

Clark said America has a big problem in foreign affairs and a problem here at home. “We've got an economy where the numbers look great. But the jobs are not so great. We are losing a lot of jobs in America and we are losing a lot of well-paying jobs.”

He said people ask him why he is a Democrat and he tells them, “Because when I was in the Armed Forces I learned that it's not enough to issue orders and turn your back. To get the mission done you have got to take care of the troops. Those are the two responsibilities of any commander - and helping every man and woman and their families to be all they can be.”

He said when he returned to America he discovered one party talked about helping people and climbing the ladder of success. But what they liked to do was climb up the ladder and then pull it up after them and strand the rest of the people behind.

“What I learned in the military was a principle leadership in life - it was a natural thing to be a Democrat. Because our party lifts people up and believes in people. We pull people together and we help every American be all he or she can be.”