General Wesley Clark onEd Schultz

November 10, 2009

Obama Must Learn from Vietnam

BY WESLEY CLARK | New York Daily News | Monday, August 17th 2009

Much has been done in six months to deal with the ongoing war in Afghanistan. We have restated that our aim is to eliminate the threat of Al Qaeda; built a new leadership team, including Special Representative Richard Holbrooke; reinforced our troop strength and adjusted our tactics; and have begun augmenting our force with synchronized diplomatic, political and economic efforts.

But can we explain how all of this adds up to an effective strategy that will sustain American engagement in one of the world's least accessible regions?

The American people are growing increasingly wary. In a new CNN/Opinion research poll, fully 54% of respondents now say they oppose the U.S.-led fight against the Taliban and their Al Qaeda allies. Those are striking numbers, and a serious warning to the Obama administration.

The difficulty here lies less in PowerPoint presentations and more in the complexities of the war itself. Our real enemy, Al Qaeda, may now be more entrenched in Pakistan than in Afghanistan. Taking the fight directly into Pakistan with ground forces risks expanding the conflict and undercutting a fragile Pakistani civilian government.

The similarities to Vietnam are ominous. There, too, an insurgency was led and supported from outside the borders of the state in which our troops were fighting. There, too, sanctuaries across international borders stymied U.S. military efforts. There, too, broader political-strategic considerations weighed against military expansion of the conflict and forecast further struggles in the region.

And there, too, American public support slid away over time as our engagement ratcheted up and casualties mounted.

Our Vietnam experiences provide powerful lessons in how to explain strategy and retain public support, so we can ultimately succeed.

More at the New York Daily News

General Wesley Clark on PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

May 12, 2009

JIM LEHRER: Next tonight, the command shake-up in Afghanistan raises the "What kind of Army?" question, and to Ray Suarez.

RAY SUAREZ: Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he needed new thinking and new approaches from the military when he shuffled Army commanders yesterday in Afghanistan.

Out was General David McKiernan, a one-time tank officer who headed the ground forces during the 2003 Iraq invasion. In were two generals with careers in counterinsurgency warfare, Stanley McChrystal and David Rodriguez.

But as far back as 2007, Gates told the Army it faced new challenges. "Current and future conflicts," he said, "will be fundamentally political in nature and require the application of all elements of national power."

He added, "The Army must learn how to incorporate the latest in technology without losing sight of the human and cultural dimensions of the irregular battlefield."

For more on the Army and its new wars, we turn to two retired generals. Wesley Clark was NATO commander during the Kosovo War in 1999. Like General Clark, Dan Christman began his Army career as a platoon leader in Vietnam. His final post was superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Remarks to the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Conference

Washington, D.C.
October 30, 2008

Direct link to Quicktime (76MB)
Direct link to Windows Media (89MB)
Direct link to MP3 (audio only) (8 MB)