On September 8, 2007 General Wesley Clark delivered the keynote speech at the International Institute of Counter-Terrorism (ICT) 7th International Conference: An Annual Gathering of the Counter Terrorism Community

September 8-11, 2007
“Terrorism’s Global Impact”
Herzliya, Israel

Thank you for that kind introduction. What a pleasure to be with you here this evening. Every time I return here, I am overwhelmed by the physical beauty, and in awe of the spirit and the courage and the energy of the Israeli people.

My first visit was in 1976, as a member of a White House team working foreign assistance in the region. We met with your Prime Minister, Itzak Rabin, and sat around his dinner table until well after midnight discussing the region, and all that had transpired, 1948, 56, 67, 73- with him and some of his cabinet. Afterward, we walked the walls around Jerusalem, ending up at the Wailing Wall at 4 AM. Jerusalem was bathed in the orange glow of newly installed sodium vapor lights, and basking in peace. And to a young Army officer, this was just an emotional, really overpowering experience.

I've been back many times, and dealt with the issues of the region in many roles during my military service, from sharing training techniques with IDF officers visiting my command in the California desert to, in my last capacity, as Commander-in-Chief of the US European Command, and helping work Israel's security needs with Amnon Lipkin-Shahak and Shaul Mofaz and others.

And so it was with particular concern that I watched from afar as intense diplomacy in Maryland gave way to strife and open conflict - just as Shaul Mofaz had warned me it would when we conferred on my last visit in the spring of 2000 - and the terrible tragedy of suicide bombing after suicide bombing returned again, vicious attacks against innocent civilians, meant to terrorize and demoralize. And like every American, I took heart in Israel's courage, and pride in Israel's strength, and tried to understand and learn from Israel's experiences.

Today Israel has proved once again its mettle in a tempestuous region, but both continuing and new challenges are growing.

General Wesley Clark on the Stephanie Miller Show

August 20, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC

Stephanie Miller: Oh, the headlines are so confusing: "Bush stresses local successes in Iraq." "Bush moves away from benchmarks in assessing Iraq." "2007 Cheney contradicts 2000 Cheney while dismissing 1994 Cheney." Hm.

(Scooby Doo sound effect)

Stephanie Miller: All so confusing. If only there was some sort of military expert of some sort that could...

(phone rings)

Stephanie Miller: WHAT? Chris who is it?

Chris: General Wesley Clark.

Why Terrorists Aren’t Soldiers

By WESLEY K. CLARK and KAL RAUSTIALA | New York Times | August 8, 2007

Email this article via the NY Times

The line between soldier and civilian has long been central to the law of war. Today that line is being blurred in the struggle against transnational terrorists. Since 9/11 the Bush administration has sought to categorize members of Al Qaeda and other jihadists as “unlawful combatants” rather than treat them as criminals.

The federal courts are increasingly wary of this approach, and rightly so. In a stinging rebuke, this summer a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., struck down the government’s indefinite detention of a civilian, Ali al-Marri, by the military. The case illustrates once again the pitfalls of our current approach.

Treating terrorists as combatants is a mistake for two reasons. First, it dignifies criminality by according terrorist killers the status of soldiers. Under the law of war, military service members receive several privileges. They are permitted to kill the enemy and are immune from prosecution for doing so. They must, however, carefully distinguish between combatant and civilian and ensure that harm to civilians is limited.

Critics have rightly pointed out that traditional categories of combatant and civilian are muddled in a struggle against terrorists. In a traditional war, combatants and civilians are relatively easy to distinguish. The 9/11 hijackers, by contrast, dressed in ordinary clothes and hid their weapons. They acted not as citizens of Saudi Arabia, an ally of America, but as members of Al Qaeda, a shadowy transnational network. And their prime targets were innocent civilians.

By treating such terrorists as combatants, however, we accord them a mark of respect and dignify their acts. And we undercut our own efforts against them in the process. Al Qaeda represents no state, nor does it carry out any of a state’s responsibilities for the welfare of its citizens. Labeling its members as combatants elevates its cause and gives Al Qaeda an undeserved status.

If we are to defeat terrorists across the globe, we must do everything possible to deny legitimacy to their aims and means, and gain legitimacy for ourselves. As a result, terrorism should be fought first with information exchanges and law enforcement, then with more effective domestic security measures. Only as a last resort should we call on the military and label such activities “war.” The formula for defeating terrorism is well known and time-proven.

General Wesley Clark on Countdown with Keith Olbermann

July 11, 2007
transcript by Melange

Amy Robach: Turning now to the upcoming NIE, the National Intelligence Estimate. Newsweek today reporting that it will include al Qaeda has “reconstituted its core structure and become stronger.” The Associated Press today also quoting unnamed intelligence sources saying al Qaeda’s resurrection has been so successful that America’s number one threat is now operating at a level last seen six years ago in the summer of 2001, just prior to the attacks of September 11th. This coming as a top CIA official testified before Congress today that al Qaeda is not, as Mr. Bush has claimed, on the run but has settled back in on the Pakistan border with more money, training and communications. All of this in the 24 hours after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff sparked a wave of ridicule when he explained to the Chicago Tribune how he has analyzed past al Qaeda patterns and recent al Qaeda communications.

[Video clip]

Michael Chertoff: All these things give me a…kind of a gut feeling that we’re in a period of…not that I have a specific threat, you know…that, uh I have in mind right now, but that we are entering a period of increased vulnerability.

[end Video clip]

Amy Robach: Meanwhile Newsweek reports that other US officials are offering concrete reasons for al Qaeda’s resurgence, specifically a truce that Pakistan struck with extremists on the border, allowing them to operate unfettered and give al Qaeda what the CIA official described as a safe haven. We turn now to retired 4-star General Wesley Clark, MSNBC Analyst and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, as well as a one-time Democratic presidential candidate. General, thanks for your time tonight.

May 16, 2007 We encourage you to listen to the speech.

General Wesley Clark - Legitimacy: First Task for American Security

Hosted by: Center for Politics and Foreign Relations, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), The Johns Hopkins University

May 16, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC and Melange

(Introduction by Robert Guttman, Director of the Center for Politics and Foreign Relations (JHU- SAIS)

Thank you. Thank you very much. It's a real pleasure to be here. Bob, thanks for the kind introduction. As I look around, I see a lot of friends and a lot of people who were with me at various times in my military activities, people I- whose paths I've crossed in business life and people that- who- that I've worked with in politics. I'm very proud of the fact that the 70,000 people on the internet convinced me and my family that I should run for President in 2003, and I'm very glad that I did that. It was a great experience, and, and I meant every word of the speeches I gave on the campaign. And as Bob said, I still have a political action committee. I have a website, and you can come and see those positions if you go to my website. It's called securingamerica.com .

But today I'm not here for that purpose. Today I'm here on a very serious and sober topic. I want to talk about restoring legitimacy as the first order of business for a new American strategy.

I was in Europe when, a few days ago, Vice President Cheney visited the Gulf. He traveled around. He reminded Iran and others in the Gulf that we have two aircraft carrier battle groups out there. Two! It was a stark reminder of military power. There's no other nation that has two aircraft carrier battle groups. It's about sea control - more than a hundred strike aircraft, dozens and dozens of cruise missiles, hundreds of precision GPS-guided bombs, 500,000 2000 pounds, coupled with overhead imagery and stealth land-based aircraft and conventionally armed ballistic missiles perhaps launched from the United States itself. I hope the leaders in Iran understood that their air defenses, their military, their military supporting infrastructure, their civilian infrastructure that supports the military, their scientific military related activities - all of that is at risk.

This is serious military power potential. I know about it because I've used it. As NATO Commander, we used every one of those assets, except for the US-based missiles, against Serbia in 1999, and I'm well aware of what they can do. But I'm also aware of their limitations, as is the rest of the world today.

General Wesley Clark on Hannity & Colmes

May 23, 2007

(video of President Bush speech at the Coast Guard Academy commencement)

Mark Steyn: That was President Bush today at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy commencement ceremony. The President talked about the declassified intelligence information that links Iraq and Al Qaeda and the ongoing threat we're facing from terrorists. Joining us now is the former NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark. General Clark, before we talk about the President's speech, this is obviously bad news about the death in Iraq. Do you think this speaks, just doesn't raise many optimistic hopes for the other men kidnapped?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think it's a terrible tragedy, and, and my heart goes out to the family of, of this man and to the families of the other soldiers. I, I hope we can get the other two back. I hope they're alive. I just don't know. We have to just trust our leaders over there to do the best they can to get them back.

Mark Steyn: And, and I agree. Our thoughts are obviously with the Anzack family tonight. That brings us to the speech that the President gave at the Coast Guard Academy. Basically, whatever the arguments now about whether we should've gone to war in the first place and whether Iraq had anything to do with Al Qaeda, the fact is Al Qaeda is there now. So, in a sense, that argument is moot, surely. The President has a point there.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I'm not sure if the argument's actually moot or not. Yes, Al Qaeda's there, but most of the statistics that I've seen, the military intelligence says that Al Qaeda's less than 5% of the insurgent force. We're actually in the middle of a civil war, and by being there in the middle of the civil war, what we're doing is the pictures of the American soldiers in combat incite sympathizers of Al Qaeda. We're actually supercharging their recruiting efforts, and if you were going to look for a center-