Writings related to Wesley K. Clark
Hello. 
This place is a little collection of things I wrote and some other
articles I found interesting -- but didn't write myself -- about General Wesley
K. Clark
(US Army, Retired) during and after his presidential campaign
in 2004. As you noticed, I stick to K.I.S.S. in design - keep it simple; don't
expect dancing bears, because that makes that these pages come up fast, no
matter the server load. Either way, I hope you enjoy the read.
Some things I wrote about (or related to) Wes Clark:
- Clark
and the SOA
(Article written in response to equally wrong-headed and persistent accusations
towards Wes Clark's alleged 'involvement' in gross human rights abuse by former
graduates
of the School of
the Americas
or SOA / WHISC; Jan 20th, 2004.)
- Watergate
Redux: the GOP never changes (Comment on the report of GOP staff hacking
into Democratic US Senators' computer files; Jan 25th, 2004.)
- Silent
Pride (Comment on unfortunately underreported support from Indian
Country for Wes Clark; Jan 30th, 2004.)
- Why I
support Wesley K. Clark (Article on why I believe Wes Clark
is the best man to lead the USA back into the future;
Feb 6th, 2004.)
Some articles about Wes Clark, not written by me:
- An Ode to the Democrat's General (Fantastic
tribute by Tom Rinaldo, published right after the Democratic National Convention
of 2004, where Wes Clark delivered a great speech, just prior to John Kerry's
formal nomination acceptance.)
- Brief
biography and overview of honors & awards for General Wesley K.
Clark (US Army, Ret.)
- Waiting for the General (Wonderful
lengthy portrait by Elizabeth Drew of Wes Clark and some insightful context
surrounding his entry as a candidate into the Presidential elections of 2004.
Published in
November 2003.)
Note: Also addresses the -- thanks
to Matt Drudge -- widely repeated but
never substantiated
smear by Gen.
Hugh Shelton, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
on
the reason
for Wes Clark's
early retirement as SACEUR at NATO being tied to "integrity and character
issues."
What the article doesn't mention is that Hugh Shelton later went on to become
a campaign advisor for Sen. John Edwards, one of Wes Clark's fellow Democratic
opponents. Gen. Shelton never offered either a substantiation or
explanation, let alone an apology
for
an undoubtedly
politically
motivated
and baseless smear or, as I prefer to see it: an attempt at character assassination
that is unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.
Some articles, speeches, and statements made by Wes Clark himself:
- Clark's
graduation speech at the SOA (The speech was delivered at the School
of the Americas, when Wesley Clark was CinC of SouthCom, on December 16,
1996. It is often highlighted as 'proof' that Clark somehow is or was 'sympathetic'
towards the misdeeds of a few hundred former graduates of the SOA; this
speech
instead shows a strong commitment to human rights, and the important but
subservient role in support of democracy that members of the armed forces
have.)
- Clark addresses the SOA issue (At a
townhall meeting during his campaign in Manchester, NH on December 19, 2003,
Wes Clark answers one question plus a follow-up, detailing why he supports the
SOA and rejects demands for its closure without evidence of current / recent
cases of human rights abuses.)
- Clark's formal statement on the SOA (An
unambiguously clear statement by Wes Clark, released on Jan 20th, 2004.)
- Clark's
speech at a GOP fundraiser, the Lincoln Day Dinner (The speech was
delivered on May 11, 2001, and was highlighted by detractors as 'proof'
that Wes Clark has/had Republican allegiance. This transcript
shows instead a convincing presentation of his own views on U.S. foreign
policy, presented diplomatically but in contrast with the policies
of the White House.)
- Decisive Force (Written
by Wes Clark in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, published on September
15, 2001.)
- Neglected Allies (OpEd by Wes Clark
dated February 2002: why doesn't the US work with its allies in NATO?)
- An Army Of
One (Article by Wes Clark dated September
2002, commenting on the state of the so-called 'War on Terror,' prior
to the ill-devised war with Iraq.)
- Occupation: No Model For This One (Analysis
published on March 23, 2003, on odious comparisons of the post-war occupation
in Iraq with the post-WWII situation
in Japan.)
-
Interview with Josh Marshall / TPM
(Lengthy interview with Wes Clark, by Josh Marshall - one of the
best blogging journalists around in the US these days. Interview posted on
October 1, 2003.)
-
Iraq: What Went Wrong
(Two-pronged analysis by Wes Clark of the war in Iraq; it was the October 2003
feature article of The New York Review of Books. He looks at what went awry
in Iraq, as a consequence of sorely lacking post-war planning
in
the run-up
to the war; in the second part, he looks at systemic flaws in the Bush administration's
handling of the war in Iraq, placed in a more broad context of other recent
US military engagements. Article posted on The New York Review of Books' site
on October 23, 2003.)
- Broken Engagement (Analysis
by Wes Clark of the clearly prevalent Cold War mentality in the current administration
of George W. Bush and the Pentagon, how it affects warfare in Iraq and the
'War on Terror' and
how in fact the lessons of the Cold War have been grossly misapplied, if
not forgotten or ignored.
Published
in
May
2004.)
- Key To Success (Analysis by Wes Clark of the
post-war situation in Iraq - with his recommendations to get out of the quagmire.
Published on May 28, 2004 in the on-line version of TNR.)
-
The Real Battle
(This article appeared briefly after the November
2004 elections. Wes Clark takes a cold and clear look at the formidable challenges
that lie ahead in Iraq for the Bush administration in
its
second
term
-
in a
word: reality. His sober comments are a wake-up call from the dominant empty
sloganeering and shallow postures...Posted on November 12, 2004.)
Some other external links to good stuff about Wes Clark:
- WesPAC - Securing America's
Future (Wes Clark's present-day PAC. According to the website: "Through
WesPAC, General Clark will put his 34 years of military and diplomatic
experience
to work to ensure that Democrats will never again be viewed as 'weak
on defense' or 'weak on national
security' or somehow 'lacking in
patriotism.' WesPAC will fight for wise
national security strategies to ensure that America, once again, becomes
both mighty and just." What a man.)
- Clark04 (Wes Clark's campaign site, naturally "closed" since he endorsed
John Kerry for President - but it's still a fountain of solid campaign info.
And a reminder that Wes Clark had a campaign second to none as an issue-driven
effort. Opinions aside, his site still offers a good impression of the in-depth
proposals and statements he made.)
- Clark Community Network - CCN ("The"
Wes Clark campaign blog, where all diehard Clarkies have - or had - a blog.
It's a magnificent rallying point for all of us Clarkies. And it's active
to this very day!)
-
Wesley Clark on the
Issues
- profile page on the OnTheIssues.org site,
which highlights Wes Clark's positions on a broad range of issues, categorized
in four main topic clusters named Domestic, International, Social and Economic
issues. Each summarized position is referenced, i.e. it states where and
when the position statement was obtained. The site features profiles
of all main candidates who participated in the 2004 presidential election
cycle.
-
WesleyClark.us
- If not the first, certainly one of the very first dedicated
Wes Clark sites, in support of his candidacy. Excellent resource for WKC
speeches, articles, media and other related materials.
-
Yahoo! Groups: WesPAC
- not a formal (or informal) part of WesPAC, but
it is designed as a collaborative companion site for those preferring maillist
discussions over weblog-type conversations conducted over the Net by WKC
supporters.
-
US 4 Clark
(This was an awesome grassroots site
featuring a staggering collection of videos, ads, speeches,
and photos
- the most complete in its kind. Unfortunately, that invaluable site disappeared...)
-
Clark Volunteers
- According to the site: "a grassroot community dedicated
to supporting General Wesley K. Clark in his various endeavours!" It's
a fairly recent site, but since it's set up by tried and tested hard-core
Clarkies, it's surely going to be a major hub for Clark-related volunteer
activities. Designed as a "portal" site.
- Yahoo! Groups
WesleyClark2004 - The mail list where the "Draft Clark" movement spread
its wings. (Still active!)
- Clark04's list of grassroots
sites (Not
all of them are actively maintained anymore, but it still gives a good impression
of the immense wave of inspiration
Wes Clark set in motion.)
-
Democracy in Action
overview page for Wes Clark
- Part of Eric Appleman's wonderful and highly informative site on the 2004
candidates' campaign organizations (including organizational info, their finances,
etc.) The texts of "the most important" speeches made by Wes Clark during his
campaign are neatly presented together. Be sure to also click through the other
pages on
Wes
Clark,
linked on
that page
- tons
of "historically
interesting" information
there!
-
Politics1.com entry for Wes
Clark
- Has some biographical info, but a more outstanding feature is their partial but
still impressive listing of endorsements Wes Clark received throughout his
2004 campaign run.
-
Wikipedia entry for Wesley
Clark
- Extensive and well-referenced overview
article on Wikipedia.org ("the free encyclopedia") which is open-maintained
(i.e., it is open to editing, comments, and discussion.) They also have a
few
quotations from Wes Clark
on their sibling / companion Wikiquote.org site.
- Nodeworks
Web Directory
- Listing of sites related to Wes Clark. Also from
Nodeworks is this remarkable
encyclopedic
entry
for Wesley K. Clark.
- DU Clarkies
(Separate message board
for Clarkies who are current or former active members of the
Democratic
Underground forum. We had fun during Wes Clark's campaign - but it
wasn't always easy...)
-
Democratic
Underground's Wes Clark supporters
- Sub-category of forums / topics that DU's admin (Skinner) kindly set aside
for all Clarkies / Clarqueros out there.
- And of course, the most important of all:
Wesley Clark 2008
- A Yahoo! Groups maillist resource focused on the next elections. Come on, you
didn't
really
think
the
2004
campaign
was
"it"
now,
did
you?
Onward
to 2008!
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a satisfactory solution to weed out #@%$& spammers.
Last modified:
Saturday, April 23, 2005 11:30 PM
(PDT)