Hackworth RETRACTS "Perfumed Prince", is "very impressed".

[tjdee]

"Col. David Hackworth, a retired Army officer turned commentator, disparaged Clark in a 1999 column as "known to those who've served with him as the Ultimate Perfumed Prince." But in an e-mail exchange, Hackworth said he no longer believed that characterization of Clark to be accurate. "Withdrew it after I read his new book and did further research," Hackworth wrote, adding that he recently interviewed Clark, "and came away very impressed.""

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-clark22sep22...

This is in LBN, but under a different title--I wanted to make sure that the Hackworth info was noticed.

"Further research"! Fancy that!

[Mairead]

1. Now, will all the Clark supporters who, just the other day, bitterly

disparaged Hackworth ...will they now start lauding his discernment?

[Pepperbelly]

2. I ...

never said a word against Hackworth.

So should I eat crow as well?

[tjdee]

3. Why was Hackworth running his mouth?

I don't recall saying anything bad about Hackworth, but it sounds to me like somebody was running his mouth without all the facts--which is why his opinion has changed after actually talking *with* the guy and *reading* his book.

And, I still say this is only one guy's opinion....there are millions more in this country.

[Nlighten1]

4. I'm a Dean supporter who...

loves Hackworth and Clark. I'm glad they kissed and made up.

[coda]

13. Hackworth has always been "pro-grunt".

He has always been critical of people when he thought they weren't doing right by "the guys in the trenches".

He was a darling of the right when he was trashing the Clintons and now I wonder how long before he's called a traitor by these same people? They've always cited his many medals and his record as a true patriot as proof of his(and their) claims.

I've been critical of Hackworth and been dismissive of him because of the old saw "Consider the source." i.e. NewsMax. On the other hand I always thought he certainly earned the right to his opinions.

That's the big difference here.

I disagreed with most of his claims but I never called Hackworth unpatritoic, treasonous, or a traitor because of his criticism of Clinton and others or vice versa, for his praise for various Republicans. The right annointed him as a super-patriot long ago and now their super-patriot bashes the Bush Administration and likes Clark. They're in the box here, not me and it's going to be interesting how it plays out.


Many of Clinton's critics have long talked about how things were going to get better once he was gone and now, for some, Bush has finally became President, in that it's actually his actions that are causing results.

That's what's great about all this. I don't have to hitch my wagon to Hackworth's "star". I only need to tell the RWer's what THEIR super-patriot's current analysis of the current Administration is. Thanks to NewsMax and others a lot of people, especially service people, know who Hackworth is.

With the cabal that's in now, no doubt Hackworth is gaining a whole new perspective on many issues.

[TacticalPeek]

14. How long?

I noticed Faux seemed to dwindle off his appearances pre-and-during the war, smelling too much truth coming off him.

How do ignorant freeps get around this? Simple: ignore.

[RamboLiberal]

17. Yep I can't remember last time I've seen Hack on TV

Also noted the local wingnut radio hosts who loved to get him on the air and couldn't say enough nice things about Hack haven't had him on.

[graham67]

18. He was..

on Larry King almost every night during the war, now I don't see him anywhere.

[coda]

19. I don't know about ignore.

This seems pretty big to me. Hackworth's columns are everywhere and they run thick in the archives of conservative sites and thousands upon thousands of bbs boards.

I'm sure Hackworth will get a ton of e-mails, crying, "What about his links to Clinton?"

I think he's already well aware of those.

[Bertrand]

5. I like reading Hacks columns

so this is good news to me that he dropped his position. Clark has risked his life numerous times and was shot 4 times in battle, so to imply that he was a pampered coward was pretty awful.

[tjdee]

6. I'd never heard of the guy until the "Perfumed Prince" bit.

But at least he's willing to set the record straight.

[graham67]

7. It takes....

a helluva guy to admit he was wrong. Good for Clark, that perfumed prince comment is no longer an issue.

[RamboLiberal]

8. I like the brutal honesty of Col Hackworth

even if he can go off the deep end on occasion. But Hack cares for the troops. It means something to me that Hack has withdrawn his criticism of Clark.

I can't wait to read this book Clark has out. Newsweek excerpts are great.

If you haven't read it - here's the link:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/969671.asp

[TacticalPeek]

9. Roger that, rmpalmer.

Recognizing reality, especially when it requires changing one's view, is an indispensable quality of leadership.

No fear in Hack.

[Unknown Known]

12. Click on "Presidential Plunge" pics to the left of screen

This is great! They have pics of Presidents and one of Wesley Clark in a swimsuit (he looks great!), but they don't have junior's picture at all. This is great

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Here's his column

If someone did'nt already link to it:

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=...

[tjdee]

20. Thanks...

I've never read him before.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. From Hack's article...

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=...

If that link's too big, it's on the first page at:

http://www.hackworth.com /

<...>

"It took months for Clark to get back in shape. He had the perfect excuse, but he didn’t quit the Army to scale the corporate peaks as so many of our best and brightest did back then. Instead, he took a demoralized company of short-timers at Fort Knox who were suffering from a Vietnam hangover and made them the best on post – a major challenge in 1970 when our Army was teetering on the edge of anarchy. Then he stuck around to become one of the young Turks who forged the Green Machine into the magnificent sword that Norman Schwarzkopf swung so skillfully during Round One of the Gulf War."

<...>

"No doubt he’s made his share of enemies. He doesn’t suffer fools easily and wouldn’t have allowed the dilettantes who convinced Dubya to do Iraq to even cut the White House lawn. So he should prepare for a fair amount of dart-throwing from detractors he’s ripped into during the past three decades.

Hey, I am one of those: I took a swing at Clark during the Kosovo campaign when I thought he screwed up the operation, and I called him a “Perfumed Prince.” Only years later did I discover from his book and other research that I was wrong – the blame should have been worn by British timidity and William Cohen, U.S. SecDef at the time."

<...>


Hack's in love.

[RamboLiberal]

15. I love Hack's slap at the Neocons

"He doesn’t suffer fools easily and wouldn’t have allowed the dilettantes who convinced Dubya to do Iraq to even cut the White House lawn."

[TennesseeWalker]

16. He doesn't want to criticize the future Commander in Chief.

I love it, I love it....