Would Clark make a good Secretary of State?

[ludwigb]

Let's assume Clark isn't going to be the VP. I think Secretary of Defense would be perfect for him, but apparently he isn't eligible.

Would he be a good Secretary of State?

[WI_DEM]

1. I think Al Gore is better suited to be Secretary of State

but I think Clark will have some important post in the next administration.

[ashling]

2. why isn'r he eligible?

for defense?

[BootinUp]

3. Have to be retired from service for 10 years

apparently. Wes retired in 2000.

[ashling]

7. well I guess that shows

my ignorance.
Well, Ornery Hatch wants to fix it so his friend the Austrian-steroid poppin - Beefcake can be president.

I think we could work it out, don't you?

:shrug:


:

[tameszu]

43. Nah, I don't think Hatch is scheming for Ah-nold

I actually think the Amendment is a good idea--and in any case, Jennifer Granholm would be our Answer to Ah-nold. She'd slap him silly...

[jmaier]

4. Clark has impeccable credentials

as Secretary of State: the years in the NATO command which is basically a political/foreign relations position. His work on the Dayton Accords. He is actually very well trained for this position. I'd be happy with this.

[BootinUp]

5. I think so. He showed he has diplomatic skills required

both at the Dayton Peace Accords and in his ability to help keep together a coalition in the Kosovo war. He was endorsed for President by 55 ambassadors. someone will post the list I am sure.

[ludwigb]

6. Do you think

that Clark wants the job though?

[BootinUp]

9. I do think he wants to be very involved

I am sure he is giving it a lot of consideration and discussing it with his family.

[tishaLA]

8. No. He's "unbalanced" and he

practices "mind control." Oh and he announced his candidacy for President on the wrong day.

[maddezmom]

12. crap, guess he's not in the running then

:)

[incapsulated]

10. Yes, although..

He's probably in competition with Holbrooke for the position.

It's what I've wanted for him, once he dropped out.

 

[Shakespeare]

11. YES! Would rather see him at state instead of VP. n/t

[Nicholas_J]

13. Yup

I think Clark would be good in any cabinet position he was appointed to. Perhaps he would be best suited to be the Ambassador to the United Nations.

I do not think that Gore will be offered anything in a Kerry Administration.

[MrSlayer]

14. Not good, Great.

Clark is well liked and highly respected in the international community. He would be brilliant in this role if not VP.

[Adelante]

15. He would be an excellent SoS

No question about it. There is a question about whether he would pass muster with the GOP Congress, but if he did, look out! He would bring this nation back into the world community first thing in the morning.

[arewethereyet]

16. one caveat

IF IF IF IF IF the reports are true that he is a micromanager then this would be a bad trait in a Sec State. His ignoring of his bosses wishes in Kosovo is also a bad trait in that role. That job calls for carrying out policy that the Prez sets after private discussion.

Otherwise it would be interesting to compare him to Powell.

[Adelante]

20. In Kosovo

Clark was carrying out the president's policy. It was the Pentagon brass who tried to circumvent their commander in chief's wishes.

[arewethereyet]

22. He worked for the Pentagon

its not his choice to decide which orders to follow. And so his assignement ended prematurely.

[Donna Zen]

23. He did not circumvent orders

The orders came from Clinton-Albright and Shelton-Cohen disagreed. When Shelton-Cohen couldn't get Clinton-Albright, they got Clark. Simple.

Most of all, Ralston was due to be out of the service because there was no opening. Cohen and Ralston were drinking buds in DC, but Ralston had nearly blown his career because of an affair with a CIA agent. Cohen had just thrown a female officer out for the same sort of offense, but managed to save Ralston. The case caused a bit of a stink, but after a few years Ralston was back in good graces.

Shelton-Cohen sent the papers to Clinton claiming that Clark's tour of duty was up anyway that Summer, and this would move it by 3 months. Clinton signed the papers and by the time the lie came to light, it was too late. Ralston had the job.

Ralston now works for Cohen Assoc. a weapons lobby in DC. They are bastards. The worst part of this story is that Ralston "dropped the ball" and failed to hold the KLA to a disarmament treaty that Wes had brokered.

[Adelante]

25. I suggest you read

"War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals" by David Halberstam

"To End a War" by Richard Holbrooke

"A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" by Samantha Power

And if you would:

"Waging Modern War" by Wesley K. Clark

Clark was Commander in Chief, U.S. European Command (CINCEUR) reporting directly to the Secretary of Defense and working through the Joint Chiefs. Clark was Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) reporting to the Secretary-General of NATO and working through the U.S. State Department. In this second position he was responsible not to the Pentagon, but to the heads of state of the NATO alliance, including President Clinton.

While the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was Shalikashvili, the Pentagon favored a strong Balkans policy, as did the Clinton Administration and NATO. Clark had worked for Shalikashvili on the Joint Staff and Shalikashvili picked Clark as the CINC for the Southern Command and CINC for the European Command and SACEUR. Once Shalikashvili retired and Shelton came in, the military did not want a Balkans policy at all, no matter what Clinton wanted. Shelton was more interested in following what the Republicans in Congress wanted than what the Democratic President wanted.

Clark did his job and the generals screwed him. That's what happened.

[dogman]

28. He worked for NATO

This was his dilemma. He had many bosses plus he had to do what was morally right,prevent genocide. He did so well Clinton awarded him Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's truly a shame so many here cannot comprehend the true greatness of this man. He did this in service to his country not financial reward.

[arewethereyet]

29. he was on loan to NATO he worked for the Pentagon

thats why he wore the Army uniform, carried those stars and collects that Army pension.

Most soldiers learn early how this works.

[dogman]

31. That's the point

He had many bosses and managed to serve them all well. Everyone at the Pentagon spoke well of him as they stabbed him in the back to promote their man who was stuck without a job due to his morality problem. When your boss is a Republican whose party is trying to undermine your CIC you are liable to end up on the short end of the stick.

[arewethereyet]

34. you miss my point

soldiers are trained to know to whom they report. The Pentagon owned him and he ignored that basic fact. He should have let the Pentagon do battle with the rest of the domestic players and they taken that result to the NATO people, not bypass his superiors. He screwed up and got the expected consequence.

[dogman]

37. Heroes aren't trained.

He saved over 1.5 million lives. He accomplished his mission. They undermined him because they could not remove him outright. They were cowards and were also working with their GOP cohorts in Congress to undermine their CIC to whom they were to report. The CIC chose to let it pass so as not to embarrass himself with the fact he screwed up trying to cover his military weakness by appointing a GOP loyalist. Thank God a lightweight wont be in a position to make this same kind of error to cover his lack of qualifications.

[tameszu]

44. Clark never disobeyed anyone's orders as SACEUR.

Note that nothing of the sort was cited by either Shelton or Cohen when he was asked to step down 3 months ahead of schedule. All they had was praise.

And I don't really think you understand well how regional CinCs or SACEUR work. They don't merely "take orders" from the Joint Chiefs. They have such a massive range of duties and responsibilities that they have to figure out a huge amount of what to do by themselves. And they are certainly expected to voice their opinion to the JCs--they'd be useless if they didn't. The real story is that Shelton and Cohen didn't get along with Clark, and everyone has different stories about who's fault that is.

But if it was mainly Clark's fault, then Shelton and Cohen were lying then, because they in no way represented the dismissal in the way you have framed it. Sandy Berger and Clinton say they were duped into thinking that Clark's passage from duty was a standard administrative move. I think it says something that Shelton and Cohen had to lie--you don't usually need to lie if you're in the right.

[Bombtrack]

17. I prefur Fareed Zakaria, but he's a real longshot I guess. Clark'd make a

pretty good one though. Probably a better National Security Advisor.

[Adelante]

18. Yeah

National Security Advisor would be a nice fit for him, too.

[robbedvoter]

19. Ask Bill Frist&thugs how fast they'll reject him.

here's thugs at work when they were in the minority:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/confirmationcontrove
rsies.html
http://tinyurl.com/2479c


Bobby Ray Inman (1994)
Nominated as Defense Secretary
Bobby Ray Inman, a former admiral in the Navy, withdrew his
nomination as defense secretary in January 1994, apparently concerned
about inquiries into his past business dealings. At a news conference
announcing his decision, Inman accused his critics of
practicing "modern McCarthyism."

Admiral Inman was a stellar officer, with a LONG record of
distinguished public service. Sound familiar?

Tony Lake was a pretty decent, competent guy too.

I don't need to worry about that, because if he's not on the ticket, the cabinet won't change too much :-(

[Donna Zen]

21. Originally Clark studied hypothetical physics

and advanced math; however, while doing some research at the end of his sophomore year in a Russian language course for foreign policy paper , he spent some time in the old soviet union working from original documents. He said that it was then that he became interested in foreign policy and changed his major. He graduated first in his class with a Foreign Policy major. He was 18 when he made the switch.

When he was thirty-one he was sitting down to dinner with Rabin, and Clark talks about their conversation in one of his books. At about that time one of his superiors referred to Clark as one of a handful of foreign policy experts in the world. And his knowledge includes economics, culturals, and religion. Clark has negotiated far more than just the Dayton accords. Speaking only for myself, I had many misconceptions about what generals do, especially the smart ones.

But most of all I want to live in the vision that Clark has for the world. He believes that the budget for foreign aid should be equal to the Pentagon budget since it is much easier to win "hearts and minds" when you are building schools and hospitals in another country rather than dropping bombs on their relatives. In this regard, his proposals sound curiously like Kucinich's. Although many people from both the left and the right are calling for an increase in "soft power" and that is good news. Robbedvoter heard him speaking about this in NYC just the other night.

As for his micro-management, I believe it is mostly myth perpetrated by lesser minds that presented Wesley Clark with flawed plans. Clark tends to think outside the box. From the reports of those who actually worked on Clark's teams, there is one reoccuring phrase: he lifts you up. Hardly a term used for a micro-managing style.

Anyway, it won't happen. Holbrooke has the job. Holbrooke will certainly be an improvement...anything, anything, anything, will be an improvement.

[Dr Fate]

24. I want Clark to be a visible part of the Democratic Team...

Kerry needs to keep Clark close at hand, no doubt...

[Adelante]

26. I feel sure he will

One way or another.

[IndianaGreen]

27. Anybody is better than the pathological liar we now have

as Secretary of State. Powell has zero credibility, and we need someone that has excellent diplomatic skills and that is well liked, particularly with our former friends in Europe.

I think Wes Clark would make a fine replacement for Powell. Clark is extremely qualified!

[Donna Zen]

30. Thanks IG

that means a lot to me. Clark is a truth teller. It is his greatest strength and his greatest weakness in this fucked up country.

[IndianaGreen]

32. Clark is also well known and respected by the Europeans

I think he is the sort of individual we will need to repair all the damage that Bush/Cheney has done in the last 4 years.

[LeinesRed]

33. Bill Clinton-sec'y of state

Wes for VP

[dogman]

35. My personal choice

would be Director of Homeland Security. This post has not been properly set up under B***. Clark helped rebuild the modern Army. He has immense organizational skills. This is now a large bureaucracy and needs to function efficiently. It combines intel agencies and requires national and international diplomacy. The Director is involved in NSA. One of the most important things is that Clark knows dissent is patriotism and I feel he would do everything in his power to protect our Constitution while protecting our country.

[Adelante]

36. You know, dogman

I haven't paid enough attention to this idea. But you are on to something here. He'd be perfect.

[BootinUp]

38. I think he'd be the right

guy for that too.

[dogman]

40. Because B*** is so lame

this job has not been established as it should. Clark's ability to project into the future would be a great asset. If this country does come under further threat we need more than a bureaucrat to handle this. It's obvious the job has not been properly done to this point. Clark has said our National Security is of concern to him and he would do everything in his power to protect us and his own family.

[Adelante]

46. And at the Kerry endorsement

Kerry made a statement that Clark was going to be his guy on national security. I didn't hook that into homeland security at the time, necessarily, but it does work.

[Leilani]

41. That's a really interesting idea!

Clark is so good, & knowledgable, that I'm sure he'd be excellent in any position.

My thought for Homeland Security is Gary Hart; he's been studying the subject for ages now, & probably knows more on the subject than anyone else.

I really don't care where Clark winds up, as long as he continues to help our country, as he is doing now!

[Adelante]

42. Yes, Hart does know

But I was struck by the organizational point. Remember how Wes would be sent to these messed up army bases and he'd whip them into shape. Something like that does need to be done with homeland security. Somebody needs to set it up properly so that it works with civil freedoms. Wes the Wizard!

[dogman]

45. That's why I like Clark

B*** never wanted this and just rewarded a GOP pal. The criticisms are that it is slow to come to terms with it's functions. Clark has streamlined Army units to make them work better with less. I think he has the mind to grasp the problems and stay on top of the job at the same time. It would also put him right next to Kerry in analyzing intel.

[Leilani]

39. I think he would be excellent!

However, I think it will be Richard Holbrooke.

And I think Rand Beers will be at National Security. This is his field of expertise, & he is a Kerry advisor.