Dear friends,
The discussion on General Wesley Clark's candidacy for President is well underway with FAIR's report on General Clark's extensive media comments before the Iraq war began. In the interest of informed discussion, I remember when Bosnia and Kosovo were being bombed senseless in the late 90s, a bill went through Congress seeking between 6 and 12 Billion dollars to upgrade NATO, for a new role as an offensive rather than defensive force. Congress passed the Bill at 12 Billion.

We didn't hear much about that war after the bill went through, if my memory serves me. The military industrial complex got their money! I also remember hearing and reading several commentators, in the US and in Europe, talking about the illegality and the wanton destruction of that war.

General Wesley Clark was in charge of that war. Anyone who thinks that General Clark is for "an American republic rather than an American empire" needs to check to see if their information can be sourced prior to the time Clark's campaign started. Otherwise, it may well be just political spin, trusting that we all suffer from short memories. Thank you FAIR!
Cheers,
Maireid

Wesley Clark:
The New Anti-War Candidate?
Record Shows Clark Cheered
Iraq War as "Right Call"
September 16, 2003

"The credibility of the United States is on the line, and Saddam Hussein has these weapons and so, you know, we're going to go ahead and do this and the rest of the world's got to get with us.... The U.N. has got to come in and belly up to the bar on this."

The possibility that former NATO supreme commander Wesley Clark might enter the race for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination has been the subject of furious speculation in the media. But while recent coverage of Clark often claims that he opposed the war with Iraq, the various opinions he has expressed on the issue suggest the media's "anti-war" label is inaccurate.

Many media accounts state that Clark, who led the 1999 NATO campaign against Yugoslavia, was outspoken in his opposition to the invasion of Iraq. The Boston Globe on September 14 noted that Clark is "a former NATO commander who also happens to have opposed the Iraq war." " Face it: The only anti-war candidate America is ever going to elect is one who is a four-star general," wrote Michael Wolff in New York magazine (9/22/03). Salon.com called Clark a "fervent critic of the war with Iraq" (9/5/03).

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