Clark: McCain A Hero, But Lacks Command Experience

WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former Democratic presidential candidate now supporting Barack Obama, said Sunday John McCain's military service does not automatically qualify him to be commander in chief.

Underscoring during a national television appearance a position he has been expressing for several weeks, Clark said performing heroic military service is not a substitute for gaining command experience.

"In the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "It's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war.

"He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn't held executive responsibility," Clark said. "That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded _ that wasn't a wartime squadron."

Moderator Bob Schieffer, who raised the issue by citing similar remarks Clark has made previously, noted that Obama hadn't had those experiences nor had he ridden in a fighter plane and been shot down. "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president," Clark replied.

In a March conference call with reporters while he was still backing Hillary Rodham Clinton, Clark said: "Everybody admires John McCain's service as a fighter pilot, his courage as a prisoner of war. There's no issue there. He's a great man and an honorable man. But having served as a fighter pilot _ and I know my experience as a company commander in Vietnam _ that doesn't prepare you to be commander in chief in terms of dealing with the national strategic issues that are involved. It may give you a feeling for what the troops are going through in the process, but it doesn't give you the experience first hand of the national strategic issues."

He reiterated that position last week in an article on The Huffington Post Web site.

"If Barack Obama's campaign wants to question John McCain's military service, that's their right," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said after Clark's appearance Sunday. "But let's please drop the pretense that Barack Obama stands for a new type of politics. The reality is he's proving to be a typical politician who is willing to say anything to get elected, including allowing his campaign surrogates to demean and attack John McCain's military service record."

Comments

[notepad2]

Liberal hero Clark;


.... the Clinton administration relieved him of his command two months early ... was blocked from sending paratroopers to Pristina airport to pre-empt an unexpected Russian advance. Lieutenant-general Sir Michael Jackson overruled General Clark because the British commander did not want to spark a clash with the Russians. "I'm not going to start Third World War for you," General Jackson told the US commander


"General Wesley Clark was involved in the siege and final assault near Waco, Texas that killed, by a combination of toxic gas and fire, at least 82 people including some three dozen women, children and infants."
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/clark.htm

[GHENT007]

If anybody has the creds to be president its general clark!!! i'm praying that barak pickes him as VP mccain cant come close to his experience and leadership qualites, trying to blow smoke up the american peoples ass will backfire!!! lets let them know that in nov!!!! MCCAIN IS NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT!!

[GHENT007]

General Wesley Clark is totally right, john mccain is not qualifed to be president, simply having been shot down, does not qualify him to be president of the united states, if he was held in a prison in vietnam and didnt escape, then he's not reliable, if he does not know the diference between shea and sunni again he's not reliable, and just yesterday he's confused abot 2 north afrcian nations, his best years were spent in vietnam we dont want leftovers for president!!

[eden4barack08]

All war veterans are heroes AUTOMATICALLY qualified to be presidents, so long as they're not Democrats. That's in the neo-cons mantra.

As for a 4 Star General being a Democrat? Oooooooohh, they HATE that, just HATE it!

[ApolloniaCreed]

I haven't spoken to a person who thinks Gen Clark was wrong. And since Gen Clark was not referencing Sen McCain, but the charge by Bob Scheiffer that Barack Obama has not been "shot down"; this whole thing is a media concocted false argument.

[isisdawnra]

ApolloniaCreed!

Thank you for saying exactly what I've been thinking!

When the words left scheiffers lips , I knew where this was going.

I cant believe that it's the..... media!..... that dictates what we're supposed to think in this country of freedom.

What a Joke! That is........... the media!

[eden4barack08]

BINGO

[joeinvt]

The MSM "Clintonized" and "Gored" Clark's comment, i.e. took it out of context to give it a negative connotation like they did with Bill's "fairy tale" remark and Gore's "Internet" comment, etc. Watch out. They will continue to do it again and again. Obama did what he had to do in the way of damage control, but Clark's "response" to Schieffer"s question was corrcet and straightforward and bears no resemblance to the Swift-boating of Kerry in 2004.

[milo9]

Undercutting McCain's "hero" status is not going to yield anything worth a damn. It was a dumb move on Wes 's part. WTF is wrong with the leadership class?

[barackobama4prez]

but you have to admit, it's a legitimate debate. what the hell else are we supposed to be doing during an election? We have to question BOTH nominees to see their strengths and weaknesses so we can decide how we want to vote.

[peacekitten]

it would have been if that's what general clark actually did. but he didn't.

[watchTVgetSTUPID]

I am tired of the the last 20 years of "Good Cop Bad Cop" routine. I am voting for real change I can believe in.

If Obama picks someone like General Clark for his Veep, then I will know he is serious about change. Anyone the propaganda machine tries to defame like they did to General Clark today is someone who truely represents change. They are afraid of him.

[Dane1911]

Wow, let me find out the Repubs are scared. LOL>.They never been attacked like this before. Obama has boosted everyone egos in teh Democratic Party....THere confidences are on point this time around. They are responding to the Democratics...LOL..I like this...McCain seem so nervous talking about this morning in his press conference in Harrisburg Pa.

[JeanPaulSatire]

Without commenting on the substance of what either Clark or Black said, how the two candidates handled those situations tells us a lot about their character.

Mc Cain't responded tepidly with a bewildered "I cannot imagine why he would say" that and no one from his campaign rejected Black's remarks. One could practically hear the nodding and winking. It's unlikely that, given the passage of time, Black will be asked to resign from the campaign as one of its top, paid advisers.

Contrast that with how Obama reacted: he specifically honored Mc Cain't for his service and said patriotism should not be made into political issues. Moreover, his campaign immediately indicated that it rejected the comments made by Clark. Bear in mind, too, that Clark does not have an official, paid role in the Obama campaign.

John "Ace" McClone represents business and politics as usual -- including the utter lack of accountability that W ushered in. Barack Obama represents a new, straight-forward approach in which those in power (or wish to be) must be responsive and responsible.

[pupbayer]

I absolutely agree with what Wes Clark said but I'm not sure that McCain ever said being a POW qualified him to be President. Did McCain ever say that? If so, I'd love a link. If not, this is because O's camp is afraid McCain's being a POW will make him seem more patriotic or something? I'm not really sure I get the point here?

As for Wes Clark, I've always kind of liked him. I know with him everything is about Wes Clark. I have a couple of friends who are West Point grads and career Army and they say he is not respected in the Army. I've never been a fan of the military establishment so that doesn't sway me much. I'm more unimpressed that he was a Fox News analyst.

[ricchase]

It is a sad state when speaking the truth becomes a disqualifier. There are so many truths that could and should be spoken today, but hypocrites and fear, bordering on cowardice, stand in the way. And what is worse is when the person in which the spoken truth was intended to help, then denies you.

[Gary47]

Wes Clark is not only right, his voice is exactly what's needed in this campaign. McCain's been getting years and years of hero-worship from the media regarding his military experience, but it is totally irrelevant to the Presidency. His being in a POW camp is a tragedy, period. I feel bad for him, but it's silly to think he gets to add it to his resume.

[pearbrandy]

Clarke is right. How exactly does having minor military leadership experience and being a POW equip you to tackle the following critical 21st century governance issues:

Climate change
Energy policy (peak oil)
Universal health care
Education
Judicial reform (fascist supreme court)
Lobbying and donor reform
Iraq war profiteering (est. $56 BILLION of US taxpayers money defrauded by Haliburton (ie, Dick Cheney)
Bringing peace and stability to the Middle East
Directing misdirected military policy at the REAL problem: Afghanistan

Answer: It does not automatically equip you with the experience to handle any of the above.

But it sure does help if you want to keep a warmonger who voted for Iraq in the whitehouse to ensure Haliburton's profits continue to rise at the expense of US lives and taxpayers.

And no-one has mentioned McCain's violent anger management problem yet.

[youknowwhat]

To me the Republicans are getting their own game run on them. Say something controversial to get it in the news cycle. Sit back and observe the mayhem while that controversy hangs in the air. Never apologize or give a half assed one. Leave that thought of what you said for everybody to see and smell. To the Repubs it doesn't matter if it's the truth or not, and it's usally a lie. The difference from what the Republicans do and what General Clark said is that the Republicans lie. What Clark said was the truth.

[jeanrenoir]

Exactly right. All praise to Gen. Clark for telling the truth about McCain's wildly inflated reputation as a potential "commander," with no commanding experience. Attacks on McCain inflation will be much more telling when they come from the mouth of Jim Webb as Obama's VP. This whole line of attack needs to be directed at "hard-working, WHITE" male voters in Appalachia and elsewhere. And attacks like this go down much better with those voters when they are made with a kind of irony those guy understand, as Webb does since he comes from that background, but which Clark has been trained out of, if he ever possessed it in Arkansas in the first place. This is no criticism of Clark. I'm just looking forward to the relentless Agnew-like attacks from Webb--but, like Clark's, totally different from Agnew and later Republican Swift Boaters because they'll be TRUE. Thanks God Axelrod and Co. are well-armed this time to fight it out with the Republicans. This in itself will raise Appalachian male respect for Obama, just as it did for Hillary, no favorite of Appalachian men until she became a relentless fighter. Remember the key titles of Webb's books: Born to Fight and A Time to Fight. This is a message Appalachian males get and appreciate. It's something they know something about in Chicago, too, I hear. Good: Bring it on!