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

[kellygrrrl]

I really wish 0bama did not feel the need to apologize for the truth!

[KathyIndiana]

Wes Clark is right. I have never understood why getting shot down makes you a war hero; it certainly doesn't qualify someone for president. I don't denigrate his military service, I just don't think it qualifies him for the highest office in the land.

[Grunty1]

If there is one thing that the GOP is good at, it is using our military as a human shield to cover their own @$$es.

[gladys46]

Yeppers ... home and abroad!

[kellygrrrl]

they're also really good at Projecting all of their own weaknesses onto their opponent

the weird thing is how many people fall for it

[Justis]

Christ, I'm sick of this. I thought we'd determined that miltary service under enemy fire wasn't a qualification for office after the cretin ran in 2000 and 2004. All you had to do was put on the flightjacket with the XXL codpiece and that was enough.

[DavieB36]

ELITIST= " a select group of people with outstanding personal abilities, intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes.

It would be nice to have an elite president again.

"McCain showed his patriotism by volunteering to serve his country"

The only reason he volunteered was because of his father and grandfather. McCain has said that he wanted to go to Princeton not the academy.

"He showed his courage by serving in a combat unit"
correct me if I am wrong but is that not the point of being a fighter pilot and if he was not qualified to fly one does that make him courageous or stupid.

John Sidney McCain III should have never been allowed to graduate from the U.S. Navy flight school. He was a below average student and a lousy pilot. Had his father and grandfather not been famous four star U.S. Navy admirals, McCain III would have never been allowed in the cockpit of a military aircraft

None of the awards, less the DFC, were for heroism over the battlefield " where he spent no more than 20 hours. Two Naval officers described the awards as "boilerplate" and "part of an SOP medal package given to repatriated (Vietnam- era) POWs"

[mediamarv]

Can we draft Clark for president after all???

The real straight shooter... McWalnuts is a poser.

Clark/Powell has a nice ring to it.

[eden4barack08]

Clark YES, Powell NO.

[AmHope]

Oh, come on, Barack. Gimme a break. You're being ridiculous now. General Clark is right on target; and he expressed it fairly. Please don't throw your honesty "under the bus" now. Or is this pandering? I can't back you on this one because you are wrong. I hope this isn't what you have in store for us over the next few months. Where is the Barack Obama of, say, two months ago? Right is right, and you know it. McCain has been shamelessly using his POW status as leverage throughout this election whenever he got a chance--just the way Rudy Giuliani was using 911. We can still call McCain out on it without denigrating his service to our country. He's not immune to certain criticism just because he was a POW.

[axt113]

You must be new to our political system, it doesn't matter if its the truth, it matters if the topic can be spun into an attack on the cantidate, and Obama would have been hammered on this issue

[DCtrain]

Clark is correct.. yes John McCain did go through h-e-l-l in Hanoi, but I think Clark is right.
McCain really doesn't have a rudder.. his rudder is whatever the Rublican's want to hear.
Also, his record is basically that he dumped his faithful wife for a rodeo queen. Apparently,
when he got back to the states that McCain was on the hunt for a new love from pretty much
the get go.. the frat boy in him survived Hanoi. He's also cultivated a mean-spirited disposition
over the years, that has come out on even those close to him. Didn't he call his current wife
names in public, names that most people would not say unless they were on leave in Olongapo
City (prostitution town in the Phillipians). Also, McCain through the Hanoi Hilton has developed
serious psychological problems. Apparently if someone jingles change in their pocket, McCain
will freakout (it is said that the gaurds at the Hanoi Hilton would do that to taunt the prisoners).
We don't know what other triggers would cause McCain to go off and freak out. Do you want him
making policy for women? Do you want him dealing with 'enemies'? Do you want his finger on the button?

[Myshkin57]

Clar k is absolutely correct. M cC ain's military service does not make him qualified to be commander-in-chief. My father was in the Navy, but he's not qualified to be commander-in-chief. so why is Mc C ain?

Mc C ain served honorably and has made an extraordinary life for himself in spite of his time as a POW and that's definitely admirable. The ability to do that may make him someone who has some characteristic that indicates he may be a good leader. But his military service is not the type of military service that would qualify him to command the military more than anyone else.

[Eric8869]

The interviewer said "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" and Clark repeated it. Why is nothing ever given in CONTEXT.

[Daisy1111]

Can someone tell me what level of "Commad Experience" Senator "O" has to offer?

I mean other than commanding troops of paid bloggers.

[gladys46]

"paid bloggers" .... am being slighted here!!?

[Grunty1]

When has O'bama run a campaign based completely on non-existant military experience?
Oh right, Mc'Cain is doing that...

[qdog112]

"tell me what level of "Commad Experience" Senator "O" has to offer? "

Barack is not banking on his military record to carry him. This is supposedly McCain's area of expertise. Everyone knows Barack did not servie in the military. If this is your strong suit, then let's hear it or don't claim it.

[DavieB36]

The difference is that Obama never made claim to having command experience John McCain is trying to make that his central campaign theme.

[CammyV]

Thank you General Clark, for verbalizing a fact that too many people are afraid to say, lest they are thought to be diminishing McCains capitivy in service. We can all respect his bravery and dedication to duty, but this does not qualify him to be President any more than does being a Jr Senator.

[helonias]

Hmmmmm, my cousin who enlisted and flew Hueys in Vietnam and was shot down, told me of the horrors of that war and that he would driver me to Canada if I got drafted. He is a hero to me.

[llmitchellb]

OMG Why did he do this? I know he's trying to go at his strength in Rove fashion, but for God's sake, this was stupid. I'm a democrat and am embarrassed by this. I think McCain is a hero and going this way is the 3rd Rail. I know what Clark is getting at, but the world links anything in the military as John McCain's to his POW experience.
Stupid.

[DavieB36]

Please tell me what makes him heroic.

[gladys46]

Seems Mc wants to have that POW experience and eat it too ... torture ... he sides with Bu$h on its definition!!

[NotMcCain]

McCain served 20 days before he was shot down. He was a POW for over 5 years and survived terrible conditions.

Clark said McCain was heroic and said he appreciated his service. But he correctly pointed out that being a POW does not give anyone military expertise or foreign policy credentials.

McCain has repeatedly (with MSM help) implied he is somehow more qualified in military and foreign policy knowledge because of being a POW.

General Clark's point, as a 30 year career officer, four-star general, and American hero himself? That that claim doesn't even make sense.

The media should stop spinning McCain's POW experience as if it prepared him to be President of the United States. IF he's prepared with military and foreign affairs knowlege, its from his time in the senate. That's. It. Not being a POW.

General Clark made a good point. And I hope, if nothing else, Barack Obama will issue a statement respecting GENERAL CLARK'S right to an opinion on mliltary matters and how they relate to knowledge for governing.

[FOTH]

No, it wasn't stupid, it was calculated. Chances are very strong Clark will not be the VP choice so he is the "attack-dog" going after the Senator from Arizona. Clark is the only guy in the Dem camp with the Credentials to critique McCain in this area. I think it's a brilliant move as Obama gets to condemn Clark's remarks and look clean. Damage is done to McCain with little blowback to Obama.

[riverhouse]

Everyone, including O*bama, parrots the hero line re M*Cain. I don't find anything 'heroic' about M*Cain in particular. Is there something more 'heroic' about M*Cain's service than that of any other veteran who went to Vietnam?

[ColoradoAngryRU]

Exactly!! What makes him so special. There were plenty of POWs during Viet Nam. Should they all run for POTUS? On second thought surely there is someone in that group that would be more thoughtful regarding the idea of going to war for oil.

[gladys46]

Kerry ... a decorated Nam hero was swiftboated by these same idjitts who want Clark to retract his statements! I think not!

Mc, tell us what makes your POW and/or military status qualify you for POTUS!!








Gladys Hussein O in 08

[Myshkin57]

He was offered release from a POW camp and refused to leave until the other prisoners were released as well. For whatever else you say about him, I do think that's a pretty heroic act.

[SFkid]

and what about the POWs that killed civilians by dropping bombs on women and children during that war. Are they considered heroic?