Wes Clark: McCain Doesn't Have the Right Kind of Military Experience To Be Commander-in-Chief

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Byron York, NRO

On a just-finished conference call in which retired military leaders endorsed Hillary Clinton to be commander in chief, retired General Wesley Clark said John McCain's military experience is not the right kind of experience to command the nation's armed forces:

In the national security business, the question is, do you have — when you have served in uniform, do you really have the relevant experience for making the decisions at the top that have to be made? 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.

If you look at what Hillary Clinton has done during her time as the First Lady of the United States, her travel to 80 countries, her representing the U.S. abroad, plus her years in the Senate, I think she's the most experienced and capable person in the race, not only for representing am abroad, but for dealing with the tough issues of national security.

Speaking just after Clark, retired Admiral William Owens, former vice chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, said, "I would just say that I agree with Wes on that." (Note: Admiral Owens was appointed Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs in 1994 by Pres Clinton.)

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03/02 02:10 PM

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Reminder about General Clark and his NATO Command: British Gen. Michael Jackson as rightly refusing Clark’s order to attack Russian troops moving on the Pristina airport in Kosovo. At the time, Clark was Supreme NATO Commander and Jackson leader of all ground forces in the region.

“I won’t start World War III for you, sir,” snorted the tough British commander. When word of Clark’s instability reached Washington, even Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, managed to have the “moxie” to call Clark home early and “retire” him from the Army. No less than Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Army Chief of Staff, confirmed Clark had been “fired.” So we can all count ourselves lucky that the megalomaniac general has now left the political stage. Hopefully, for good. (Military Corruption.com)