Gen. Clark: Tillerson Should Get Tough Questions.

[elleng]

Former NATO Commander General Wesley Clark talks about President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Exxon Mobil Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets." (Source: Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-12-13/tough-questions-must-be-asked-on-tillerson-gen-clark

[Dream Girl]

1. And strongly worded letters?

[tenorly]

2. Voted for Gen. Clark in the '04 primary, I'm proud to say.

Ideologically, Dennis Kucinich aligned a little better with me; but I've always respected Clark's judgment and record - and I still believe he would have beaten the Shrub hands down in November.

Even with Blackbox Blackwell's electronic vote stuffing in Ohio.

[elleng]

3. So did I vote for General Clark in the primary, tenorly,

and have respected his judgment and record since I first became acquainted with him.

[Shemp Howard]

4. Wesley Clark almost started WW III.

Wesley Clark is a reckless fool, and an egotist. He should be shunned on general principles, and I will denounce him whenever I can. If it weren't for British general Mike Jackson (who refused to obey Clark's order to attack a Russian unit), we'd be in a shooting war with Russia.

Details here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_at_Pristina_airport

[elleng]

5. You are well UNinformed.

[Shemp Howard]

6. Not a very convincing counter-argument there, elleng.

But what is convincing is that Gen. Clark was relieved of his command shortly after the Pristina airport incident. Clark screwed up, and he almost started a war with Russia.

[elleng]

7. Confrontation over Pristina airport

'Details of Russia's surprise occupation of Pristina airport at the end of the Kosovo war are revealed in a new BBC documentary on the conflict. . .

. . .General Clark said he believed it was ''an appropriate course of action''. But the plan was again vetoed by Britain.

Partition fears

Instead, he asked neighbouring countries, including Hungary and Romania not to allow Russian aircraft to overfly their territory.

During the stand-off, Moscow insisted its troops would be answerable only to its own commanders.

Nato refused to accept this, predicting it would lead to the partition of Kosovo into an ethnic Albanian south and a Serbian north.

A deal on the deployment of Russian peacekeepers was reached in early July.

The Russians now operate as part of K-For in sectors controlled by Nato states, but are not directly under Nato's command.'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/671495.stm


U.S. General Who Led NATO to Retire Ahead of Schedule.


*But the White House and Pentagon officials who confirmed General Clark's impending retirement and his replacement by General Ralston characterized the change as a way to encourage General Ralston to postpone retirement and stay in uniform, rather than a maneuver to banish General Clark.

''Clark did a great job,'' the White House official said. ''He won the war, for God's sake!''

The Pentagon official offered a similar assessment. ''If this was in any way dissatisfaction with Clark, he'd be moved out long before,'' the official said.

Both officials, who said they are familiar with the events that began to unfold today, spoke on condition they not be identified.

They described the change-over as part of a series of moves involving high-ranking officers that will be announced in coming months. . .

The White House official said Defense Secretary William S. Cohen wanted to do something ''to keep Joe Ralston in uniform.''>>>

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/28/world/us-general-who-led-nato-to-retire-ahead-of-schedule.html

[Shemp Howard]

8. Gen. Clark had his reasons...

Clark felt that had the Russians kept control of the Pristina airport, it could have eventually led to a partition of Kosovo. Your post noted that. And so Clark ordered that the Russian units at the airport be disrupted.

But the NATO ground commander, British general Mike Jackson, saw things differently. Jackson favored negotiation over open conflict. Jackson said to Clark, "I'm not going to start the Third World War for you."

Events have shown that Jackson was right, and Clark was wrong. Jackson negotiated. There was no shooting, and there was no partition.

So I must put Clark in that category of tough-guy generals, very willing to shoot first and ask questions later. Those types of people get a lot of kids killed, and so I have no use for any of them.

I understand, and respect, that you probably see Clark in a different light.