Reply #26: I don't have direct quotes handy on all your questions

[Tom Rinaldo]

I do have one Clark made about Ike which I'll include below. I know I have heard Clark speak about the difference between Republicans and Democrats around the military budget. A point he always makes is that Republicans are in love with large Weapons systems; Elaborate, complex, very expensive and high tech approaches to war. Clark says he learned that it is the Democrats who care about our soldiers and seeing that they have what they need to do their jobs well, be kept safe, and have their families provided for. Clark thinks money is being wasted on ultra high tech weapons systems designed to fight against a global super power adversary that no longer exists, and the thing is Clark really knows where the bodies are buried.

New Hampshire Public Radio did a series of long free ranging interviews with Democratic candidates for President prior to the 2003 NH Primary. They were conducted by host Laura Knoy for the show, "The Exchange". She had each major candidate on twice, the first time explored background and general beliefs, the second time specific issues. This interview with General Clark was conducted on November 5, 2003, which was her first interview with him. It is still available to be listened to at their archive at:
http://www.nhpr.org/node/5339

At about the 35:30 point in the interview a caller asks Clark about Ike's comments on the military industrial complex. This is my hasty attempt to transpose those comments, not an official transcript:

"I think General Eisenhower was exactly right. I think we should be concerned about the military industrial complex. I think if you look at where the country is today, you've consolidated all these defense firms into a few large firms, like Halliburton, with contacts and contracts at the highest level of government. You've got most of the retired Generals, are one way or another, associated with the defense firms. That's the reason that you'll find very few of them speaking out in any public way. I'm not. When I got out I determined I wasn't going to sell arms, I was going to do as little as possible with the Defense Department, because I just figured it was time to make a new start.

But I think that the military industrial complex does wield a lot of influence. I'd like to see us create a different complex, and I'm going to be talking about foreign policy in a major speech tomorrow, but we need to create an agency that is not about waging war, but about creating the conditions for Peace around the world. We need some people who will be advocates for Peace, advocates for economic development not just advocates for better weapons systems. So we need to create countervailing power to the military industrial complex."

During this same interview Clark also made this statement:

"I think we're at a time in American history that's probably analogous to, maybe, Rome before the first emperors, when the Republic started to fall... I think if you look at the pattern of events, if you look at the disputed election of 2000, can you imagine? In America, people are trying to recount ballots and a partisan mob is pounding on the glass and threatening the counters? Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a political party which does its best to keep any representatives from another party — who've even been affiliated with another party — from getting a business job in the nation's capital? Can you imagine a political party that wants to redistrict so that its opponents can be driven out entirely?...it's a different time in America and the Republic is - this election is about a lot more than jobs. I'm not sure everybody in America sees it right now. But I see it, I feel it."

I urge people to listen to the whole interview if you want a better feel of who Wesley Clark is.