This is not something new for Wes Clark. He’s been calling out their plans for domino like regime changes in the Middle East for years now, and getting grief back from them because of it for just as long. That never shuts Clark up though.
Right out of the box, when Wes Clark first declared for President in 2003, the Right was all over him for even daring to mention PNAC. They treated it like a joke, with the joke on Clark. In fact the New York Sun tried to paint Clark as a wacko for focusing his attention on "a small Washington policy organization" in this story:
The New York Sun
Date: Oct 2, 2003
CLARK EMERGING AS AN OPPONENT OF REAGANISM
Candidate Derides Committee That Crafted Cold War Victory
By IRA STOLL Staff Reporter of the Sun
General Wesley Clark, the late entry into the race for the Democratic nomination for president, is making what critics called "bizarre," "crackpot" attack on a small Washington policy organization and on a citizens group that helped America win the Cold War.
In a Tuesday interview with Joshua Micah Marshall posted yesterday on the Web site talkingpointsmemo.com, General Clark gave his evaluation of the Clinton presidency. He said that the Clinton administration,” in an odd replay of the Carter administration, found itself chained to the Iraqi policy -- promoted by the Project for a New American Century -- much the same way that in the Carter administration some of the same people formed the Committee on the Present Danger which cut out from the Carter administration the ability to move forward on SALT II."...
... Relatively few American voters have even heard of the Project for a New American Century or remember the Committee on the Present Danger, so the flap is unlikely to sway many votes immediately. But if the interview contributes to a sense of General Clark as something of a loose cannon, that might have an effect on voters seeking a steady leader to guide the nation in the war against terrorism."
I can't find a working link to Clark's original interview with Josh Marshall, but I found one to Marshall discussing the New York Sun blow back:
Talking Points Memo
Josh Marshall
(October 02, 2003 -- 03:02 PM EDT)
I've made a point of not editorializing about my interview with Wes Clark. I'd rather just let the plain text speaks for itself (even my endless repetition of the word "obviously") and people can make up their own minds...
(LONG SECTION OF TRANSCRIPT DISCUSSING POLICY ETC. SKIPPED)
...But when you see these slashing words from the neocons against Clark, it's not because he's "confused" about anything. It's because he's got their number. And they know it. "
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/002044.php
And here is an amazing YouTube video of Wes Clark talking to a live FOX audience making the case for diplomacy and warning them of the dangers of going to war with Syria and/or Iran.
This is the money quote but the whole exchange is extremely powerful:
"Keep the force in reserve, otherwise you're just going to end up raising a 10 million man Army to invade the Middle East, and that's something we don't want the United States to do, and I don't think your viewers want all their children to spend the rest of their lives in uniform"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N79-4cyqfl0
And Clark is still fighting against the rush to war with Iran. Note this comment by Maxine Waters in reply to Chris Mathews on the February 7, 2007 episode of Hardball:
"Chris: Do you believe the President has the Constitutional authority to launch a war against Iran without Congressional approval?
Maxine: Oh absolutely not. As a matter of fact General Clark and some others saw this coming and they have been talking with many of us about directing our attention toward the fact that the President was moving toward Iran and so many of us are saying to the President through letters and through actions: Don't do it Mr. President! Don't. We believe that you should be involved with diplomatic efforts with Iran. We cannot afford to sustain this war in Iraq and Afghanistan and go into Iran and then take on Syria. This doesn't make good sense. We can't afford to do that."
Watch the video. Advertisement shows first.
Maxine Waters comes on at 7:17
Talks about Iran comes at 8:00 when Chris Matthews asks her specifically about Iran.
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?f=00&g=100d1b29-b00e-4078-a9b7-6e66af6eacfd&p=Source_Hardball&t=c1150&rf=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/&fg=
But if you want a real overview of the efforts Wes Clark has made over the years to avert an American war with Iran, I really urge you to check out this kos Diary. I’m telling you, it’s impressive:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/2/1/115124/5806
