Soldiering on for Wesley Clark

The Sunday Times of London reports:

SOME of America’s most senior military commanders are prepared to resign if the White House orders a military strike against Iran, according to highly placed defence and intelligence sources.

Yesterday I wrote,

There is no doubt at all that many many people who could have made a difference [during the Vietnam era], chose not to, and lived to regret it.
I only hope the generals in the Pentagon today won't look back in ten or twenty years and feel the same way.

How ironic that just this morning on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, I hear David Margolick, the author of a new article in Vanity Fair about the generals who spoke out to call for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation in April 2006.

Particularly striking is a quote from Lieutenant General Greg Newbold, who was the Director for Operations on the Joint Staff in 2002. Describing a pre-invasion planning meeting where Rumsfeld had "summarily dismissed [a 500,000 troop estimate because s]urely 125,000 would suffice," Newbold now says,

"I should have had the gumption to confront him. The right thing to do was to confront, and I didn't. It's something I'll have to live with for a long time."

In an interview on Democracy Now! last week, General Clark spoke about closing the prison at Guantanamo and repealing the Military Commissions Act:

AMY GOODMAN: General Clark, do you think Guantanamo Bay should be closed?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK: Absolutely.

AMY GOODMAN: If Congress cut off funds for the prison there, it would be closed. Should they?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think the first thing Congress should do is repeal the Military Commissions Act. I’m very disturbed that a number of people who are looking at the highest office in the land have supported an act which advertently or inadvertently authorizes the admission into evidence of information gained through torture. That's not the America that I believe in. And the America that I believe in doesn't detain people indefinitely without charges. So I’d start with the Military Commissions Act.

Wes Clark is the last American general to win a war, one that was fought entirely within the framework of a true international alliance, and resulted in not a single allied combat casualty. He is also a veteran of counterinsurgency warfare in Vietnam, where he was wounded four times while commanding troops in battle, and awarded both the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions which saved the lives of his men under enemy attack.

Jon Soltz is a veteran and former captain, who completed a tour in Iraq, served with General Clark in Europe, and.returned from the Middle East to organize VoteVets.org, an organization dedicated to electing veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to Congress, and in helping candidates pledged to support the troops, both those deployed and the returning vets who are dependent upon military and VA medical care. VoteVets.org produced and aired a number of effective ads during the 2006 election cycle, probably the best known of which is the Body Armor ad which helped defeat Senators George Allen of Virginia, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and Jim Talent of Missouri.

Together, they have recorded this video where they tell us about the military implications of an attack on Iran, both from a general's strategic perspective, and a captain's tactical experience.

I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch.
Then sign up to help Stop the Iran War. While there's still time.

Iraq War veteran Jon Soltz introduced General Wes Clark last night at a New York City forum sponsored by Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century. The two of them have worked closely together on many projects, the most recent being an effort to stop a war with Iran before it starts.

But what struck me most in the former Captain Soltz' introduction, as reported by Bouldin at his Daily Gotham blog, was the description of this event:

[When Jon] came back from Iraq, he was approached by a veteran of World War II, asking to shake his hand. This veteran of an earlier war had in turn once shaken the hand of a veteran of the Civil War; and that man long before had once, when very young, shaken the hand of a man who had taken part in the American Revolution. That's an unbroken chain of patriots who fought for everything this country holds dear, going back to the founding. It is precisely this tradition of honorable service that is today being dragged through the mud by the cabal of draft-dodgers in the White House.

"An unbroken chain of patriots... dragged through the mud by a cabal of draft-dodgers. "

That's exactly right.

Spooks. Intelligence collectors. Agents and handlers. Interceptors and radar operators. Long range reconnaissance. First in and last out of any war zone, potential or actual. Out in front of friendly defenses. Sometimes under cover, without uniforms and therefore, without Geneva Convention protection.

But even when they don't wear uniforms, they serve our country and protect our freedoms. They do it for little pay, often no recognition at all, and sometimes at risk of making the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duty.

The first American casualty in the War on Terror was CIA operative Mike Spann. And over forty years before, the first American to die in Vietnam was Army Specialist James T. Davis a signal intercept operator working under cover for the National Security Agency.

So no one, NO ONE, can claim to support "the troops" and not give a damn about the men and women who collect the intelligence that lets the rest of the troops do their jobs.

But that's exactly what I heard from Republicans on the House Oversight Committee last week as they questioned witnesses concerning the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson.

Ok, not really,

But last night (and a good seven hours after I posted "Spooks are troops too"), I was taken by surprise to hear Maher deliver a scathing denouncement of Bush, Cheney and Rove for what they have done to Valerie Plame Wilson, and of all the Republicans who don't seem to think it matters.

Maher specifically said, "CIA agents are troops," and described just some of the sacrifices and contributions Plame has made for this country.

He called Bush and Cheney traitors.

Update: Thanks to "SundayTalk" at YouTube for this clip, which is slightly better quality than the one first available from "joriet2" used earlier. Both are greatly appreciated.

In the March issue of Washington Monthly, General Wesley Clark offers a comprehensive prescription on how the Bush administration could avoid a war with Iran, assuming they really wanted to. Well, also assuming they had the diplomatic competence and credibility to follow the General's recommendations successfully. I don't consider either assumption a given.

But anyway, I don't really have anything to add to the original (duh), but I'd be remiss if I didn't post at least a link in this blog, since it's precisely the sort of information this blog was created for.

So follow the link and read the whole editorial. It's not easy reading, but it's worth your time. I'll give away the ending early (a habit from teaching Army CASCubans to keep their BLUF -- bottom line up front).
War is not inevitable. But...

Richard Power writes in his "Hard Rain Journal 3-30-07"

A Call to Conscience and Common Sense from Gen. Wes Clark, and an Update on the War OF, BY and FOR Terrorism By Richard Power

In 2002 and 2003, during the ramp up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I wrote that although it was immoral (i.e., in violation of the principles of just war) and illegal (i.e., in violation of the UN Charter), it was something even worse, it was stupid. For the last two years, I have been writing that a preemptive, unilateral attack on Iran would be something worse than stupid, it would be insane.

Yes, the danger of a regional war in the Middle East, or even all out World War, is high. No one is doing more to prevent this potential catastrophe than retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander, who like Al Gore, has grasped that there is something more important than the business of politics as usual.

I invite you to continue reading Power's commentary at his "Words of Power" blog.