General Wesley Clark: Never Leave a Soldier Behind
Never Leave a Soldier Behind
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About
General Wesley K. Clark
Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley K. Clark is one of America's most distinguished retired military officers. During his 34 years in the U.S. Army, he rose to the rank of four-star general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander.
Born in Chicago in 1944, General Clark grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated first in his class at West Point in 1966. He also earned a Master's Degree from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
From 1997 through 2000, General Clark was NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Commander in Chief of the United States European Command. In this position, he led Operation Allied Force in Kosovo, which saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing without the loss of a single American soldier.
General Clark is a recipient of numerous military awards, including the Silver Star and Purple Heart. In August 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
General Clark is the author of the best-selling Waging Modern War and Winning Modern Wars. He was recently chairman of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm. He is former Chairman of the Board of WaveCrest Laboratories, a firm developing a breakthrough electric propulsion system.
Wes Clark and his wife Gert have been married for 36 years. They have one son, Wesley, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Astrid.
When you fight a war, there is one rule you always follow: you never, ever leave a soldier behind. For three years now, George W. Bush has been leaving our soldiers in the lurch and leaving our veterans behind. If you want to support the military as President Bush says he does, you don't send troops into a war without an exit strategy, and you always take care of those soldiers who fought in earlier wars. Mr. Bush has failed on both scores.
First, I opposed the war in Iraq,
but I am willing to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Bush was
right to go to Baghdad on Thanksgiving Day. But he should have brought
more than the turkey stuffing. He should have brought a success strategy
to Iraq, so that we can end the occupation, protect our troops and
eventually bring them home.
On September
11, 2001 terrorists attacked America. At first, the Administration
went after the terrorists and their state sponsors in Afghanistan.
I applauded that effort and, like many Americans, I was encouraged
by President Bush's determination. But then something happened --
a regular bait-and-switch. Instead of pursuing Osama
bin Laden and the Al Qaeda network, Mr. Bush turned his focus
on Iraq and went after Saddam Hussein.
Now we're in a mess in Iraq. We should be reducing our vulnerability to terrorism, but the Bush Administration has committed our troops and treasure to a misguided war. Saddam Hussein is a villain. We all know that. But he did not arrange to fly those planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Al Qaeda did. And Al Qaeda cells continue to threaten our society. This is not a good strategy for winning the war on terror.
After 9/11, the world stood with the United States in sympathy and solidarity. Today, our country is viewed as a bully. It didn't have to be that way.
Good things happen when you build bridges to your allies before you
start bombing the bridges of your enemy. When I was Supreme Allied
Commander in Europe, I often had to strategize with our allies. The
negotiations were often difficult and complicated. But in Kosovo,
we worked closely with our allies, and we were able to spread the
burden of the war and occupation. Because we did, our troops were
not alone the way they are in Iraq. Because we marched into Kosovo
with the support of the world, we did not lose a single American life
in battle. We stopped the genocide and saved 1.5 million Kosovars
from ethnic cleansing. And now the tyrant of the Balkans, Slobodan
Milosevic, is in The Hague on trial for war crimes.
My success strategy for Iraq builds on the lessons of Kosovo. I want to recruit NATO to participate in the military mission, so that our forces are free to go after the remnants of Saddam's regime and the terrorists who have entered Iraq. Our allies can help with patrolling the borders and policing the streets, so that our forces do the job they were trained for - defeating the enemy. As long as Al Qaeda is operative, we must take the battle to them.
Second, in the same way that President Bush has failed to end the war in Iraq or to find Osama bin Laden, he has failed in another special obligation he has as Commander-in-Chief. He has not provided for those men and women who wore our nation's uniform in the past.
Mr. Bush's misguided policies will lead to the loss of 6,000 beds in VA hospitals - while 235,000 veterans sit on waiting lists for VA care. Our veterans need more care, not fewer beds. My veterans plan will provide an additional $2 billion to fully fund veterans' health care.
My plan will also provide health insurance to the 20 percent of National Guard and Reserve troops who have no coverage when they are not on active duty. The contribution of National Guard and Reserve troops to our military efforts in Iraq demonstrate that we owe them a heavy debt.
We
must also reach out to our most vulnerable veterans - the homeless.
This Administration has done nothing but leave these veterans out
in the cold. In fact, because of Mr. Bush's deficits, many local governments
have even cut back their efforts to help the homeless improve their
lives. No veteran is truly homeless. They have a home - it's called
the United States of America. They fought for that home and I will
fight for them.
I will also make sure that disabled veterans have the economic security they need. Currently, 565,000 veterans are being forced to choose between the retirement benefits they earned and the disability benefits to which they're entitled. The Bush White House can spare billions in tax cuts for the rich, but they can't find the funds to take care of disabled veterans. That is wrong. In a Clark Administration, no veteran will have to forfeit either their disability or their retirement benefits. I support a full, fair, and immediate end to the concurrent receipt ban.
Today's soldiers are tomorrow's veterans. I share a common bond of service with every veteran and I will never leave behind a fellow soldier. There is no reason this country can't do a better job taking care of its current and future veterans. Together, we'll succeed in Iraq, take care of our veterans at home and put this country back on the right track.
Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley K. Clark is one of America's most distinguished retired military officers. During his 34 years in the U.S. Army, he rose to the rank of four-star general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander.
