Wesley Clark

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Wesley K. Clark

Wesley "Wes" Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944 in Chicago , Illinois ) is a General a. D. of the US Army . As Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), he was also Commander-in-Chief of NATO forces in the Kosovo war in 1999 . In 2004 he tried to run for the US presidential candidacy from the Democrats , but gave up after his moderate success in the primaries .

Early years

Clark's father, Benjamin J. Kanne, was a Democratic Chicago councilor, World War I veteran and lawyer. When Clark was four years old, his father died. The family is descended from Russian immigrants. At the age of seven, during the Cold War , Clark began learning Russian because he wanted to understand the other side. In 1954 his mother remarried and Clark was adopted by the new partner. He grew up a Baptist in Little Rock and went to public school.

Military career

In July 1962, at the age of 17, Clark went to the US Military Academy at West Point . Here he also met his future wife, Gertrude Kingston. He graduated from the academy in June 1966. As one of the best graduates of his year, he was able to choose his first assignment and chose the armored force . His senior year recorded the highest war casualties in the Vietnam War . Clark was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and was at Magdalen College of Oxford University to study philosophy, politics and economics. He completed this course with a master’s degree . He then completed basic training for tank officers at the US Army Armor School in Fort Knox and then the Army Rangers course at the Infantry School in Fort Benning .

Vietnam War

The following year, Clark commanded a company in the 4th Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Riley , Kansas . In May, at the height of the Vietnam War, he was posted to Vietnam . There he was an officer in the staff department G3 (operations) of the headquarters and the staff company of the 1st US Infantry Division . In January 1970, Clark was promoted to captain and took command of an armored infantry company, A Company, 1st Battalion, 16th US Infantry Regiment, 1st US Infantry Division.

In February 1970 Clark was four times by a sniper of the Vietcong made. He had injuries to his right shoulder, right hand, right hip, and right leg. Nevertheless, he managed to give orders to the troops, who then launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy. For this action he was awarded the bronze and silver star . Clark was flown out on the advice of the doctors to recover from his injuries. To this day he limps badly, but can usually hide that with success.

Further career

From May to September 1970, Clark commanded the C Company of the 6th Battalion, 32nd US Tank Regiment of the 194th US Tank Brigade in Fort Knox . He then led the 1st Battalion, 77th US Tank Regiment of the 4th US Infantry Division in Fort Carson until May 1971 . After this deployment of the troops he was transferred to Washington, DC and was in the office of the Chief of Staff of the Army as a specialist in the development program for the restructuring of the US Army into a volunteer army.

Major General Clark (1992)
Clark (left) as the new SACEUR with SFOR Commander General William Crouch in July 1997 in Bosnia-Herzegovina

He then completed the National War College , the Command and General Staff College and advanced training for tank officers, the Army Ranger course and the airborne school. From 1975 to 1976, Clark was a White House Fellow and served as special assistant to the director of finance. Later he was an instructor and assistant professor of social science at the US Military Academy.

Now he took over command of the 1st Battalion, 77th US Armored Regiment, 4th US Infantry Division in Fort Carson, Colorado and trained it there and in Germany. He became director of the Battle Command Training Program . During the Second Gulf War , Clark became commander of the US Army National Training Center and regrouped the three contingents of the 1st Cavalry Division, which were then deployed during Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait . From July 1992 to March 1994, he led the 1st U.S. Cavalry Division as major general .

Staff assignments

In 1994, Clark was promoted to Lieutenant General and Director (J-5) of Strategy , Planning and Policies on the Joint Staff . During this tenure, he secured the cooperation of the United Nations and the US Department of Defense in the invasion of Haiti . From June 1996 to July 1997, he served as the commanding general of the US Southern Command . He then took over the command of the US European Command from 1997 to 2000 and thus at the same time the post of Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), the Commander in Chief of NATO.

During the Yugoslav Wars in 1995, under the leadership of Richard Holbrooke , Clark represented the US military during the Dayton peace negotiations that were to mean peace for Bosnia and Herzegovina .

Clark during a press conference in 2000

During his service as SACEUR, the Yugoslav military withdrew from occupied Kosovo after a 78-day bombing - NATO troops under Clark's command eventually formed KFOR and took over the administration of Kosovo . Clark also testified in December 2003 during the trial of Slobodan Milošević before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague . However, his statement was examined by the US government before it was later published - a measure that was not applied to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's testimony . It was speculated that this action by the Bush administration was supposed to ensure that Clark did not get too much exposure or airtime, as he wanted to run in the US presidency primaries the following year. Clark's testimony before the Criminal Court was required because, in his capacity as SACEUR, he had conferred with Milošević for more than 100 hours during the Dayton negotiations.

Discharge

Clark was prematurely dismissed from SACEUR by Secretary of Defense William Cohen . This was due, among other things his command in June 1999 to the British NATO commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Jackson , the runways of Slatina airfield in Pristina to block the there after the withdrawal of Serbian forces arrived in the forced march Russian SFOR - Brigade from To isolate Bosnia and to prevent the Russian troops from being reinforced from the air by blocking the airfield (see also: “ Advance to Pristina ”). General Jackson refused the command by saying I'm not going to start the Third World War for you (dt .: "I'm not for you to World War III start"), thus preventing a possible military escalation with Russia , but also undermined the chain of command.

If Jackson had carried out the order without direct approval from London and British soldiers had been involved in armed conflict with Russian troops, he could have been dismissed for insubordination due to his dual role as Commander in Chief of British troops . On the other hand, to defy Clark meant a disobedience to a direct superior. The goal of blocking the airport runway was nevertheless achieved indirectly, as it was possible to prevent Russia from receiving airspace clearance from neighboring countries. The Russian brigade then had to withdraw because the supply of their 200 soldiers isolated there over land could not be guaranteed.

The dismissal is also seen as a response by the US administration to Clark’s open criticism of the Clinton administration’s refusal to use ground troops in the Kosovo war. In his book "Waging Modern War" Clark describes what happened as follows: He was informed by telephone in 1999 by General Hugh Shelton , the chairman of the United Joint Chiefs, that Secretary of Defense Cohen had decided to leave him in April instead of on At the end of his three-year service as SACEUR in July 2000. Clark explains that he did not understand why this decision was made. Because the SACEUR post was actually awarded for three years and then usually extended by a further year. According to Clark Shelton told him then that Joseph Ralston , the deputy chairman of the United General Staff , the only possible candidate for to fill the post was. And since his four years as vice chairman ended in February, the law requires him to accept a new appropriate post within 60 days, or Shelton must temporarily demote him to major general. Therefore, Clark has to leave his post earlier - he has held it for longer than average anyway. Clark writes about this in his book that he was sure that there would have been legal opportunities for him to serve his three years as a SACEUR. He was also aware that the remark about the average SACEUR length of service was incorrect.

Political and economic career

2004 US presidential election

After retiring from the US Army, Clark worked as a military and international relations analyst, including a commentator for CNN . In 2002 he began preparing for the 2004 presidential election .

In March 2003, the website "DraftWesleyClark.com" began a nationwide campaign to support Clark as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate . By August 2003, this campaign considerably developed and collected by this time nearly two million dollars in donations for the election campaign Clarks.

On August 13, 2003, CNN aired a commercial on the website and interviewed Clark. He denied any association with the support groups, but said he was considering standing as a candidate. He also fueled speculation by saying that he was a democrat. On September 17, Clark announced that he would run the primary election for the presidency. His election campaign picked up topics such as leadership and patriotism , which were evident in his résumé. Because of his steep military career, the press after September 11, 2001 saw him as more capable of foreign affairs than the incumbent President George W. Bush . Advisors and supporters portrayed him as the more eligible alternative to the other candidate Howard Dean .

The criticism of Clark began almost at the same time as he entered the election campaign. Originally portrayed as an antiwar general, he stumbled in the first days of his candidacy. It got through the press that he would change his answer to the Iraq war question or would not be able to give a concrete answer. This inability was tempered by supporters as a lack of experience in dealing with the media. It was only in 2003 that he joined the Democratic Party. He said that in previous elections he had chosen the Republican candidates like Nixon and Reagan , but of course also the Democrats Clinton and Gore . However, he was always a strong critic of Bush's involvement in the Iraq war, which Clark did not classify as part of the war on terror , but motivated by the oil wealth of the country and the region. In September 2002 he warned the House of Representatives Armed Forces Committee that the Iraq war was being waged by the Bush administration without a strategy for post-war Iraq and the stabilization of the region . In April 2005, Clark reappeared before that committee to make suggestions on how to deal with the occupation of Iraq . Members of both parties praised him for his far-sighted predictions about the expected costs and the foreign policy consequences of the war.

Clark was assisted by filmmaker Michael Moore , singer Madonna , former US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and many other well-known public figures. The Internet was increasingly involved in his election campaign. The site "SecuringAmerica.com", a system of blogs and Internet tools, brought him around ten million USD in the third quarter of 2003. That was more donations than any other candidate could raise in the same amount of time.

Clark focused on the New Hampshire primaries , neglecting the "Iowa caucusses" that took place earlier and in which politicians John Kerry and John Edwards stood out . This attracted media attention, and Clark was only third in the New Hampshire primary after Kerry and Howard Dean . Despite this failure, Clark decided to continue running, at least until February 3, 2004, when eight primary elections, mostly in the southern states , took place. In those primaries, he won in Oklahoma , making him the only candidate alongside John Kerry to win in a state that was not his home state. He also finished second in Arizona , North Dakota, and New Mexico , which meant he had more runners-up than John Edwards, who would later become a runner-up. After February 3, he toured Tennessee and Virginia - states he hoped would give him the boost he needed to stay in the race. However, after he was only third-placed in the following primaries in both states, he gave up his candidacy on February 11, 2004. A day later, Clark announced that he would support John Kerry in his election campaign.

After 2004

After receiving support from John Kerry, he became involved in fundraising and speaking out against the Bush administration and its policies in Iraq, wrote extensive editorials , appeared on various political rounds on television and founded a lobby group called WesPAC.

In June 2005, Fox News Channel announced that it had hired Clark as a military and foreign policy analyst. Clark takes the position that America's democracy must restore the separation of powers . In the hope of winning at least one chamber of the US Congress for the Democrats, he has supported numerous Democratic candidates with fundraising and election campaigns since 2004, especially in traditionally Republican-dominated constituencies.

In September 2006, Clark joined the Burkle Center for International Relations at the University of California, Los Angeles as a Senior Associate . There he wants to give seminars and moderate conferences on national security. In addition to English, he speaks fluent Spanish, some German and some Russian.

Insights into the Pentagon plans

In an interview on March 2, 2007 with journalist Amy Goodman for Democracy Now, Clark gave insights into the plans of the Pentagon in 2001. In connection with 9/11 , he spoke of a "political coup" in the USA. Ten days after 9/11 he was informed in the Pentagon that Afghanistan was to be invaded. Six weeks later, on another visit to the Pentagon, Clark learned from an officer of the General Staff that the war plans had since been expanded considerably. In addition to Afghanistan - which was approved by Clark - seven more states were to be attacked by the US and their governments destroyed in the next five years : Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Somalia and Sudan. The staff officer referred to a memorandum that he had just received from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. From this, Clark concluded: Everyone should be concerned about the "United States Strategy in the Middle East." He repeated this in a lecture to the Commonwealth Club of California on October 3, 2007. The states concerned Iraq , Syria , Lebanon , Libya , Somalia , Sudan and Iran .

Potential presidential candidacy in 2008

Initially, Clark was seen as a potential candidate for the 2008 presidential election . However, he supported Hillary Clinton's candidacy in the primary , which made his own candidacy very unlikely. In a radio interview that he gave before the primaries, however, he said: "I never said that I would not run. " ( I never said I won't run. ). In some Internet polls he was one of the most promising candidates, but in general surveys his name was only mentioned by a few percent of those questioned. After Clinton's withdrawal from the primaries and Barack Obama's nomination , Clark called on his supporters to stand behind Obama.

Activity in business

Clark sits in numerous boards of energy and security companies, such as in the internationally operating natural gas -Company BNK Petroleum or Envidity Inc . He is also the chairman of the lobbyists' association Growth Energy , an organization that aims to increase the use of ethanol , including as a fuel, with proportions of up to 15%.

Adviser to the Romanian Government

From July 2012, Clark worked as a special advisor to former Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta on economic and security issues. In his inaugural address, Clark emphasized the strategic importance of Romania's economic potential in the fields of energy, raw materials and agriculture. He performed this task on a voluntary basis.

Detention center for radicalized US nationals

On July 17, 2015, in an interview with MSNBC , Clark spoke out in favor of interning "alienating" US nationals who do not support the United States and who are "disloyal" in camps "for the duration of the conflict." He referred to the corresponding practices against supporters of Nazi Germany in World War II and called for corresponding legal changes in Britain , Germany and France . The occasion was an attack on an armed forces recruitment center in Chattanooga , Tennessee , on July 16, 2015. As a result, the blog techdirt accused him of attempting to "return to one of the morally darkest moments in American history."

Publications

Winning modern wars (2003)

In his review, Jason Burke from the Observer emphasizes that Clark's intelligent and well-informed book contained valuable military insights into the importance of logistics and the interaction between the air force and ground forces in his analysis of the Iraq war . He expresses biting criticism of the lack of planning for the post-war period. The second half of the book deals with his sustained attack on the conduct of the war on terror . Clark's statement is correct that the unilateralism of the Bush administration, the dependence on military power, the contempt for international law and its institutions were totally counterproductive and ran counter to everything that makes America great. Military power should be the last resort, said Clark, and can only be successful in conjunction with diplomatic, social, political, economic, cultural and development measures.

"America risks winning individual battles, even entire warring enterprises, but losing the war itself and itself."

Max Frankel of the NYT sees in Clark's publication the military turned into a presidential candidate at work, who polemicizes against Bush in party politics. The war in Iraq is rejected altogether, the US has used an excellent military performance on the wrong war instead of pursuing Al-Qaeda, which was able to spread in Afghanistan. Domestic economic needs have been neglected. The sympathy and support of the world after 9/11 have dissolved. Post-war planning failed. In 2003, Clark saw his strategy for the 21st century in a broader long-term program, which included fighting the root causes of Islamic terrorism, as well as economic and political development aid for reform programs in the Middle East.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

References

multimedia

literature

  • Clark, Wesley K. Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat . 2002. ISBN 1-58648-139-8 .
  • Clark, Wesley K. Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire . 2003. ISBN 1-58648-218-1 .
  • Felix, Antonia. Wesley K. Clark: A Biography . 2004. ISBN 1-55704-625-5 .
  • Gene. Wesley K. Clark (Retd): Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat. PublicAffairs, 2001 ISBN 1-58648-277-7 .
  • Gene. Wesley K. Clark (Retd): Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire. Public Affairs, 2004 ISBN 1-58648-043-X .
  • Gene. Wesley K. Clark (Retd) (Series Editor): Great Generals series. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.

Web links

Commons : Wesley Clark  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Interview with Wesley Clark (PBS.org, June 15, 2001, English)
  2. ↑ a b Confrontation over Pristina airport (BBC News, March 9, 2000, English)
  3. ↑ Deutsche Bank Research (page 8, November 24, 2003, English; PDF; 328 kB); Americas Nato commander to leave early (BBC News, July 28, 1999)
  4. ^ Wesley Clark: Waging Modern War, 2002, ISBN 1586481398 , pp. 408-412.
  5. ↑ What Wes Clark relieved of his NATO command? ( Memento of April 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (January 15, 2004, English); see also the “Retirement Regulations” section in the United States Armed Forces article
  6. ↑ See Wesley Clark in conversation with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now : "US General Wesley Clark - Libyan War planned for 10 years" , Youtube, (according to Frankfurter Rundschau of January 6, 2016, p. 19) March 10, 2007
  7. ↑ 2004 Presidential Race | OpenSecrets. Retrieved February 26, 2019 .
  8. ↑ WesPAC ( Memento from September 22, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  9. ^ Judy Lin: Gen. Wesley Clark to Join UCLA Burkle Center. Accessed February 26, 2019 .
  10. ↑ General Clark's Battles. The candidate's celebrated-and controversial-military career , The New Yorker, November 17, 2003
  11. ↑ Gen. Wesley Clark Weighs Presidential Bid: “I Think About It Every Day,” Democracy Now, March 2, 2007
  12. ↑ Wes Clark - America's Foreign Policy "Coup" , FORA.tv channel on Youtube, November 5, 2007
  13. ↑ Video "Clark supports Hillary Clinton". (ZIP; 33MB) (No longer available online.) December 5, 2007, archived from the original on January 9, 2008 ; accessed on February 26, 2019 (English).
  14. ↑ Web Poll Results. (No longer available online.) Www.chooseourpresident2008.com, archived from the original on October 21, 2008 ; accessed on February 26, 2019 (English).
  15. ↑ Unite Behind Barack Obama ( Memento June 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Presentation of Clark at Envidity Inc. ( Memento from June 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Corporate Governance | BNK Petroleum Inc. | TSE: BKX. Retrieved February 26, 2019 .
  18. ↑ General Wesley Clark Announced as Growth Energy Co-Chairman ( February 12, 2009 memento in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ Christopher Jensen: Ethanol Industry's 15% Solution Raises Concerns . In: The New York Times . May 8, 2009, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed February 26, 2019]).
  20. ↑ Press statements by PM Victor Ponta and General Wesley K. Clark appointed as Special Adviser to Prime Minister on security and economic strategy matters, at the end of the Executive meeting ( Memento of October 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ Retired US General Wesley Clark becomes an adviser to Romania's PM Victor Ponta. (No longer available online.) July 6, 2012, archived from the original on July 10, 2012 ; accessed on February 26, 2019 (English).
  22. ↑ More security at military centers? Accessed February 26, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Five dead in an attempt on military installations . In: stern , July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  24. ↑ General Wesley Clark: Some WWII-Style Internment Camps Are Just The Thing We Need To Fight Domestic Radicalization . In: techdirt , July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  25. ↑ Jason Burke: The Bush beater . In: The Guardian . November 23, 2003, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed March 1, 2017]).
  26. ^ Max Frankel: Wesley K. Clark's Warpath . In: The New York Times . October 26, 2003, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed March 1, 2017]).
  27. ^ Wesley Clark in Bearers of Estonia State Decorations
predecessor Office successor
George A. Joulwan Allied Supreme Commander Europe
1997–2000 		Joseph W. Ralston
personal data
SURNAME Clark, Wesley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clark, Wesley Kanne (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and former NATO commander in chief
DATE OF BIRTH December 23, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois