Wes Clark: McCain Doesn't Have the Right Kind of Military Experience To Be Commander-in-Chief

Source: National Review

On a just-finished conference call in which retired military leaders endorsed Hillary Clinton to be commander in chief, retired General Wesley Clark said John McCain's military experience is not the right kind of experience to command the nation's armed forces:



Speaking just after Clark, retired Admiral William Owens, former vice chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, said, "I would just say that I agree with Wes on that."

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vitally important for a president and Secretary of Defense have the intelligence and temperament to listen to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all military matters.

Dubya and Rumsfeld are perhaps the worst combination this nation has ever had in their positions.

It's a damn shame Wes isn't the one running.

A damn shame indeed.

the great divide between flyers and those on the ground. my uncles felt the same way and they fought in WWII. If you don't have dirt on your face, you can't know what a fuck up war truly is.

I betcha anything she'll pick Wes Clark as VP. Between them, there's nothing McCain can claim as an advantage to their team.

tide in her direction in Texas from the too-close-to-call situation we have now.

I worked on Clark's 2004 campaign from my home in Texas.

I hear, from time to time people mention Clark for the Democratic V.P choice. I myself wanted Webb from Virginia until I found out he voted for telecom immunity, I think Clark would be an alright choice. But I'd really love to see Feingold.........

Just as strongly as Feingold. But he would bring credentials to the ticket that Feingold wouldn't.

Welcome to DU, V.P Choice!

doesn't really give you the leadership experience that he's claiming. He's a FAR CRY from an Eisenhower!

that had Eisenhower's military experience. Wilson didn't, Roosevelt didn't, Truman didn't. Kennedy didn't. So fucking what. In the 19th century Grant had the most military experience of any President. Look at his administration. Lincoln had two months in the militia during the Black Hawk War, look at his accomplishments. Even Clark has no way the military experience of Eisenhower. Last time I checked, military experience was not a constitutional requirement for the office.

But correct me if I'm wrong.

accurate. And being "the most decorated" is actually highly subjective. Remember quality over quantity when it comes to decorations.

But number of medals do not necessarily denote competence. I have no doubt about General Clark's professional credentials. Nor do I doubt his competence. But medal count is not a very reliable way to evaluate the capabilities of military officers.

military experience gives him the best experience to be a President. I don't THINK the other Presidents you mentioned RAN claiming that qualfication.

But I do remember a recent Democratic Presidential candidate that touted his miliary experience as part of his qualification to be President. Having some experience in the armed services I believe goes in the plus column of qualifications, but it should never be the major factor is selecting a president.

I'm not saying he's perfect, I'm just saying he's great.

Then again I'd take Dennis Kucinich over Wes Clark.
He's damn near perfect.

Amen, fellow DU/DK'er!

:kick:

he did make statements on camera and in writing for the Cong, against the United States, but everybody is willing to ignore that. i cant ever ignore that he is willing to torture others the same way to extract the same lies he told the Cong.. there is something definitely wrong with that, mentally wrong

I'm sorry but you cannot fault Clark for reading statements at gunpoint.

If I were the Democratic candidate, I would credit McCain for standing for resisting Vietncong torture but caving to GW Bush. Then have surrogates make the appropriate correction. Translation, the man folds like a cardboard box under pressure.

right?

And I agree that he has caved to GWB and hasn't been held for it, but that's for later, right?

McCain was singled out in prison for especially bad (but nonfatal) treatment because he is an admiral's son. The Viet Cong were going to let him die of his crash injuries until they realized what a P.R. coup they had. So they gave him just enough medical care to allow him to survive, and then they started torturing him. They *really* wanted his confessions.

His book is an interesting read. Given that he's the repug candidate, we ought to follow Sun-tzu's advice: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

and he needed and received advice from others; they ALL need advice of one type or another. Isn't the question really about their judgment to seek and use GOOD advice? I think both of these appear able to have such.

I think Wes Clark has a relevant perspective by pointing out that only those involved in military planning like Colonel's and Generals really have the type of insight to second guess the joint chiefs. But when he's complimenting Hillary, he seems to contradicting himself. She didn't even have a security clearance.

Wes stuck his foot in his mouth on this one.

A very nice one two punch. Now if the Democrats can keep this up and avoid a civil war over the nomination we might actually win this thing.

just like I have called it BS on other forums when people try to use a similar tactic against Obama.
You dont need experience in war to be president nor do you need any prior government experience, it can help sometimes sure but you dont "need" either really to do a good job as president.
In fact our government is setup partly in such a way that anyone may run for the office so as to avoid a ruling class or atleast to mitigate any such attempts to establish such a thing.

Misread.

It will backfire, no doubt, and look like a belittleing of McCain's military bonafides, which one must acknowledge, are definitely there.

To ignore those credentials or to embrace Gloria Steinam's comments is not good politics.