Blog For Arizona

Looks like Dean will not be the sole anti-war candidate for much longer.

Retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, asserts the United Nations must step in because "there is no legitimacy for the American presence and they are not building one."

"The issue to me has been that we have known for a long time that Osama bin Laden is a problem. The difficulty was always to mobilize the American people and bring enough comprehensive pressure to bear to do something against terrorism. Well, 9-11 did that. But the administration has squandered a lot of the international goodwill that came our way after the attacks and is now squandering our domestic energy by forcing us into Iraq."

The Bush administration's mistake in Iraq, says Clark, is one of priorities. "They picked war over law. They picked a unilateralist approach over a multilateral approach. They picked conventional forces over special-operations forces. And they picked Saddam Hussein as a target over Osama bin Laden."

If Clark enters the race, he will likely be considered a 'serious' candidate, regardless of his initial bankroll. It is ironic that Clark has said, and will be saying almost the same thing as Dean- yet no one questions that he is serious on defense, no one characterizes his positions as in any way weak on defense.

Some might see Clark as a threat, he has some advantages- fairly good name recognition, being a General in a time when people feel insecure, having Clinton's endorsement... all good things. But I see him as an opportunity. His candidacy will position Dean's views as the smart views, his positions being almost identical to Dean's will make people see that Dean is a prodigy of sound military thinking, not just an "anti-war" candidate. A Clark candidacy will be a huge boost for Dean, not a detriment.

In fact, Clarke has already made it clear that he would be open to a VP or Sec Def nod. I think Clark will be a huge asset for Dean's campaign in almost every way and might possibly play a role in a Dean Administration. Heck, Dean would be smart to call Clark, encourage him to run, and slap the maximum donation on Clark's campaign.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 7/03/2003 11:38:00 PM