The most effective form of leadership is that which is done by example – that is to say true leaders not only talk the talk, but also walk the walk. America is in a downward spiral and as our fellow citizens begin to awaken from the devastatingly inept leadership of these last six years, we must look towards proven leadership to help reverse course.
It is important to take stock of the many challenges that lay ahead as we await the 2008 presidential elections. The importance of making meaningful foreign policy decisions is not only relevant to international and security issues, but also to social and economic ones in today’s global world economy.
The risk of nuclear technology spreading to current and potential enemies from so-called allies in the “War on Terror” such as Russia and Pakistan continues to grow at an alarming pace. While the Iraqi occupation has consumed our attention, North Korea has come even closer to developing the bomb, if not having already done so. With the North Korean threat, Japan is now opening discussing going nuclear. Iran, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern countries are thought to be actively pursing nuclear weapons as well. While America certainly has talked the talk when it comes to nuclear proliferation, we’ve most certainly failed to walk the walk; pulling out of the nuclear proliferation treaty made that clear to the rest of the world – a clear failure of leadership by setting the wrong example.
The invasion of Iraq allowed for the escalation of nuclear threats around the world, but also for the escalation of animosity and hatred towards the United States. Our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels funds the very insurgents that attack our brave men and women in Iraq. That dependence fuels much more than our automobiles but a disdain for America’s self-importance and our culture. We subsidize our gasoline prices, fail to raise CAFE standards, and gluttonously devour scare energy resources as fast as humanly possible. The example that we set is one of prideful arrogance.
America needs to lead by example and that can’t be done when we lecture the world out of one side of our mouth, and then badmouth our treaty obligations out of the other. If America cannot talk to our allies and our enemies, then whom can we talk to? We can barely even talk among ourselves right now. Discourse, diplomacy, and disagreement are all vital to healthy foreign relations as well as our internal ones. We need the country to open itself to opposing cultures, viewpoints, and discourse, and that means that we must have a leader who also does this instead of cowering in an insular bubble of sycophants. We need a strong progressive leader who can salvage the remnants of our reputation in the world community and set an example of strength for generations to come.
I find that the most telling way to critique a leader is to observe how he or she responds to unforeseeable events. George Bush’s infamous 20 minutes of indecisive shock on 9/11 told us all that we ever needed to know about his leadership ability. When laid open to the world, it was apparent that Bush was nothing but a hollow shell of the leader that he claimed to be.
A real leader’s first instinct tells everything about his or her leadership ability. In 1994, General Clark was a leading negotiator in Kosovo Bosnia as part of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke’s diplomatic team. While driving back from negotiations, the road gave way in hostile territory and one of the vehicles in their caravan fell off of a cliff. As a firefight died down and against Holbrooke’s adamant objections, Clark repelled down the side of the cliff to collect the bodies of the deceased, only later to personally return one man’s wedding ring to his widow back in the states. Clark’s humility is such that he wrote the following about the events and we only learn of this example of leadership via the memoirs of Holbrooke:
Holbrooke put us into a "shuttle rhythm" to point toward an agreement. He said he had no fixed schedule; the intent was to improvise, end the war, and secure the peace. At the end of the first week, we had a tragic accident on Mount Igmam, near Sarajevo. Bob Frasure, Joe Kruzel and Nelson Drew were killed when the French armored personnel carrier in which they were riding broke through the shoulder of the road and tumbled several hundred meters down a steep hillside. It was a devastating and incomprehensible loss. Frasure was our star diplomat in eastern Europe, held in the highest regard everywhere. Kruzel had been the driving force behind NATO's Partnership for Peace and reaching out to the new democracies. Drew was one of our most knowledgeable and clever analysts dealing with NATO and western Europe. We were all good friends from previously working together. But dispite the tragedy, the word from the White house was to continue the mission.
A leader who is willing to put his or her self in harms way for others is one who can command enormous respect and admiration from followers. This story provides a glimpse into the passion and understanding behind Clark’s supporters. I’m reminded of a quote from Frank Herbert’s book “Dune” that speaks to the leadership of the general, “A man like that could have commanded fanatic loyalty.”
Our support for him is equally as strong as his support for us. That’s why incredible people like Eric Massa are so adamantly loyal to and work tirelessly for Wes Clark:
When Clark was promoted to supreme allied commander in Europe in 1997, he asked Massa to stay on and be his advance man. Massa agreed and moved his wife and kids, who had been waiting for him back in San Diego, to Brussels, Belgium. After Clark arrived, Massa was again a close assistant and became one of Clark's main liaisons to Washington, D.C.
Massa had every intention of staying in Europe as Clark's assistant until he got sick in late 1999. He hadn't recovered from running a half-marathon but chalked it up to the flu. He blew off a doctor's appointment his wife had made for him, thinking he'd work it off.
On Nov. 9, 1999, Massa looked up from his desk to find Clark standing there. Clark told Massa that his wife had called worried about his health.
Clark had arranged another doctor's appointment for Massa, and when Massa protested, Clark gave him the only direct order Massa recalls receiving in four years. "I think we have lost the fundamental relationship between a four-star general and a Navy commander," Clark told him. "You will go to the doctor."
The doctor diagnosed Massa, who had never smoked, with advanced lung cancer and gave him four months to live. Clark cut through red tape to get Massa and his family back to the United States for treatment.
Just before Massa left, Clark convened the staff and tearfully awarded Massa the Legion of Merit medal for his work. Clark had received the same medal in the 1970s when he was a speech writer for the then-supreme allied commander.
It's one of the few times Massa saw Clark cry.
"Everyone thought that was goodbye, that I was dying," Massa said.
Back home in San Diego, doctors were more optimistic and diagnosed Massa with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, not lung cancer, and began aggressive treatment.
Unknown to Massa, Clark had a soldier tracking Massa's surgery. As soon as Massa came to in recovery, staff told him he had a call. It was Clark. At the time, he was overseeing the bombing of Kosovo.
Just as Clark fought against the war in Iraq, persuading senators to vote against the IWR, he is fighting adamantly against a war with Iran. Clark’s military experience, diplomatic skills, and economic knowledge are going to be of key importance in our effort to regain the legitimacy of the world. While Clark will pull out our troops in Iraq, provided they are still there, the problems of the Middle East entail much more than Iraq and Iran, focusing on tension between Israel and Palestine and threat of another nuclear armament race. If anyone can begin get past the deeply rooted hatred in the ME and miscommunication around the world, it would be this battle tested leader, Wes Clark.
Let me close by borrowing the words of General Clark:
From my days in the Little Rock Boys and Girls Club and all through my years at West Point and the Army, I learned and taught that leadership means lifting people up; challenging them to push themselves to succeed where they before thought success was out of reach. That philosophy was captured well by our Army motto, "Be All You Can Be," which also means helping others to be all they can be. What we need to do as individuals and a party is to stand up and speak out to create equal opportunity for economic success. To treat others the way we want to be treated. To reach out and help those who are in pain. Most importantly, leadership means calling on others to do all these things too.
In short leadership is everything we are not getting from this White House. Instead of challenging us to push ourselves to accomplish great things, we get platitudes. We can do better than that.
(snip)
What I learned about leadership is that you have to give people challenging goals and work with them and inspire them to reach them. You've got to have the courage to set goals and make a difference.
Leadership for America starts with the leader's vision of where you want the country to be. And that's the problem we have in America today. We need visionary leaders who can see the promise and potential of our country and take us there. We can find those leaders again -- and we must.