Wesley, Wesley,
How I long to love you but you are making it so difficult.
His plan for Iraq is A new course needed in Iraq
By Wesley Clark, 11/6/2003
MY 34 YEARS in the Army taught me to steel my spine, but not my heart, whenever I hear news of American casualties. On Tuesday I read about Sergeant Ernest Bucklew, who was headed home to attend his mother's funeral when his Chinook helicopter was shot out of the sky en route to Baghdad. Fifteen American soldiers died alongside him.
For the sake of every member of our armed forces, we need a plan to end the conflict in Iraq. Retreat is not an option. Withdrawal would be a disaster for America, a tragedy for Iraq, and a crisis for the world. It would destroy our credibility, give terrorists a new haven, and throw the Middle East into greater turmoil. No matter how difficult it will be, we need a "success strategy."
Success won't be easy, but only success can honor the sacrifice of our soldiers and allow the troops to come home. Success means that Iraq is strong enough to sustain itself without outside forces. Success means that representative government has taken root. Success means that Iraq's economy and civil society are healthy again.
Congress just gave the administration an $87 billion check to continue down the path that we're on. But President Bush still has no strategy to succeed. I do. Here's my "success strategy":
End the American monopoly.
We must call a summit of the leaders we've alienated, the people whose advice we've scorned, the organizations whose assistance we've turned down. Out of this gathering, we can build a new organization to replace the Coalition Provisional Authority and internationalize the face of the occupation.
To guide the reconstruction of Iraq, we need a civilian from an allied country. That civilian official would report to an international council, composed of representatives from nations that support our efforts to build a democratic Iraq.
As we saw in the Balkans, when we share power, other countries share our burden. I would transform the military occupation into a NATO operation with US forces in charge. With US command, NATO authority, and UN endorsement, other NATO countries would send troops, and Arab countries would also step in.
Gen. Clark, I have a world of respect for you as a commander and a scholar, but you just left planet Earth with this proposal. The Poles lost a soldier yesterday. Exactly why is it that NATO or the UN countries would want to send troops to Iraq? We broke it, we bought it, and ain't nobody going to help us out. Why would they put people in harms way? In the eyes of the Industrialized countries, what we are doing stinks. Don't expect help.
The rest of your proposal betrays a naivetee which I find dangerous in a presidential candidate. Gen. Clark, you are smart enough to run, and smart enough to lead if you win, but you have to stop shooting yourself in the foot if you want to have a credible candidacy. The Globe piece was stupid. If you can't do better than that, you don't deserve a vote.
