WES CLARK to Keynote on "The Real State of the Union 2006"(Poll)

crossposted from "The Washington Note"

The New America Foundation American Strategy Program

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The Real State of the Union 2006:
A No-Nonsense Assessment of U.S. Foreign Policy and Call to Action

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Featuring Special Keynote Speaker

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander

During thirty-four years of service in the United States Army Wesley K. Clark rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.   In his final military command, General Clark commanded Operation Allied Force, NATO's first major combat action, which saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.  General Clark was also responsible for directing the peacekeeping operation in Bosnia.  General Clark was also a Democratic presidential primary candidate in the 2004 elections. ...

[UPDATE: "...which saved 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing in Kosovo,...without a single loss of an American life". ;)]

Please contact C-Span: [e-mail]!!!!

Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC
Monday, January 30th

excerpt:

"General Wesley Clark is going to keynote a conference my New America Foundation team and I are putting together on the Real State of U.S. Foreign Policy 2006, and this will take place on Monday, January 30th in the Senate (Senate Dirksen G-50) from 9 a.m. until 1:45 p.m.

General Clark's speech, "The Real State of the Union: A No Nonsense Discussion America's Foreign Policy and a Call to Action" will start at 12:15 p.m.

TWN readers are invited. If you would like to attend the conference (the whole thing), let me know via [e-mail] -- but if you RSVP yes and your plans change, please let me know.

President Bush, as you know, will be providing his own views on America's foreign and domestic policy state of affairs in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. So, General Clark's commentary will perhaps be of interest to the White House and the public. ..."

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The National Policy Forum is organized with support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the US in the World Project, and the Hauser Foundation
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www.newamerica.net
From Steve Clemons - The Washington Note
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com

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My note: Please contact C-SPAN at [e-mail] and urge them to broadcast this important forum, LIVE! Clark has always said that the real war on terror was in Afghanistan, ...going after OBL and AQ. But Bush distracted our war on terror, by fighting an elective war into Iraq and going after Saddam.

On FOXNews, Clark recently said, "But now, it's time to pay our dues..". The Bush administration is finally confronting the realities of its incompetencies in foreign policy and national security. Our nations faces serious delemmas in security, policy and diplomacy; as it deals with the prospects of a "real" Islamic fundamentalist government in Iraq and a "real" nuclear proliferation program in Iran.

Please visit: http://SecuringAmerica.com

•  Uh...

  ... You forgot to mention without loss of American lives.

  by cheviteau on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 05:00:36 PM PDT

  •  thanks! ;) ...Done!

    btw: you forgot,..

    "We can do better!"

    by Knightrider on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 06:40:15 PM PDT

    •  um, if not mistaken,

      no soldiers under Clark's NATO Command lost lives, American or otherwise.

      by Sybil Liberty on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 07:03:34 PM PDT

      •  Assuming we had 'REAL' leadership, can the US ...

        achieve the same success with an air campaign against Iran?

        by Knightrider on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 07:16:58 PM PDT

        •  Real leadership?

          You mean as in Commander-in-Chief?

          by Sybil Liberty on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 08:02:08 PM PDT

          •  Well, that' may be Clemon's question...

            ...and, I wouldn't want to steal his fire.  ;)

            by Knightrider on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 08:12:23 PM PDT

•  Well, maybe we'll find out ...

  ... if Clark plans to run in 2008. I'm sure he won't announce at this event, but what he says, and how he says it, could tell us what we want to know, or at least give us hope. This is important to me personally. I've pretty much decided to leave the Democratic Party if Clark or someone with similar credentials is not the party nominee for president in 2008.

  by Roosevelt Democrat on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 05:03:49 PM PDT

  •  I believe that

    Clark has decided to put himself in a postion to make a run. And, barring a change of heart, will do so. I hope Dems will show some wisdom and pick him as their nominee.

    by gsp on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 05:14:03 PM PDT

    •  Amen to that

      n/t

      by Predator Saint on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 05:29:57 PM PDT

    •  Clark is the best chance, our only chance to win

      I just posted my feelings about this in my Diary, 2006 and Beyond.  The only credible person the Democrats have to speak for them and carry us into 2006 and beyond, is Wes Clark.  Forget the domestic issues that we Democrats usually bank on, forget the scandals we hope will emerge...we know the Rovians will go straight for terra and national security.  Clark is our opportunity to take it to them and fight back.  Our Democratic leaders better wake up and give him the ball.

      by dburro on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 07:24:48 PM PDT

      •  domestic issues

        No need to "forget the domestic issues that we Democrats usually bank on."  Clark actually had really strong, progressive domestic policy papers back in 2004.  The most comprehensive healthcare plan of any of the candidates (save Kucinich, I think), the most progressive tax reform plan, etc. etc.  See for yourself

        by AKTup on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 07:51:39 PM PDT

        •  I'm familiar with Clark's domestic positions

          from the primary campaign.  He's definitely very well versed on many domestic issues and can speak with authority.  My reason for stating that we need Clark to speak to the national security issues is that Republicans will use THAT issue primarily to win in 06 and 08.  They've won with it twice in a row now, and the Democrats keep trying to go back to domestic issues. This is why Wes is such a perfect candidate.  He can speak with more credibility on foreign, security and military issues than any other possible Democratic candidate.

          by dburro on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 08:03:41 PM PDT

          •  oh you betcha!

            first the FP/NS...and then he could take on the domestic issues...WKC would be an amazingly well-rounded candidate - stellar! exemplary!  

            ...now, who do you believe the DNC will actually "annoint"?

            by Sybil Liberty on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 08:08:05 PM PDT

•  Run, General, run!

  I would pour my heart and soul into his campaign. Never done it before, wouldn't do it for anybody else. The man is our chance to rescue this nation from fascism. Remember: we must be so far ahead in the polls in the next presidential campaign that the fascists can't possibly steal it yet again. And then we can finally implement electoral reforms. There is only one candidate who can appeal so broadly, to our brains and to their guts.

  by DrReason on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 05:42:09 PM PDT

•  Clark is his own THINK-TANK.

  I like listening to him because he writes his own speeches; and you get a chance to hear something you may have never thought about before.

  He will not be asking a bunch of advisors to go over his speech to make sure he "gets it right".
  These will be his own thoughts.

  by NCgrassroots on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 07:51:32 PM PDT

  •  speechwriting

    Clark won his first (of 4) Legion of Merit award for his role as speechwriter for the SACEUR in 1979.

    by AKTup on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 07:55:16 PM PDT

  •  Clark will always listen to what matters most...

    to us.
    Dialogue and discussion help refine ideas and perspectives in a profound way.  Why Blog, ...write, ir provide expertise?

    Besides, I'd be willing to take minutes,  ...sharpen pencils, ... pour coffee, or egg Beemers on K-Street.

    by Knightrider on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 08:04:49 PM PDT

•  New lecture series brings former presidential

  New lecture series brings former presidential candidate to Emory

  By Jason Singer
  Staff Writer

  January 24, 2006

  Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and 2004 presidential candidate General Wesley Clark will speak at Emory this spring as part of the university's inaugural Presidential Distinguished Lecture Series.
  According to Vice President and Deputy to the President Gary Hauk, the university created the series to attract high-profile lecturers with expertise on important global issues.
  "We wanted to find a way to bring more internationally distinguished speakers to speak on substantive issues: politics, the arts, literature," he said.
  The series will run twice a year, with one program during the fall and spring semester.
  The office of University President James W. Wagner will fund the inaugural program while the university explores other fund-raising methods for future programs of the semiannual series.
  Hauk would not disclose the amount Clark will receive for the speech.
  According to Hauk, one alumni group wishing to honor former University President Goodrich C. White might fund future Presidential Distinguished Lecture programs, but Emory has not made any official announcements.
  The address by Clark, a retired four-star general, in Glenn Memorial Auditorium will highlight the event on April 10, which will include both a reception and a book signing in either the Carlos Museum reception hall or the Goizueta Business School after the lecture.
  Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Michael Mandl first suggested Clark as a candidate for the Presidential Distinguished Lecture after attending a speech by Clark at the 2005 Forum for the Future of Higher Education in Aspen, Colorado last September.
  In that speech, Clark emphasized the role of American universities in maintaining the country's position at the forefront of global strategic leadership.
  Subsequently, Mandl thought Clark an apt choice for the series' first speaker.
  "It just seemed to me the topic was right for a college campus," he said. "The speech resonanted with me as a conversation we've had at this school several times."
  Hauk said he considered Clark to be an apt choice for the series' first speaker.
  "He was our first choice," he said. "Now that we have the Strategic Plan in place, it seemed like a good moment to reflect on the century coming up."
  Clark served as the supreme allied commander of NATO from 1997 to 2000, following more than 30 years of service in the U.S. military.
  He garnered international praise for his leadership during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, in which he saved an estimated 1.5 million Albanian lives from ethnic cleansing without incurring any Allied casualties.
  In 2004, he campaigned as a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination before dropping out of the race and backing eventual Democratic nominee John Kerry. Clark is still considered a potential candidate for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
  Though Emory has not officially invited any speakers for the fall 2006 installment, Hauk expressed optimism about bringing another prominent guest.
  "It will be someone of the international stature," he said.

  http://www.emorywheel.com/...

  by jinny on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 08:21:35 PM PDT

  •  Great find. Clark recently spoke at Purdue Univ.

    hmmm,... I need to check if this is posted at his website.
    

    by Knightrider on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 09:38:09 PM PDT

•  I chose the Real War on Terror

  because you didn't include: all of the above. And, after all everything bush has done and does is a terrorist attack on the United States.

  by Donna Z on Tue Jan 24, 2006 at 09:08:44 PM PDT

  •  Excellent point!

    When there's a poll, I usually vote before I read any of the comments.  But I really couldn't decide this time, because "all of the above" wasn't included.

    So I just went back up and voted for "The Real War on Terror" because everything Bush does is an act of terrorism.

    I know I feel real terror at what he's doing to our Constitution.

    by hfjai on Wed Jan 25, 2006 at 01:42:45 PM PDT