General Wesley Clark Offers Rational, Credible Plan to Resolve Iraq War

Army General Wesley Clark, Supreme Allied Commander for Europe from 1997 to 2000, is on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday to discuss his strategy for ending the Iraq War, as outlined in his Washington Post editorial on August 26.

General Clark's WaPo editorial was rational and quite specific, and reflected his vast knowledge and experience of warfare and diplomacy. In a political nutshell, General Clark believes that while "the Bush Administration's elective invasion of Iraq was clearly a mistake, pulling our troops out now would also be a mistake. If we put the right strategy in place, we can still succeed -- but time is running out.

So far, instead of a strategy the Bush Administration has simply demanded that the American people show resolve. But resolve isn't enough to mend a flawed approach or save the lives of our troops. It's time for the Bush Administration to actually do the hard work, to put a three-pronged diplomatic, political, and military strategy in place that will ultimately enable us to withdraw.

If the Administration won't adopt such a winning strategy, then the American people will be justified in demanding that our brave men and women in uniform come home. It's up to President Bush to put the strategy in place, without delay."

In several straw polls at top liberal blog community DailyKos, including this June 2005 poll of 14,000 DailyKosers, General Wesley Clark was the top choice by a wide margin for the 2008 Democratic nomination for the presidency. In the June poll, Clark garnered 26% of the vote, followed by 17% for "no frickin' clue" and 10% each for Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY).

As the Iraq War careens farther and farther off course and into an endlessly violent quagmire, General Clark's competence and credibility are immensely reassuring. It's a relief to realize that one US leader, regardless of political party, has a workable, intelligent plan to stabilize Iraq and permanently withdraw US forces.

Next week, General Wesley Clark will be a guest blogger for four days at another leading liberal blog community, TPMCafe. He also plans to travel next week to Iowa and Wisconsin, for various "meet and greet" events, which he will blog about at TPMCafe.

The Iraq War will likely be the central issue of both the 2006 Congressional elections and the 2008 Presidential and Congressional elections, so it's vital for all US citizens to be accurately informed about the hard, cold facts.

Be sure to read my Profile of Four-Star US Army General Wesley Clark, as well as Iraq War Made Simple - Results & Statistics as of August 2005.