Democrat Wesley Clark Criticized as Advocate of 'Nation Building'

[ProfessorPlum]

Some views from the enemy:

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200308%5CPOL20030826a.html

<snip>
"Gen. Clark is a passionate, outspoken advocate of nation building," Hulsman said. Clark supports policies that haven't worked in Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo and also will not work in Afghanistan or Iraq, he added.
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Maginnis added: "He's not Dwight Eisenhower...I don't see him as a viable candidate for the presidency at this juncture." Clark would make an effective vice president, defense secretary or secretary of state in any administration, he said.
</snip>

That's pretty hilarious. George W. Bush was a passionate, outspoken critic of nation building according to his own words before he got us into Afghanistan and Iraq.

If this is all they've got against Clark, then he looks like a pretty good candidate. Not Dwight Eisenhower? (who was primarily known for golfing and not being exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, no offense to Ike who did play a large role in the defeat of the Axis powers)

If that's all they've got, I say, "Bring it on! (TM)"

[LoneStarLiberal]

1. All You Need To Read In This Article...

To know that both the author and the main source don't get it is the following:

"As Wesley Clark supporters turned up the pressure on their candidate to run for the White House in 2004, some analysts criticized the former NATO commander for what they see as his broad support for "nation building" and a "top-down bureaucratic approach" to U.S. foreign policy.

John Hulsman, a senior foreign policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation..."

Criticizing Clark for a "top-down bureaucratic approach?" Eh? And what exactly do we have now? What a straw man.

Heritage Foundation? Enough said.

It is true that Haiti is an abject failure. I would argue that Somalia isn't really relevant because we gave up on any intensive efforts after the Rangers and Delta soldiers were killed in Mogadishu.

Nation building hasn't worked in Bosnia? In Kosovo? True that there is far more to be done than there is that has been done, but I'd say the current situations in both places where the rule of law has replaced the rule of ethnic cleansing and one of the primary players is now being tried in from the the ICTY (Milosevic) are FAR preferable to what they were before "nation building" began.

50% (2 for 4) versus 0% (0 for 2). Advantage Clark.