This is an article submitted by Adm. Chuck Larson who served as superintendent of the Naval Academy for seven years and Lt. Gen. Dan Christman who served for five years as the superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Both recently retired. Written in support of Wes Clark. Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
Guest columnists
Gen. Wesley Clark, character and courage
By Chuck Larson and Dan Christman
Special to The Times
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For the first time in history, a former military commander faced down a former head of state in an international court of law. To stop ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, Clark led the 19-nation NATO war against Milosevic, which saved 1.5 million Kosovar Albanians.<snip>
<snip>Every graduate of West Point knows the "Cadet Prayer," which reads in part:
"Make us to choose the harder right over the easier wrong." That is what guided Clark in Kosovo.
When it became clear that Milosevic intended to eradicate the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo, Gen. Clark believed it was his duty to prevent genocide. The easier wrong would have been to ignore the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, as we had in Rwanda. Clark knew that the Pentagon would be reluctant to engage. He knew the prevailing military opinion was against intervention. He knew he was putting his career on the line because others opposed his judgment.
But he didn't relent. He spoke up and he acted. And he was right. His moral courage was instrumental in stopping another round of ethnic cleansing on the European continent. Despite opposition from the Pentagon and extraordinary restraints imposed by NATO, he held together a 19-nation coalition and brought the conflict in the Balkans to a successful end.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2001840295_clark21.html