Wesley Kanne Clark

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U.S. Army (Ret.) General Wesley Kanne Clark is "presently Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic advisory and consulting firm" and Chairman of Rodman and Renshaw, "a New York based investment bank."[1]

Clark is an analyst for MSNBC[2] and a Senior Fellow at the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA[3] for the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 academic years, and the author, most recently, of A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country."[4][5]

As a strategic advisor for Immtech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Clark provides "counsel to Immtech's management team as the Company develops its drug programs targeting various global health challenges, including malaria prevention and treatment."[1]

From 1997 to 2000, he was the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.[6] He served in the United States Army for more than 35 years, including serving in Vietnam and as the commander in chief of the United States European Command. He currently serves pro bono as a senior advisor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a director of the Atlantic Council, and a member of the board of the International Crisis Group. He is also a member of the board of the Markle Foundation.

Clark, along with Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke, was involved with peace talks in Bosnia.

Affiliations

War with Iran

"But if it's clear how a war with Iran would start, it's far less clear how it would end. How might Iran strike back? Would it unleash Hezbollah cells across Europe and the Middle East, or perhaps even inside the United States? Would Tehran goad Iraq's Shiites to rise up against their U.S. occupiers? And what would we do with Iran after the bombs stopped falling? We certainly could not occupy the nation with the limited ground forces we have left. So what would it be: Iran as a chastened, more tractable government? As a chaotic failed state? Or as a hardened and embittered foe?" Clark wrote September 16, 2007, in a Washington Post op-ed.[4]

War in Iraq

In August 2002, Clark, "the retired general who led the NATO alliance during the Kosovo campaign, also joined the voices counselling against an invasion without international co-operation.[10]

"In an article for the September [2002] issue of The Washington Monthly, he said: 'The early successes (in Afghanistan) seem to have reinforced the conviction of some within the US Government that the continuing war on terrorism is best waged outside the structures of international institutions. This is a fundamental misjudgment. The longer the war goes on . . . the more our success will depend on the willing co-operation and active participation of our allies.'"[11]

In September 2002, Clark "warned that attacking Iraq could divert military resources and political commitment to the global effort against Al Qaeda and possibly 'supercharge' recruiting for the terrorist network."

"'It's a question of what's the sense of urgency here, and how soon would we need to act unilaterally?' said General Clark, an Army officer who commanded allied forces in the 1999 Kosovo air war. 'So far as any of the information has been presented, there is nothing that indicates that in the immediate, next hours, next days, that there's going to be nuclear-tipped missiles put on launch pads to go against our forces or our allies in the region.'"[12]

Profiles

In 2003, Clark[13] was "rumored to be in the running as a Democratic candidate for the presidency in the 2004 election. Clark grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and attended the U. S. Army academy at West Point (1966), where he graduated first in his class. He also earned a graduate degree as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and commanded fighting troups in Vietnam, where he was injured three times. During the '80s and '90s he moved up the military ladder and served as and administrator in training and command posts, eventually becoming a four-star general. In 1997 he was named as the U. S. commander of NATO forces in Europe by President Bill Clinton. In 1999 Clark was in charge of the NATO victory in Kosovo over the forces of Slobadan Milosevic, but in 2000 he retired after 34 years in the army (some stories have it that he was forced to retire). Clark retired to the private sector as an author, consultant and investment banker, a highly decorated soldier and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. After terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D. C. in 2001, Clark was a frequent guest commentator on television, emerging in 2003 as a strong critic of President George W. Bush's military policy in the Middle East."

On February 11, 2004, Clark dropped out of the presidential race.[14]

Board memberships

"Wesley Clark, the former Army General who announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 17, [2003] has not given up his board memberships, according to published accounts."[15]

"Since retiring from the military in 2000, Clark has held a variety of industrial positions, including jobs with a Washington, DC-based technology firm, an investment company, and director or advisor positions with six other organizations. In most cases he was brought on board to assist with military or government contracts.

"One such company is Acxiom Corp., the Little Rock, AR-based data firm. Clark joined Acxiom in December 2001, and played a part in the company's efforts to market its services to federal organizations involved in homeland security, according to Acxiom spokesman Dale Ingram.

"Ingram did not comment on whether Clark's actions resulted in any new business for Acxiom.

"While Clark is maintaining his position on Acxiom's board of directors, he did terminate his consulting agreement with the company upon announcing his candidacy. That contract was valued at $150,000 per year, said Ingram."[15]

Clark is "involved with Tiversa Inc., VIASPACE Inc., Stephens Group Inc., Acxiom Corp., Entrust Inc., Sirva Inc., Time Domain Inc.", William M. Arkin wrote August 31, 2007, in his Washington Post Early Warning column.[16]

Articles by Wesley K. Clark

Contact information

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "General Wesley Clark Joins Immtech as Consulting Strategic Advisor," CNN, September 10, 2007.
  2. ↑ David Edwards and Muriel Kane, "Iraq War supporters, opponents disagree on GAO report," The Raw Story, August 31, 2007.
  3. ↑ Burkle Center for International Relations, UCLA.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wesley K. Clark, Opinion: "The Next War. It's always looming. But has our military learned the right lessons from this one to fight it and win?" Washington Post, September 16, 2007.
  5. ↑ "A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country" at Amazon.com.
  6. ↑ General Wesley K. Clark, US Army (1997-2000), NATO Who is Who?, May 5, 2000.
  7. ↑ Petromanas Energy Board, organizational web page, accessed November 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ Principals, National Committee on American Foreign Policy, accessed September 13, 2007.
  9. ↑ Transcript: "General Wesley Clark Analyzes Weapons Hunt in Iraq," CNN Saturday Morning News, January 18, 2003.
  10. ↑ This link is no longer active: The Observer (UK), August 19, 2002.
  11. ↑ Gen. Wesley Clark, "An Army of One? In the war on terrorism, alliances are not an obstacle to victory. They're the key to it," The Washington Monthly, September 2002.
  12. ↑ Eric Schmitt, "3 Retired Generals Warn of Peril in Attacking Iraq Without Backing of U.N.," New York Times (Mindfully.org), September 24, 2002.
  13. ↑ Wesley Kanne Clark, WHO2.com.
  14. ↑ "Ex-general ends bid for nation's top office. Wesley Clark dropped out of the race on February 11, 2004," CNN, February 11, 2004.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Richard Levey, "Wesley Clark Keeps Acxiom, Other Board Memberships: Reports Direct Marketing Business Intelligence," Free Republic, September 18, 2003.
  16. ↑ William M. Arkin, "The Generals and the Candidates," Early Warning Blog/Washington Post, August 31, 2007.

External resources

Video links

External articles

2001

2003

2004

2007

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