Here is a 'picture worth a thousand words' why Clark...

Bosnia;

'After a small Russian force left their peacekeeping station in Bosnia unannounced and and took control of the Slatina airfield, near Pristina, on June 10, 1998, there was (according to a BBC report) a "battle of wills" between Clark and the British NATO commander, Lt. Gen. Michael Jackson. Clark ordered British forces to block the runways to the airfield, to prevent the Russian troops from being resupplied from their homeland. This manuever would have been one step short of hostile, and Jackson did not comply, reportedly later saying: "I'm not going to start the Third World War for you." If Jackson had followed Clark's order, and hostilites had broken out with Russia, Jackson might have been guilty of gross insubordination for having initiated conflict with a nation not at war with Great Britain.'

'Clark stated that General Sir Charles Guthrie, British Chief of the Defence Staff, agreed with Jackson. Guthrie, according to Clark, also told him that Hugh Shelton, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also agreed with him. Clark said he found this very surprising, contending that the original suggestion to block the Russians came from Washington. Clark stated that he called the Pentagon, looking for support, and was told by Shelton: "We don't want a confrontation, but I do support you".'

Clark's recollection seems a bit illogical.

Building to his Army departure:

'Cohen relieved Clark of his duties in July 1999, several months early, "a public humiliation for a man whose service was his life."'

He kinda messed up.

Not maligning him with glee, as you put it, just exposing the truth about this man. He had been running around maligning the President and making wild boastful comments about how He would have gotten bin Laden (Mladic is now where? Fugitive!) if he were President, and guaranteeing no terror attacks on his watch. How wrong headed this Administration's foreign policy was and all. Quagmire in Iraq while we STILL have troops in Bosnia. Well, he didn't even follow the State Department when he served. That's a serious issue IMO. Not only was he not a sanctioned envoy, he was in uniform (giving his visit an air of officiality) going against advice, trading gifts and parts of the uniform with a man who was already a suspected war criminal. VERY poor judgment!!! Shelton publically commented that he would not be voting for Clark for issues of character and integrity.

Good grades, military service and sustaining battle wounds don't make one a saint or worthy of respect on their face. There are many things to admire about this man, and also many things to question.

Evie

I can't give Clark a pass on that one either. A candidate can't be held responsible for all the views of all who support him, but they can sure be held responsible for their behavior in the presence of them (Kerry seems to have no problem with Moby's vulgarity for example), and for their responses when asked if they share the views.

Clark was asked point blank about Moore's assertion that Bush was a deserter. As you stated in another thread, even without this latest documentation dump, that whole chapter was closed several times over. The proper response for this decorated man of the military SHOULD have been to commend Bush for his service and state unequivocally that he would not engage in Moore's conspiracy theory hyperbole. He did not He was a candidate for his military service. Apparently that wasn't enough to run on his own merit, he had to portray the President as a deserter by proxy.

There have been commendations of Kerry, by his supporters, for not jumping on the AWOL bandwagon. Well, he's doing the same thing because all it would take is one speech or one phone call and this crap would stop. Instead we have Rangel going out as a Kerry surrogate on MTP on Sunday STILL leveling the insidious charge.

Oh well.

Evie

and fruit salad doesn't necessarily tell the whole story Angeline.

The DDSM, LOM, MSM, and ARCOM are generally given out as end of tour awards and are practically automatic (especially for officers). They don't really have much meaning without actually seeing the citations themselves.

He has earned both the praise he has received as well as the negative comments through his own actions and words.