Monday, February 5, 2007
2:11 PM
FEBRUARY 2, 2007
SPEAKER: GENERAL WESLEY CLARK (USA, RET.)
[*]
CLARK: Thank you. Thank you very much for that kind introduction.
Good morning, I'm Wes CLARK. I'm a soldier, and I'm fighting for our country.
(APPLAUSE)
I thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
I did spend much of last year out stumping for Democratic candidates across the country. And by my count, it was, I think, 26 states, 86 candidates. A lot of them were the so-called red states. And I loved it. It was more fun.
And I'll tell you something, I could see -- in those states, in those candidates I could see Governor Howard Dean's vision for a 50- state strategy is working.
(APPLAUSE)
It is.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, when we invest in our party across America, we offer people optimism, and that is a powerful tool for change.
It feels great to be a Democrat these days, don't you think?
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Howard, for what you're doing for this party.
You know, back home in Arkansas, we've elected Democrats up and down the ticket. We've got a Democratic governor, and the speaker of house is a Democrat now.
And speaking of speakers, it does sound pretty good, doesn't it: Madam Speaker Nancy Pelosi?
(APPLAUSE)
We did that.
(APPLAUSE)
And Harry Reid as the Senate majority leader; boy, I like the way that sounds for our party.
(APPLAUSE)
But before I say anything else, I want you to just take a moment to reflect quietly on the sacrifices that are being made by our troops in uniform and their families.
This morning, I woke up and I did what I do on most days: I open up the papers and I look first at what's going on in Iraq. I look first at the casualties. And each day I hope that I won't see any additions to the ranks of the fallen. But lately there are additions every day.
I check the units. I check the names. I look for the faces. Because for me, it's personal.
In the Army, we've got a tradition of service that transcends generations. It's built on trust. It's predicated on the values that have spread throughout the Army, of duty, honor and country.
CLARK: Today, our Army has been called to action. Our soldiers are there. They've been asked to sacrifice. And you know the story: They're under-resourced, they're overstretched, they're in constant danger.
And after 34 years in service, I think I know what each and every one of them is thinking when they get up each morning. They're saying, "Thank God I have a chance to fight for the United States of America."
(APPLAUSE)
I know all the units. I know many of the commanders; lot of them worked for me. And sometimes I recognize a name or a face. But every time there's a casualty, I feel that pain personally. I say a prayer for the fallen and for the families and friends that get left behind. Makes me sad.
But also, I get impassioned about it. To be honest with you, I get a little bit angry. Angry because in America today, we have a president who mistakes stubbornness for strength and slogans for strategy.
(APPLAUSE)
Truth is he's failed to do the political work inside Iraq or the diplomatic work in the region that would enable our soldiers to succeed.
(APPLAUSE)
I get angry with an administration that, by condoning torture, using rendition and these secret detention camps, by creating a sense of callous disregard for the innocent lives lost in that conflict and by taking us to an unnecessary war in the first place, has robbed of the legitimacy that is the birthright of every American and the source of our greatest power.
(APPLAUSE)
And I grow angry with elected officials who've dragged this country deeper and deeper into Iraq, when there are so many other urgent problems abroad and at home.
CLARK: And I ask, can't we do better?
(APPLAUSE)
I'm a veteran, and I'm proud of it. I turned to the military when I was 17 because I wanted to serve our country. And like many men and women from across the South, I had more patriotism than money. And the military was my way of spending my life defending something I very much believed in, the United States.
I fought in Vietnam. I did come home on a stretcher. And I was lucky, because a lot of us didn't come home at all from that the war.
Afterward I stayed in uniform. And along the way, I helped train the Army for battle. I helped create the national security strategy of the United States. I helped prevent a war in Korea, helped end a war in Bosnia, and commanded the forces that won a war in Europe to stop ethnic cleansing by the Serbs. And we won it without losing a single American life in combat.
(APPLAUSE)
So I know what it is to plan and prepare for war, to send the cream of our youth on a mission from which they may not return. I know firsthand the struggles of domestic politics and international diplomacy.
I know how difficult it is to accomplish peace once the shooting stops. I've done coalition-building, peacekeeping and post-war reconstruction.
And this administration has failed in every one of those things. And that failure jeopardizes American security and the welfare of every single American.
(APPLAUSE)
CLARK: Of course, right now we're hearing from every politician on this. Even some of the war's staunchest supporters are admitting they were wrong. And others now call for poll-tested positions.
I speak to you today as the only person who will take this podium before you to have actually done the things we need to do to succeed in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world.
And I believe that being right isn't enough. We must also be strong.
So while I get angry, I'm reminded of the old saying: Don't get mad; get even.
And to me, getting even isn't about political payback, but it's, instead, getting equality, justice, balance and fair play back into American life.
(APPLAUSE)
So I ask you: Where is the equality in America when a woman still only makes 77 cents on the dollar to a man?
(APPLAUSE)
Where's the justice, where sergeants and colonels are punished for the abuse of prisoners, but the political leaders and high-ranking lawyers who encouraged and perhaps directed it remain in office, exempt from accountability for the tragedies they unleashed?
(APPLAUSE)
Where's the balance, when 46 million of our people lack basic health insurance and 36 million of our people, mostly children and the elderly, still live in poverty?
(APPLAUSE)
CLARK: I'm a member of the business community now, and I have to ask, where's the fair play when CEOs have made billions of dollars from the increased productivity of American workers but America's middle class and working families are struggling from paycheck to paycheck and some families can't earn a paycheck at all? Where's the fair play?
In the America I grew up in, there was a sense of shared sacrifice. But where is it today, with tax cuts during war that benefit the most those who need it least, while the sons and daughters of working families and the poor put on the uniform and march off to risk their lives for this country?
(APPLAUSE)
None of these is exactly a new problem today. Some of them existed before this president took office. But a few are specifically his problem.
And I'm grateful that we have a new Democratic Congress that's going to start working on these challenges, but I think it's clear we need a new president as well.
(APPLAUSE)
I think we need a president who understands that to project strength and earn respect is to be strong and show respect, not with a swagger, but with a handshake; and to wear our military might not on our sleeve, but tucked away in our back pocket; and a president who understands how to take us out of Iraq, how to deal with multiple international challenges -- Iran, North Korea, terrorism, immigration, global warming, international trade; how to reenergize the American spirit and how to put us on the right path to a strong, secure and just America.
(APPLAUSE)
I believe in an America that lives not in fear, but with confidence, and draws its inspiration not just from past glories, but from knowing that we have the power to realize our greatest hopes and dreams if only we're true to our own values.
Years from now, this war in Iraq's going to be over and there'll be a time to build a memorial to the fallen. The architects and the artists will design a great monument. It'll have solemn beauty and deep emotion. And every year the bands will play and the wreaths will be laid. And the politicians will speak about the soldiers and their sacrifice.
For me, those words of sacrifice were spoken long ago by one of our great military leaders, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur.
I don't agree with his politics.
< CLARK: I don't agree with everything he did. But I'll tell you this: He put it in words for those of us who went to West Point, who are still there, in his last speech.
He came and told the corps of cadets, speaking to the sacrifice for American soldiers, he said: "I do not know the dignity of the birth, but I know the glory of their death.
"They died unquestioningly, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts and on their lips, the hope that we would go on to victory.
"Always, for them, duty, honor and country. Always their blood and sweat and tears, as they saw the way and the light."
This year, as we struggle in Iraq, let's remember who we are as Americans and the ideals we represent.
Let's commence to building the only memorial that can match the sacrifice that so many of our men and women have made. That's a stronger, safer and more just America.
(APPLAUSE)
Somewhere between the politics of smear and spin, there are still common solutions to our challenges.
Working together, we can build that better America. It won't be easy, but we've got to have the courage to begin.
That's our duty. That's our call, for our honor, for our country, for those who sacrificed so much that we can be here today in freedom and liberty.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
END
.ETX
Feb 02, 2007 11:17 ET .EOF
Source: CQ Transcriptions
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