Retired Army General
Background Information
Wesley Clark was born in 1944 and grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Westpoint Military Academy in 1966, was awarded the Rhodes scholarship and moved on to earn a master’s in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University. During his thirty-eight-year military career, he participated in both in the Vietnam and Gulf wars. He retired from the army soon after his stint as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO throughout the Kosovo conflict. Since then, Clark has been working as an investment banker and a CNN military analyst.
Political Allies
Rep. Marion Berry (D-AR), infamous for the scandal surrounding his cocaine use and a string of other southern Democratic legislators; George Bruno, Democratic National Committee member
Political Fumbles
A Republican most of his life, Clark voted for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Issues at a glance A: Occupation of Iraq B: Economy C: Environment D: Health Care E: Civil Liberties
A: Clark has been touted as one of the anti-war candidates. On Sep. 20, the Washington Post reported Clark saying that his views resemble those of Joe Lieberman and John Kerry and that he “probably” would have voted for the congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq War. The day after that statement, the Associated Press reported that he backtracked and said, “I would never have voted for this war.” Although advocating involvement of Iraqis in providing security and forming a democratic government for their country, he sees it necessary for the U.S. to maintain their presence in Iraq for a very long time. A strong supporter of Israel’s far-right government, on CNN Clark referred to Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people as a struggle for the existence of Israel.
B: Clark is a “blue dog” (economically conservative) Democrat, similar to Pres. Clinton. He also advocates the fostering of small business.
C: He believes in a balance between commercial exploitation and respect for the environment. NPR radio quoted Clark as saying, “We should work right now on clean air, clean water, and climate change. We need to support upgrades to air pollution.”
D: Clark is opposed to the single-payer system, employed by all other industrialized nations except the United States, in which all citizens are guaranteed universal health care. Solutions he has proposed to the current health care crisis include raising the limits on Medicaid and, according to his website, “promoting physical vigor.”
E: Clark wants to review anti-terrorism measures, including the PATRIOT Act, and repeal unconstitutional aspects. However, the Wall Street Journal reported that after Sep. 11, while he was an investment banker, Clark counseled clients on how to pitch commercial technologies for “homeland-security” use to the government. Fortune magazine has reported that Clark is also a board member of the database company Axicom and has been spearheading their pursuit of contracts with the government for products that would scan for and compile information on all American citizens. A complaint to the FTA has been filed against Axicom for turning over information on two million passengers to Torch, a military contractor. Torch is designing an updated version of the Computer-Assisted Passenger Pre-Screening System which will profile every airline passenger to predict unwanted behavior patterns. The search may include medical, travel, purchase and criminal information.
See also:
December 12, 2003
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