Clark warns of weak U.S. foreign policy
Originally published in the Independent Florida Alligator
Clark warns of weak U.S. foreign policy
By ELIZABETH HILLAKER
Alligator Contributing Writer
Gen. Wesley Clark said America's foreign policy has been mostly ineffective in a speech on Wednesday night commemorating the fourth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. He took hard stances on economic, military and diplomatic issues.
"You don't win a war by killing people, you win it by changing people's ideas," Clark told an audience of about 1,000 at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The speech was sponsored by Accent, Student Government speaker's bureau.
Clark, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, said he hadn't ruled out the possibility of running for president again in a press conference before the speech.
He also commented on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, saying he would have been on the ground in New Orleans from day one.
However, foreign policy was a larger theme of the general's speech. While the United States has not been hit by another terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001, the number of terrorist attacks worldwide has increased, he said.
He advocated reducing the government's overreliance on the military and instead empowering ideological arguments against those who use religion for murder.
"If you want to win, you start going on the offensive with ideas," Clark said.
The military is the first weapon if someone wants to tell the American public he is serious; however, the military shouldn't be the first weapon of choice, Clark said, "but the last, last, last."
He also said the American government needs a new strategic framework for success in the war against terrorism and should be communicating with Iran and North Korea about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Concerning economics he warned that the United States is facing competition from China and India and that those countries' markets are four times the size of the United States'.
He said economics builds education, which builds a military challenge. China is the one country in the next 30 or 40 years that will pose a threat, he said.
Therefore, the United States needs to strengthen its relationship with Europe, he said, because of its similarly-sized economy, population and shared values.
"We're the leader," he said. "America needs to lead."
The audience reacted with bursts of applause throughout the speech.
"General Clark isn't the most charismatic man in the world," said UF student Ray Seaman, a political science major. "But his statement definitely rang clear with a world and nation that is desperate for real leadership."
In a question-and-answer session after Clark's speech, several students expressed concerns about America's inaction about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
"We've seen it, called it genocide and should've put an end to it years ago," Clark said.
He encouraged students to involve the cable media in Sudan.
"You need the power of imagery," he said.
