Clark: Reform foreign policy
Originally published by the Indiana Daily Student
Clark: Reform foreign policy
Former general pushes for new strategy in war
By Ben Woodson | Indiana Daily Student | Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark gave what he believes is a new strategy for America Monday night at the IU Auditorium during a speech sponsored by the Union Board.
Clark, a 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, was the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces Europe and led the allied forces during the Kosovo conflict in the late '90s.
America is in a time of transition right now from the old outdated strategy to a new one, he said, but the problem is that President Bush has not defined one yet.
"What is our strategy? We don't have one," Clark said.
Part of Clark's strategy is that military force should be the last option, not the first, he said. The most important war is the war of ideas, he said.
"Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come," he said. America needs to concentrate on "reversing the brainwashing" of radical Islam and promote the positive ideas of Islam, he said.
Clark said the United States should use the laws and intelligence gathering to fight terrorism, not military force, adding the use of force can cause conflicts to become more violent.
"People will hate you for killing their relatives the same as we would," he said.
"Going to Iraq was not an appropriate answer to Osama Bin Laden and international terrorism," he said.
Instead of going to Iraq, the United States should have stayed in Afghanistan and finished the job, he said. One reason the Bush administration went to Iraq was because it still had a cold war mind set, he said.
"If the only weapon you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail," he said.
But Clark would not take military force off the table. In fact, he told the audience to encourage their family and friends to join the military.
"If they love this country, they need to take the risk," he said.
People should join the military whether they agree with the war in Iraq or not because policy will always change, he said, adding even if people don't agree with war, most likely the Bush administration will start pulling troops out in January because of the election.
"They will take their chances with what is going to happen," he said.
In his speech, Clark also said the dynamics of international relations in the future will change. The organizing force of Cold War America was the threat of the former Soviet Union, but in the future it will be the growing competition with China.
"China is the only country that can truly challenge this country's wealth and power," Clark said.
During the Cold War, the threat of the Soviet Union inspired the United States to great efforts, he said. It made the educational system to concentrate on math and science.
Now it is China that is concentrating on math and science, he said. Eventually, it could match America in world power, and America has to concentrate on its educational system so that doesn't happen.
Clark apologized for being so partisan, but people of both parties were pleased by his speech.
Sarah Hocker, a self-described Republican, said Clark seemed like a Republican to her. Even if she didn't quite understand the part about the new strategy, it was enjoyable, she said.
Senior Jared Fallick, the president of the IU College Democrats, said he thought Clark gave a "great vision for America."
The Union Board decided to ask Clark to speak because he is a possible candidate for the 2008 presidential election, said Keith Johnson, president of the Union Board.
But when asked if was going to run Clark said, "Right now, I'm worried about 2006 and concentrating on making the Democratic party a full-service party."
