Retired Army Gen. Clark comments on death of ex-Yugoslav leader
Originally published in the Lowell Sun
Article Launched: 03/12/2006 6:55 AM EST
Retired Army Gen. Clark comments on death of ex-Yugoslav leader
By MICHAEL LAFLEUR, Sun Staff
Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, in town yesterday for U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan's 11th annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, said the death of former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic before he could be convicted on war-crimes charges will hurt the region he plunged into war more than a decade ago.
"Milosevic, he was ill, and I always hate to see somebody die," Clark, 61, who oversaw NATO forces in Europe during the Kosovo conflict, said in a brief interview before yesterday's breakfast.
"But he was a war criminal, and the truth is his death before he was convicted of his war crimes complicates Serbia's path to rejoin the western community of nations," Clark said. "His conviction of war crimes would have been a very significant milestone for accounting for the tragedy that he promoted for a decade in Yugoslavia.
"He not only presided over a murderous force, but he, in my view, planned, organized and stimulated it," Clark said.
Milosevic, who died while imprisoned at the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, where he was being tried for genocide, has been blamed for fueling conflicts, from his native Serbia, that ravaged other former Yugoslavian nations such as Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
A retired four-star general, Clark served as the NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe from 1997 until 2000.
He also was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, which was captured by U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who subsequently lost to President Bush.
Clark, who leads the political-action committee Securing America, is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. Yesterday, he said though "I haven't really thought about 2008" he has not ruled out another run, but he added that his foremost concern is seeing the Democratic incumbents and challengers succeed in November's congressional races.
"One part now controls the Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court," he said. "It's a dangerous moment for American Democracy when you can't have a balanced discussion."
During his remarks at the breakfast, Clark also touched on the conflict in Iraq.
"I know there's frustration with what's going on over there," he said. "I've talked a lot about the war. That's why I got involved in the political side. I never thought we needed to do it. But I sure honor those who are over there."
