Gen. Wesley Clark: Staying Longer In Iraq Wouldn’t Have Made A Difference
COLMES: Specifically about ISIS, is President Obama handling it the right way, could he or should he have done something sooner?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think you can’t put US troops on the ground, and get a solution. US troops is like putting gasoline on a fire in that area. Air power is good, you got to have ground forces, and you’ve got to have a plan for governance. After you kill a bunch of people in ISIS, what happens? Does Bashar al-Assad take over again? He and Russia win after we put our airpower in there? So we have to have a political in-state…
COLMES: Was a mistake made not staying in Iraq longer, or could that even been accomplished much as Obama is being criticized for not having allowed that to happen?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK: I don’t think that keeping a few thousand troops in Iraq would have stopped ISIS. And it wouldn’t have fixed the Iraqi forces. There are deep schisms inside Iraq and they reflect the deep problems and they reflect the problems that really Islam has. They were God’s chosen people, they were the center of civilization for hundreds of years, and three hundred years ago these barbarians from Europe with more money technology and know how and took over the world and Islam has had a hard time coping with that.
General Clark says he’s not running for president this time.
Click here for reuse options!COLMES: No fire in the belly for you to run again?
GEN. WESLEY CLARK: I’m supporting Hillary Clinton, I think she’s incredibly capable and experienced.
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
24 responses to Gen. Wesley Clark: Staying Longer In Iraq Wouldn’t Have Made A Difference
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rg9rts October 11th, 2014 at 09:52
You have to find a way to install backbone into the Iraqi army. The Kurdish women can’t do it all by themselves
uzza October 11th, 2014 at 11:27
You do that by giving them something they think is worth fighting for. ISIS is doing that, a foreign occupier is not.
rg9rts October 11th, 2014 at 14:04
Thats why they ran..,..and ran ….and ran…..
tiredoftea October 11th, 2014 at 15:48
No, they have to find a way! Inserting a backbone, or anything into Iraq, is not our job.
rg9rts October 11th, 2014 at 15:57
Exactly
rg9rts October 11th, 2014 at 09:52
You have to find a way to install backbone into the Iraqi army. The Kurdish women can’t do it all by themselves
uzza October 11th, 2014 at 11:27
You do that by giving them something they think is worth fighting for. ISIS is doing that, a foreign occupier is not.
rg9rts October 11th, 2014 at 14:04
Thats why they ran..,..and ran ….and ran…..
tiredoftea October 11th, 2014 at 15:48
No, they have to find a way! Inserting a backbone, or anything into Iraq, is not our job.
rg9rts October 11th, 2014 at 15:57
Exactly
Skydog2 October 11th, 2014 at 11:37
Like all politicians, there’s an ulterior motive to everything Clark says.
Chinese Democracy October 11th, 2014 at 15:26
Gen. Clark isnt running for office nor has he held office. His ulterior motive must be to give his honest opinion based on the facts.
majii October 11th, 2014 at 23:45
Now, CD, you and I both know that if someone says something GOPTPers don’t agree with, there just has to be an “ulterior motive.” It just cannot be that the person is using facts, history, and experience to support his/her opinion. I’ve noticed that many on the right have bought into the meme that leaving a U.S. troop presence in Iraq would have been ‘easy peasy’ and would have prevented the rise of ISIS in the region, even though the facts clearly show that the Iraqi government turned down offers to do so by Pres. Bush and Pres. Obama, and that the rise of ISIS is tied to al Maliki’s decision to make Sunni Muslims persona non grata in their own nation. These folks seem to live in an alternate reality, wherein what they believe doesn’t have to align with facts or reality.
Skydog2 October 11th, 2014 at 11:37
Like all politicians, there’s an ulterior motive to everything Clark says.
Chinese Democracy October 11th, 2014 at 15:26
Gen. Clark isnt running for office nor has he held office. His ulterior motive must be to give his honest opinion based on the facts.
majii October 11th, 2014 at 23:45
Now, CD, you and I both know that if someone says something GOPTPers don’t agree with, there just has to be an “ulterior motive.” It just cannot be that the person is using facts, history, and experience to support his/her opinion. I’ve noticed that many on the right have bought into the meme that leaving a U.S. troop presence in Iraq would have been ‘easy peasy’ and would have prevented the rise of ISIS in the region, even though the facts clearly show that the Iraqi government turned down offers to do so by Pres. Bush and Pres. Obama, and that the rise of ISIS is tied to al Maliki’s decision to make Sunni Muslims persona non grata in their own nation. These folks seem to live in an alternate reality, wherein what they believe doesn’t have to align with facts or reality.
Skydog2 October 11th, 2014 at 11:40
It’ll be interesting to see the impact if Baghdad falls before the mid-term elections.
tiredoftea October 11th, 2014 at 15:49
Iraq is having elections?
Skydog2 October 11th, 2014 at 11:40
It’ll be interesting to see the impact if Baghdad falls before the mid-term elections.
tiredoftea October 11th, 2014 at 15:49
Iraq is having elections?
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker October 11th, 2014 at 12:19
Not to mention that staying out of Iraq in the first place would have made a huge difference.
We squandered billions of dollars and only succeeded in destabilizing the entire middle east whilst killing and maiming hundreds of thousands….including thousands of young Americans.
KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker October 11th, 2014 at 12:19
Not to mention that staying out of Iraq in the first place would have made a huge difference.
We squandered billions of dollars and only succeeded in destabilizing the entire middle east whilst killing and maiming hundreds of thousands….including thousands of young Americans.
tiredoftea October 11th, 2014 at 15:50
Gen. Clark’s assessment is one to listen to by everyone who wants the U.S. to go back to a full war in the Middle East.
tiredoftea October 11th, 2014 at 15:50
Gen. Clark’s assessment is one to listen to by everyone who wants the U.S. to go back to a full war in the Middle East.