The perfumed prince and other political tales (Clarke/Kerry/Lieb)

[donsu]

http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/090903Chuckman/090903chuckman.html

September 9, 2003—The Perfumed Prince declared himself a Democrat. Many Americans may not recognize the nickname bestowed upon Wesley Clarke by British colleagues as he strutted around Serbia with his set of platinum-plated general's stars carefully repositioned each day to a freshly-starched and ironed camouflage cap, wafting a thick vapor trail of cologne. His lack of judgment demonstrated in Serbia—including an order to clear out Russian forces that British general, Sir Michael Jackson, had to ignore for fear of starting World War III—should be enough to utterly disqualify him as a candidate for president. But this is America, land of opportunity.

-snip-

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts announced that he wants the Democratic presidential nomination. He chose to ask for it using an aircraft carrier as a backdrop. I have no idea why he would repeat any part of Bush's pathetic stunt, but to my mind it is an immediate strike against his competence. Perhaps he hoped for a promotional deal on a doll in combat gear to memorialize the occasion? That is, after all, a good deal of the country's idea of war, limited-edition collector dolls with lots of cute little zippers, flaps, and pockets (all handsomely made in China or Indonesia). Never mind real war where pilots drop cluster bombs and napalm on tiny desperate figures far below, and the occupying troops slosh through the resulting human gore, a good deal of it belonging to children in Iraq.

-snip-

The Democrats held their first debate, hoping desperately to find an attractive candidate. Senator Joe Lieberman was there, but you have to wonder why anyone would vote to replace Bush with Lieberman? The pair remind me of one of those 1950's cheap horror films about a monster with two heads lurching over the countryside.

Lieberman's many pious-fraud battles over personal expression suggest that the Two Heads may actually have shared a single brain at birth. Just like his Twin Head, Lieberman avoided military service out of personal interests without hint of conscience or principle, and, just like his Twin Head, Lieberman always stands ready to see people blown up in foreign lands, just so it's "our boyz" doing the blowing up. Capital punishment warms his heart, too, and he has organizational connections with Dick Cheney's wife, America's intellectual gorgon.
-snip-
------------------------------

[tjdee]

1. Can I call Howard Dean Blowhard?

This "Perfumed Prince" stuff is so ridiculous. He wears cologne.Big friggin deal, and as a woman I'd like to say it's probably not hurting him--in fact, he looks sharp too.

He likes to be in charge. SHOCK! HORROR!

One comment by one guy is really making the rounds. If the worst they've got is Perfumed Prince, Clark is as golden as his supporters think he is.

[disgruntella]

2. omg, someone finally said it

Criticism of a potential Democratic candidate (Clark) starting off with "He smells." And the "Democratic candidates stink" theme is threaded throughout the article.

How very fourth-grade! But then again, it reflects the intellectual level of the article.

[benddem]

3. I know Wes Clark

He isn't at all like the man they described. We were stationed together at Ft. Irwin. He is reserved...but very kind, smart as hell and an all right good guy.

My dream team is Dean for Pres and Clark for Veep. We'd kill em.:toast:

[Wetzelbill]

4. As I have said before and will say again

I am a Kucinich guy, but I would be more than happy to have a Kerry, Dean, Edwards, Gephardt etc, presidency. I'll damn sure vote for whoever earns the nomination. Too many people get nasty and caught up with bashing each others candidates. I think a Dean/Clark ticket would be a helluva combination if you ask me and I'm sure they would do a good job running the country too.

[11cents]

6. Thanks for speaking up, bigannie!

Looks like the only people more afraid of Clark than the Bushies are their leftbot allies-of-convenience.

[KoKo]

11. bigannie, what year did you know him at Ft. Irwin. People can change as

power goes to their heads. It would be helpful to know his rank and the date...........

[graham67]

5. Hackworth....

started that "perfumed prince" phrase, not the British. It has nothing to do with wearing cologne for Christ's sake, its a derogatory phrase he uses with much of the military's top brass. If they aren't cigar chewing, ass kicking Norman Schwartzkophs, they're perfumed princes to him. Hackworth just doesn't like the military "intellectuals".

edited for clarity

[Clark Can WIN]

7. Hackworth doesn't like anyone

with any measurable intellect at all. It's threatening to him.

[liberalmuse]

8. How can any site...

claiming to be left leaning justify this article? It's just plain nasty, and I'm guessing, padded with baseless slurs. I swear, the tone of the news these days is just like reading the supermarket tabloids, and I stopped reading them years ago. Why not focus on the real enemy: Bush?

[donsu]

9. this is what bothered me

"His lack of judgment demonstrated in Serbia—including an order to clear out Russian forces that British general, Sir Michael Jackson, had to ignore for fear of starting World War III—should be enough to utterly disqualify him as a candidate for president. But this is America, land of opportunity."

why don't you speak to this?

[SweetZombieJesus]

12. Probably because it's conjecture?

Until I see an article from Sir Michael Jackson confirming this bullshit, and corresponding articles telling me that Sir Michael Jackson is a real British General who isn't a liar or a psycho, I'll reserve judgement.

Something about saying that Clark "almost started World War III" seems a bit, oh, let's say, overblown to me. Highly suspect.

[Tinoire]

30. No Its not conjecture

General Jackson is no whacko, he is currently the operational head of the British army. He was also Chief of General Staff, head of British armed forces during Gulf I. You can google him- there's tons of stuff about him on the web.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/kosovo_profiles/jackson.stm


According to General Clark, General Jackson was "angry and upset", and the meeting was a "rapid-fire exchange and became too personal."

Quotes from Clark's book:

Jackson: "Sir, I’m not taking any more orders from Washington,"

Clark: "Mike, these aren’t Washington’s orders, they’re coming from me."

Jackson: "By whose authority?"

Clark: "By my authority as Supreme Allied Commander Europe."

Jackson: "You don’t have that authority."

Clark: "I do have that authority. I have the Secretary-General behind me on this."

Jackson: "Sir, I’m not starting World War Three for you."

Clark: "Mike, I’m not asking you to start World War Three. I’m asking you to block the runways so that we don’t have to face an issue that could produce a crisis."

Jackson: "Sir, I’m a three-star general, you can’t give me orders like this."

Clark: "Mike, I’m a four-star general, and I can tell you these things."

From Clark's Waging Modern War, pp.394-5.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/elkins/elkins17.html


------------------------------------------------------------

"MORAL COMBAT : NATO AT WAR"
A BBC2 special, 9pm Sunday 12 March 2000
Reporter Allan Little


<snip>

LT GEN SIR MICHAEL JACKSON
COMMANDER, KOSOVO FORCE
We were standing into a possibility - let me put it no more strongly than that – a possibility of confrontation with the Russian contingent, which seemed to me probably not the right way to start off a relationship with Russians who were going to become part of my command.

LITTLE
British and French objections thwarted Clarks plan. The two hundred Russian troops passed through Kosovo and were greeted as liberating heroes by local Serbs. They took the airport unopposed. The world watched nervously. The Russians were planning to fly in thousands of paratroopers, who would then cut Kosovo in half, leaving Milosevic in control of the North.

GENERAL LEONID IVASHEV
The Defense Ministry already had plans, proposals, ready to put into action. Let's just say that we had several air bases ready. We had battalions of paratroopers ready to leave within 2 hours.

LT GENERAL SIR MICHAEL JACKSON
There was concern that there may be Russian aircraft inbound, and that one answer to this would be to block the runways at Pristina airfield, and what was looked at was putting some armour, tanks, on the runway.

Q: Were you in favour of that?

General Wesley Clark: I believe it was an appropriate course of action.

LITTLE
But Clark's plan was again overruled by Britain. Instead Clark asked neighbouring countries to try to stop Russian aircraft flying towards Kosovo. The Rumanian defence minister took great pleasure in warning Moscow not to try to fly over his country.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK
He said you could do that of course, but we would be obliged to send an aircraft up to intercept your aircraft. And there are only two buttons on our aircraft, and if the pilot pushes the wrong one, he'll shoot down your transport plane with all of these people on board. Of course, that would be a crime, he said, and he would be prosecuted under our law. He'd be convicted and would be sent to jail, for seven years. But he would also be a national hero.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/events/panorama/transcripts/transcript_12_03_00.txt
---------------------------------------------
Mark Tran
Monday August 2, 1999

Nato supreme commander General Wesley Clark is not being allowed to fade away quietly. Days after the Clinton administration relieved him of his command two months early, Newsweek is reporting that the victor of Kosovo was blocked from sending paratroopers to Pristina airport to pre-empt an unexpected Russian advance.
Lieutenant-general Sir Michael Jackson overruled General Clark because the British commander did not want to spark a clash with the Russians.

"I'm not going to start Third World War for you," General Jackson told the US commander, according to Newsweek. In the hours that followed General Clark's order, both men sought political backing for their position, but only General Jackson received it.

News of the clash between the British and US commanders comes just days after the US snubbed General Clark by ordering him to step down next year, two months early, to make way for Air Force General Joseph Ralston, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

<snip>

General Clark then asked fellow American commander Admiral James Ellis, in charge of Nato's Southern Command, to land helicopters on the runways to prevent giant Russian Ilyushin transport coming in. However, Admiral Ellis also refused, saying General Jackson would not like it.

The Russian planes were only prevented from landing after US officials persuaded Hungary to deny them permission to overfly the country. Both generals turned to their political masters for support, but while the British government backed General Jackson's judgment, General Clark received no support, effectively meaning his orders were overruled.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Kosovo/Story/0,2763,208120,00.html
------------------------------------------

Clark had agreed to a brief interview before his speech, and I wanted to ask him about the bombing of the TV station, which had been condemned as a violation of international law by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In fact, such critics had said the bombing was only one example of NATO committing war crimes during the campaign, through indiscriminate use of force and the targeting of civilian facilities, both prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. Rather than just going after Serb forces committing ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, NATO bombed electric power grids, bridges, factories, oil refineries and other civilian installations throughout Serbia. Critics said the strikes were intended to wear down the morale of Serb citizens and the resistance of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

Dual-use targets

Clark, as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, was directly responsible for selecting the bombing targets, though each had to be approved by NATO political leaders. As he recalls in his own memoirs about the conflict, Waging Modern War, he aggressively pushed for approval of targets such as the TV station, despite allies' concerns about the possible illegality of striking them.

<snip>

"Contrary to the beliefs of our war planners, unrestricted air bombing is barred under international law," wrote Walter Rockler, an attorney who prosecuted Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, in a May 23, 1999 Chicago Tribune op-ed criticizing the war. "Bombing the 'infrastructure' of a country -- waterworks, electricity plants, bridges, factories, television and radio locations -- is not an attack limited to legitimate military objectives."

<snip>

http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2002-02-07/news.html

[Clark Can WIN]

14. Because it is utter tripe and bull

and has been addressed here ad nauseam already. It holds no water. It's a dog with no hunt etc, etc etc. It's a baseless charge about a ridiculously, absurdly overblown and bloodless incident. World War III my ass.

Edit for spelling

[Pepperbelly]

17. how many times do we have to speak to this crud?

It has been shown to be ... to be charitible ... exagerated since forever.

[robbedvoter]

19. OK. here's a WP article on it (no link though):

> Secret Russian Troop Deployment Thwarted
>
> By Robert G. Kaiser and David Hoffman
> Washington Post Staff Writers
> Friday, June 25, 1999; Page A1
>
> Russia's surprise deployment of 200 troops to the Pristina airport on
> June 12
> was part of a scheme to send into Kosovo a contingent of 1,000 or
> more men
> who could have tried to stake out a Russian zone in the northwest
> sector of
> the province, Western intelligence analysts have concluded.
>
> The carefully planned operation was thwarted when the governments of
> Hungary,
> Bulgaria and Romania, prodded by the United States, denied Russian
> requests
> to use their airspace to fly more Russians into Kosovo.
>
>snip
> When the NATO allies realized, late on June 11, that the Russians
> were moving
> men toward Pristina, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the NATO commander,
> speedily
> devised a plan to deploy NATO troops by helicopter to the Pristina
> airport,
> creating the possibility for the first NATO-Russia confrontation
> since the
> end of the Cold War. But British Gen. Michael Jackson, head of the
> peacekeeping force, argued that such a move would upset the delicate
> arrangements he had negotiated with Yugoslav officers on their
> withdrawal
> from Kosovo, and Clark's plan was dropped.
>
> In Moscow, Russian generals were openly frustrated at their inability
> to
> complete the deployment. "When the Russian military saw how popular
> their
> first little glorious victory was," said one senior U.S. official,
> referring
> to the arrival of the 200 troops at Pristina's airport, "the effort
> to score
> again became more intense,
> and more
> important from their point of view. If they'd been able to keep on
> going,
> you could have had a very serious breakdown in confidence, and maybe
> in our
> ability to organize a peacekeeping effort in Kosovo."
>
> Western officials are still debating the Russian moves, wondering
> both why
> the Russian military took the risks it did and what role President
> Boris
> Yeltsin played in the decisions.
>
> snip
>
> Russian military officials have boasted that the deception involved
> in the
> Pristina airport operation was deliberate. "The operation was very
> carefully
> prepared," Gen. Georgi Shpak, commander of Russia's paratroopers,
> told a
> Russian newspaper. "The main difficulty was to hide the fact that the
> operation was being prepared."
>
> snip
> Western nations were alarmed when the Russians moved into the Pristina
> airport, though not afraid of the small force of 200. Within two
> weeks the
> British were providing food and water for the isolated contingent.
>
> But Clark took the Russian deployment seriously, which led to his
> plan to
> dispatch U.S. troops by helicopter to the airport. Defense Secretary
> William
> S. Cohen and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
> Staff,
> supported Clark's plan. But Jackson and the British government
> demurred, and
> Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov assured U.S. officials that the
> Russian
> force moving toward Kosovo would stop before it crossed into the
> province.
>
> The Russians' premature arrival in Pristina despite Ivanov's assurance
> complicated the diplomatic exchanges over the peacekeeping
> arrangements. The
> Russians insisted that they be given a separate sector within Kosovo,
> contributing to the conclusion of some Western intelligence analysts
> that
> they had intended to establish such a sector unilaterally. Other
> Western
> officials argued that the Russian goal was to create a presence on the
> ground as a bargaining chip.
>
> snip
> Correspondent William Drozdiak in Brussels and staff writers Bradley
> Graham
> and John F. Harris in Washington contributed to this report. Hoffman
> reported from Moscow.

[charlie]

24. Jackson may have been onboard the plan

to seize Pristina ahead of the Russians initially, but was thwarted by a snafu involving a cargo plane crash. Here's a bit of speculation in a UK Sunday Times reprint:

"A secret mission by British SAS troops to beat the Russians to Pristina airport on the night before Nato's liberation of Kosovo ended in disaster when their Hercules transport plane crashed on takeoff in northern Albania, sources in the province have revealed.

General Sir Mike Jackson, former commander of the Nato-led Kfor troops, has always said he wanted to avoid confrontation with the Russians. But the doomed SAS mission suggests he was prepared to fly two squads of elite troops into a risky operation with unpredictable results.

...

Officials in Pristina say the mission fell within Jackson's overall plan for SAS troops to secure all points of entry into Kosovo. One said an explosive row between Jackson and Clark - in which Jackson famously said "it's not worth starting world war three" for control of Pristina airport - could have been avoided had the SAS reached it first.

http://www.aeronautics.ru/nws001/thetimes005.htm

[graham67]

10. 1999 WaPo article...

By Robert G. Kaiser and David Hoffman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 25, 1999; Page A1

Russia's surprise deployment of 200 troops to the Pristina airport on June 12 was part of a scheme to send into Kosovo a contingent of 1,000 or more men who could have tried to stake out a Russian zone in the northwest sector of the province, Western intelligence analysts have concluded. (snip)

The Russians nearly succeeded in adding to their forces on the ground, briefly winning permission from Hungary for six IL-76 military transport planes to fly over that country on June 11, before it was clear that the Russians were sending 200 men from their Bosnian peacekeeping force to the airport in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. But before those Ilyushins could get into the air, the United States asked Hungary to deny the Russians use of its airspace, and the Hungarians agreed, telling the Russians that
only an act of the Hungarian parliament could grant overflight rights. (snip)

When the NATO allies realized, late on June 11, that the Russians
were moving men toward Pristina, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, the NATO commander, speedily devised a plan to deploy NATO troops by helicopter to the Pristina airport, creating the possibility for the first NATO-Russia confrontation since the end of the Cold War. But British Gen. Michael Jackson, head of the peacekeeping force, argued that such a move would upset the delicate arrangements he had negotiated with Yugoslav officers on their withdrawal from Kosovo, and Clark's plan was dropped.

In Moscow, Russian generals were openly frustrated at their inability to complete the deployment. "When the Russian military saw how popular their first little glorious victory was," said one senior U.S. official, referring to the arrival of the 200 troops at Pristina's airport, "the effort to score again became more intense, and more important from their point of view. If they'd been able to keep on going, you could have had a very serious breakdown in confidence, and maybe in our
ability to organize a peacekeeping effort in Kosovo."

The archives require registration and I can't link to the story. If you're interested in reading the entire article, you can search under:

Russia Had Bigger Plan In Kosovo
U.S. Thwarted a Larger, Secret Troop Deployment

By Robert G. Kaiser and David Hoffman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 25, 1999; Page A1

[SweetZombieJesus]

15. Sounds pretty far from "almost starting World War III"

Sounds more like the Russian brass got too fired up and was fucking up NATO's plans. Clark had a plan, but they decided to drop it and do something else.

Doesn't sound like some rogue General trying to start a fight with the Russkies, unless you chose to spin it that way.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

22. Here's Another Account for You

From the excellent BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/671495.stm

DTH

[Renew Deal]

13. Lies, this belongs in Frankens book.

The "perfumed Prince" comment came from Hackworth, not the British. Clark was Knighted by the British. He also said that about Powell and others. It has nothing to do with cologne. This is such crap.

"including an order to clear out Russian forces" That is just not true. The Russians weren't there yet. They were sayign that they weren't going there. Clark wanted to make sure they never got there to insure the success of NATO's mission. He had Solana on his side.

The WW3 stuff has been discussed a million times. :nuke:

[WilliamPitt]

16. What fantastic bullshit

Is anyone really going to discount Clark because he wore cologne and starched shirts and General's stars (the latter two being part of his UNIFORM)? Did this person miss the cruel ironly of an honest-to-God Navy veteran throwing Bush's carrier stunt right back in his face?

Waste of electrons here.

[MGKrebs]

18. Clark looks good,

and he has a nice resume. If he decides to run, I am looking forward to hearing a bit more about what his plan is. Right now, about all we got is "I like most of Clinton's economic plan", "the environment needs to be protected", "in the Army, everybody gets health care", "we may have to suspend some of the tax cuts", "we need to get along with our allies". (Those aren't exact quotes, but pretty close paraphrasing from the draftwesleyclark website.)

Bring it on, Wes.

[11cents]

20. On top of everything else ....

... this semi-literate slop doesn't even get the man's name right. "Clark," not "Clarke." And "strutting around Serbia?" We were at war with Serbia, dear.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

21. It's the Flail Maneuver

Not only is it a weak hatchet job, it's a weak hatchet job directed at several different candidates at the same time. This tripe-troller journal is just flailing about wildly at everyone who doesn't pass their ideological purity test. The funniest thing is, Clark is actually more progressive than the majority of the current Democratic field.

I actually love it when people post ridiculous shit like this. It's a fantastic initial litmus test.

DTH

On Edit: I also love the "OMG, he wears cologne! OMG, his uniform is crisp and clean, just like military rules require!"

[KoKo]

23. Hey since when is Online Journal a "tripe-troller?" Article is Bad.......

and a rant by someone who didn't check their facts....(Kerry threw original medals...wrong!), and there were other mis-statements.....and I was surprised to see such a rant appear in Online......but since when does that make the site a tripe-troller?

The person writing the article obviously is totally against ALL war and blew a gasket. It shouldn't have been there, but as a rant there were some very funny parts......As a rant......but something I would expect to see here at DU and not at "Online."

[Julien Sorel]

25. No.... the person.... writing.... the .... article didn't.....

blow a gasket. Clark....changed :shrug: .... it happens ... power ... goes to your head.... or was it .... the ..... overpowering... scent of.... the perfume ... he ..... wears..... :shrug:

[KoKo]

29. Well, Billy, I havent' gotten a reply from bigannie yet about that date &

rank! ;-)

[TacticalPeek]

26. Dollars to donuts this twit author has not deigned to read

Clark's book, which recounts the incident.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/158648043X/104-1379955-3500740?v=glance

And his fantasies about sniffing a general are more appropriate posted at a fetish site.

[graham67]

27. I would gladly

sniff the general. Is that wrong? :evilgrin:

[TacticalPeek]

28. Nothing wrong with a good fetish if your nose is in the right place..

Better watch out for Gert, though.

[library_max]

31. "My Candidate Sucks So Bad I Have To Attack Yours"

All hail CoffeePlease1947! He has come up with the perfect formula for dispelling all these negative campaign threads! All you Dean-bashers, Kerry-bashers, any-Democrat-bashers, please repeat after me: “MY CANDIDATE SUCKS SO BAD THAT I HAVE TO ATTACK YOURS.”

If I were a Bush supporter, I would be ROFLMAO to see all these Democrats ripping each other to pieces. My candidate in the general election is Anybody But Bush. As for the primaries, I haven’t decided yet. Amazing, ain’t it? Considering that the primaries are only six months away.

Come on, ladies and gentlemen! Unity, please! Eyes on the prize! BUCK FUSH!

[Starpass]

32. Then there's the story of Dandy Dean and his sealed papers

in Vermont.....what the fuck do you have to seal papers of your dealings in teeny tiny Vermont for??? You might want to check out Howard a bit further. The national media and Bush will and then we will all learn about him. Why do you always get the feeling that Dean is the deer in the headlights when confronted but that his brains works faster than Bushs' so he can b.s. his way out???