By Martin Rushmere

Retired four-star general Wesley Clark probably felt like giving an order to several audience members to sit down and shut up.  He did not, of course, surrender to this understandable temptation.  Clark is not only a military man, but an experienced politician and diplomat as well.  At Book Passage last Thursday night to discuss his new memoir, Clark showed that he was a master of more subtle ways to control an audience and get his point across.                  

General Clark’s memoir — A Time To Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country — tells the story  of Clark’s life and his rise through the military to the highest ranks.  It also details how his anger with the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq led him to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
     
During the question and answer session after Clark’s reading, a woman in the audience went on a tirade against the US/UN intervention in the Balkan civil war in the 1990’s.  General Clark led that intervention as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander.

Clark responded to the woman’s pro-Serbian tirade by laying out a factual timeline of the whole sorry mess, followed by a no-nonsense:  “Madam, don’t keep shaking your head at me.  We saved the lives of one-and-a-half million people and I’m damned proud of that.”

Clark seemed equally firm when he discussed a possible U.S. attack on Iran.  To gasps, mixed with shocked cries of “Noooo,” Clark said:  “Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is a terrorist organization, they are funding terror in Iraq, so it’s no wonder that we want to attack them. Wouldn’t you?”  But no one in the audience thought quickly enough to ask Clark if he was just explaining Bush’s ideology or recommending a course of action, and, with scores of people wanting their questions answered, Clark moved on to the next issue.

So just what are Clark’s views on Iran?  It turns out that Clark has his own website called StopIranWar.com.  On his website, he writes that war is not the answer.  “Military force against Iran is not the solution now, and if we adopt the right strategy, perhaps it need never be.” Clark demands on the website that Bush “work with our allies and use every diplomatic, political, and economic option at our disposal to deal with Iran.”

Clark’s website is not inconsistent with what he said at Book Passage.  The website does not rule out the possibility of war. The website states that war is not the solution “now” and “perhaps it need never be.”  Clark, who is, after all, a retired U.S. Army general, leaves open the possibility that a war with Iran, at some point, may be necessary.  Let us hope that point never arrives.

Still proudly Democrat, Clark told the audience at Book Passage that the Democratic party needed to shape up if they are to win the upcoming election.  “We shouldn’t be distracted by troop levels.  If Petraeus wants 10,000 give him 10,000.  We should be hammering the questions of strategy.  Is the policy and strategy right?  Bush trumpets the success in western Iraq but the violence is down because they are building up their militias for when the Americans leave.”  He predicts that Bush will reduce troop numbers next year and then claim he has won the war and brought our soldiers home.

Clark’s drive and unflagging energy are remarkable.  In a recent week, he was doing work for Clinton’s Global Initiative (a non-profit organization that brings a diverse group of leaders together to generate ideas for solving critical world issues), flying to Europe, flying back to Boston, appearing on four talk shows a day, and getting up at 4:00 am to do “my daily swim.” So where did he find the time to write his book?  “I have been spending 40 hours a week on airplanes and wrote the book on my Blackberry.”

As with many figures in the public eye, Clark was exasperated by the media.  He described his experience with “The Daily Show” to illustrate the media’s shortcomings.  “The Daily Show phones me – I have been trying to get on them for six weeks to promote my book.  But what do they want to talk about – why the media is obsessing about Rush Limbaugh and the ‘phoney’ soldiers.  They want to talk about a subject they say is not worth talking about.”

Not a person plagued by uncertainty or subject to woolly thoughts, General Clark credits his outlook on life to a chiding he received at the age of 10.  His swim coach reproached him for failing a time trial. The coach told Clark that he had convinced himself he was going to fail.  He made the team easily the next time.

Not surprisingly, the close of the talk was efficient and decisive.  “I have run way over my time,” said Clark.  And that was it – no backtalk.

As the buzzing audience filed out, the pro-Serbian was haranguing everyone in earshot about how unfair it had all been.