Amarillo College Ranger

Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: Front Page

Media Credit: Dustin Ward The former supreme allied comander of NATO, Gen. Wesley Clark, greets members of the community who attended his speech at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts. [Click to enlarge]

General Wesley K. Clark, former supreme allied commander of NATO, was given a standing ovation after his speech for the Distinguished Lecture Series Nov. 9 at the Amarillo Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts.

Clark spoke on topics ranging from America's involvement in world affairs since World War II to possible presidential candidates in the 2008 election.

He opened the speech with his view on Donald Rumsfeld's resignation as secretary of defense last week, saying he was "greatly saddened, and it's a real tragedy."

Although Clark was one of many U.S. officials calling for Rumsfeld's resignation, he said he was not pleased to hear the news.

"Sometimes you call for things that have to be done, but it doesn't give you any pleasure," he said.

"It is just a matter of necessity."

Clark spoke about how America has gotten to where it is today.

"We have been wandering in the wilderness in America since the end of the Cold War," he said. "We lost our strategy at the end of the Cold War, and we haven't found it yet."

He discussed how America built up its military, economy and position as a world power after World War II and how all of that was threatened during the Cold War. Through the work and service of many Americans, he said, the United States won the Cold War without firing a shot.

Clark shared his views on American involvement in affairs from Rwanda to Latin America to Kosovo, where as supreme allied commander of NATO forces, he led 19 nations to a victory without the loss of a single life.

Clark said that before Sept. 11, 2001, Americans were oblivious to the problems facing the rest of the world.

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