[Mb-civic] Gen. Wesley Clark: It all comes back to leadership

[Reeeees at aol.com]

_http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/1/123536/7907_ 
(http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/1/123536/7907) 

 
 
 
It all comes back to leadership

 
By _Wesley  Clark_ (http://www.tpmcafe.com/author/wclark)  

Good morning.  Yesterday was a long and rewarding day  here in Iowa, and I 
thoroughly enjoyed meeting and speaking with so many good  people here.  But 
like all other Americans, my thoughts frequently returned  to the people 
suffering through the disaster that Hurricane Katrina has wrought  along the Gulf 
Coast.  And those thoughts kept bringing me back to a theme  that we started 
talking about on Monday: leadership.    
Our country is hurting right now.  Our situation in Iraq is floundering;  
gasoline may reach more than $4 per gallon by Tuesday; and the entire Gulf Coast  
of the United States is wounded and limping.  The common need our people  
have -- and count on -- to see us through these challenges is  leadership.
Sep 01, 2005 -- 12:35:36 PM EST
>From my days in the Little Rock Boys and Girls Club and  all through my years 
at West Point and the Army, I learned and taught that  leadership means 
lifting people up; challenging them to push themselves to  succeed where they 
before thought success was out of reach.  That  philosophy was captured well by our 
Army motto, "Be All You Can Be," which also  means helping others to be all 
they can be.  What we need to do as  individuals and a party is to stand up and 
speak out to create equal opportunity  for economic success.  To treat others 
the way we want to be treated.  To reach out and help those who are in pain.  
Most importantly,  leadership means calling on others to do all these things 
too.  
In short leadership is everything we are not getting from this White House.  
Instead of challenging us to push ourselves to accomplish great things, we  
get platitudes.  We can do better than that.  
I hope you had a chance to read today's editorial in the New York Times,  
called _"Waiting for a Leader."_ 
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/opinion/01thu1.html)   If you haven't read it yet,  please take a few minutes to do it.  
The Times is asking an important  question.  It's one I've been asking for a 
long time as well:  Where is the leadership in America today?  
With respect to Iraq, "stay the course" is only a slogan, not a strategy.  
What is our strategy for success in Iraq?  Where is the  leadership?  
The president's own Republican party just passed an energy bill which has  
absolutely no effect on gas prices for now or the forseeable future, and moves  
us no further along the path to energy independence.  Where is the  
leadership?  
Every day American technology and manufacturing skills are sent abroad, along 
 with American jobs.  Where is the leadership?  
Again, just this past week, there was at least 36 hours notice that a major  
hurricane was going to hit the Gulf Coast, including likely a devastating blow 
 to New Orleans, which certainly came to pass.  The President continued with  
his regular schedule on Monday and Tuesday in California, Arizona, and Texas 
to  hold some staged Medicare events and enjoy more vacation time, while 
finally  returning to the White House yesterday.  The joint task force including  
National Guard set up by the Pentagon failed to be on the scene in New Orleans  
in a timely manner to stop the looting and assist in the evacuation.  Where 
is the leadership?  
Then just this morning, the President claimed that _no one  could have 
anticipated the levee breaches _ (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4204754.stm) 
we've seen in New Orleans after  Katrina hit.  That's not leadership, that's an 
excuse.  In fact,  people have predicted this kind of disaster for many 
years, including _President Bush's own FEMA in 2001_ 
(http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/houston.htm) , when they ranked hurricane  flood damage to New 
Orleans among the three likeliest, most catastrophic  disasters facing America.  
Instead, funding was significantly cut back,  leaving key engineering 
projects on hold.  Instead, this Administration  focused on the war in Iraq, tax 
cuts, and private sector economic growth without  asking the American people to 
make needed sacrifices for the good of the  country.  Again I ask you, where is 
the leadership?  
You've got to keep asking that question.  What I learned about  leadership is 
that you have to give people challenging goals and work with them  and 
inspire them to reach them.  You've got to have the courage to set  goals and make a 
difference.  
Leadership for America starts with the leader's vision of where you want the  
country to be.  And that's the problem we have in America today.  We  need 
visionary leaders who can see the promise and potential of our country and  take 
us there.  We can find those leaders again -- and we must. 





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