WES CLARK PULLS A LITTLE CLOSER TO A PROGRESSIVE MURTHA-LIKE POSITION ON IRAQ-- WHAT ABOUT HILLARY?

I had one not so very hot meeting with Wes Clark a few months ago-- during which his ideas about ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq sounded uncomfortably close to George Bush's ideas about ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq. I was very disappointed-- particularly because General Clark had been a lonely outspoken opponent of Bush's fatally flawed policies towards Iraq before the attack. After I wrote about it, I had many run-ins with Clark bully-boys who convinced me that at least an outspoken portion of his considerable following consists of the kind of weak-minded people who have historically attached themselves to military strongmen-- be it a Napoleon or a Tojo or a MacArthur.

But rudeness, racism, homophobia and bigotry from a few loud-mouthed fans of the general hasn't closed my mind to his message. And, even though I don't personally feel he has the right temperament and make-up for a U.S. president-- although he's be an improvement over the current fellow or his dad-- there is little doubt in my mind that Wes Clark can play a significant and positive role in our nation's destiny. I don't know if anyone is presumptuous enough to be making lists of vice presidential choices yet but if anyone is, I wouldn't be surprised to find Clark's name on the top of them all, especially Clinton's and even Feingold's. And if he doesn't wind up as Veep, he'd probably be a good bet for a Cabinet position.

I was really happy today to read that Clark's Iraq thinking has continued to evolve and that he is calling for troop withdrawals to begin. While he still hasn't been able to embrace a straight-forward Murtha-like approach, his thinking is definitely a major step-- albeit a late one for a leader-- in the right direction. He's miles ahead of reactionaries like Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and, of course, Joe Lieberman, on this.

“It's necessary ... to make this year a year of transition in Iraq,” Clark told The Associated Press in an interview during his visit to Kosovo. “The Iraqi government must take charge... And then we should begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. soldiers and other coalition soldiers from Iraq... I do think that there should be no permanent bases there. I think that the United States should soon begin its process of redeployment,” he said, adding that he believed there will be “some withdrawals very soon given where we are.”