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It 's really hard to impose democracy. It has to emerge naturally. You have to get out of the way and let it happen.

Wesley Clark

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Wesley Clark
Age: 79
Born: 1944
Born: December 23
General
Military Personnel
Politician
Chicago
Illinois
Wesley Kanne Clark
Happens
Hard
Really
Way
Emerge
Impose
Naturally
Democracy
Happen

More quotes by Wesley Clark

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Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.
Wesley Clark
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I want to make one thing clear: I'm pro-choice, I'm pro-affirmative action, I'm pro- environment, pro-health care, and pro-labor. And if that ain't a Democrat, then I must be at the wrong meeting.
Wesley Clark
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One of the principles that we operate on in this country is that leaders are held accountable. The simple truth is that we went into Iraq on the basis of some intuition, some fear, and some exaggerated rhetoric and some very, very scanty evidence.
Wesley Clark
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Let's not forget what the origin of the problem is. There is no place in modern Europe for ethnically pure states. That's a 19th century idea and we are trying to transition into the 21st century, and we are going to do it with multi-ethnic states.
Wesley Clark
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We've proven to be quite flexible and adept in the way that we've changed what was the original pattern of air activities into something that's now very focused on the battlefield.
Wesley Clark
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Global warming is a matter of national security. Will we live in a world where we must fight our neighbors for fresh water and food? Or will we take the lead now and leave to our children and grandchildren a world better off than the one we inherited from our parents?
Wesley Clark
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Well, it came from the White House, it came from people around the White House. It came from all over. I got a call on 9/11. I was on CNN, and I got a call at my home saying, 'You got to say this is connected. This is state-sponsored terrorism. This has to be connected to Saddam Hussein.
Wesley Clark
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There are only two kinds of plans. Plans that might work and plans that won't work... you have to take a plan that might work and make it work.
Wesley Clark
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Slobodan Milosevic was just as smart as a five-year-old. Five-year-olds have an uncanny way of getting into your psyche, your self-esteem.
Wesley Clark
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Imagine a world in which we saw beyond the lines that divide us, and celebrated our differences, instead of hiding from them. Imagine a world in which we finally recognized that, fundamentally, we are all the same. And imagine if we allowed that new understanding to build relations between people and between nations.
Wesley Clark
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I've forgotten more about national security than George W. Bush will ever learn.
Wesley Clark
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Everybody in the military has a reputation, and usually it doesn't come out to the public.
Wesley Clark
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Well we always need brave, capable young men and women who can run a tactical operation and take risks on the battlefield but you should know when we need you to go in there, that if there's any other way to do it, that we could do this without risking your life, we wouldn't ask you to risk your life.
Wesley Clark
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What I learned in the military is that gossip starts early and it stays forever.
Wesley Clark
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Veterans have had a long record of leaning towards the Republican Party. I think that's changing. I think that President Obama has the strongest record with veterans among any president in my lifetime.
Wesley Clark
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We're going to take out seven countries in 5 years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.
Wesley Clark
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The more Marines I have around, the better I like it.
Wesley Clark
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Serious research and development efforts are required to produce technologies, strategies, organizations, and trained personnel who can go into failed states, work with our allies and friends, and promote the political and economic reforms that will meet popular needs and reduce the sources of terrorism and conflict.
Wesley Clark
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Maybe it's because I've never been in politics, but I don't believe that America is run by politicians in Washington. I believe it's run by people like us, in places like this.
Wesley Clark
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Nothing is going to hurt this country - not bioweapons, not a nuclear weapon, not a terrorist strike - there is nothing that can hurt us if we stay united and move together and have a vision for moving to the future the right way.
Wesley Clark