Wesley Clark continues Democrats' attacks on Mccain's heroic service

Former presidential candidate and retired General, Wesley Clark, now a key military adviser for Barack Obama, belittles John McCain’s military service:

Appearing Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Clark downplayed the plane crash that led to McCain’s captivity during the Vietnam War, and said the squadron McCain commanded “wasn’t a wartime squadron.”

“He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility,” Clark said.

[. . .]

When Schieffer noted Obama has not had wartime experiences, Clark said: “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

Clark's statement is simply shameful.

Here are the facts regarding McCain's "riding an airplane and getting shot down." The mission during which McCain's aircraft was shot down was a twenty-plane attack against the Yen Phu thermal power plant in central Hanoi. The power plant had almost always been off-limits to U.S. raids. As McCain neared the target, warning systems in McCain's A-4E Skyhawk told him he was in danger from enemy fire. He held his dive until he released his bombs at about 3,500 feet. As he started to pull up, his aircraft's wing was blown off by an anti-aircraft missile.

McCain was unable to avoid capture. McCain's plane went into a vertical inverted spin. He bailed out upside down at high speed. The force of the ejection fractured McCain's right arm in three places, his left arm, and his right leg, and knocked him unconscious. McCain nearly drowned after his parachute dropped him into a Lake in Hanoi. Some Vietnamese pulled him ashore. After he regained consciousness, a mob gathered around, spat on him, kicked him, and stripped him of his clothes, crushed his left shoulder with the butt of a rifle and bayoneted him in his left foot and abdominal area. McCain was a prisoner in North Vietnam for five and a half years.

Upon his return to the United States, McCain's injuries required three operations, other treatment and months at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Jacksonville.

Clark's attack on McCain's Heroic service is part of the Democrats' attempt to overcome the fact that Obama chose not to serve in the military. It's at least the fourth time Democrats have attempted to belittle McCain's honorable wartime service to the nation:

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) attacked McCain’s character and military service:

“McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.” (Paul J. Nyden, "Jay Defends Endorsement Of Sen. Obama," The Charleston Gazette, 4/8/08)

Obama supporter and talk radio host, Ed Schultz, warmed up a crowd for Obama by calling McCain “a warmonger:”

“But Mr. Schultz, a supporter of Senator Barack Obama, may have gone too far late Friday when he called Senator John McCain 'a warmonger.' Mr. Schultz made the remarks while revving up a group of Obama supporters at a $100-a-head fund raiser at the North Dakota Democratic Party's convention in Grand Forks.” (Larry Rohter, "McCain Called A 'Warmonger' At Obama Event," The New York Times' "The Caucus" Blog, www.nytimes.com, 4/5/08)

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) also criticized McCain’s service as "pretty dangerous:"

“Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s family background as the son and grandson of admirals has given him a worldview shaped by the military, ‘and he has a hard time thinking beyond that,’ Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Ia., said Friday. ‘I think he’s trapped in that,’ Harkin said in a conference call with Iowa reporters. ‘Everything is looked at from his life experiences, from always having been in the military, and I think that can be pretty dangerous.’” (Jane Norman, “Harkin: McCain Too ‘Military,’” The Des Moines Register, 5/17/08)

Unfortunately, the Democrats continued the attack against McCain's military service yesterday:

Rand Beers, an informal Obama adviser, said McCain’s former POW status would hurt his ability to lead:

“Sadly, Sen. McCain was not available during those times, and I say that with all due respect to him. … I think that the notion that the members of the Senate who were in the ground forces or who were ashore in Vietnam have a very different view of Vietnam and the cost that you described than John McCain does because he was in isolation essentially for many of those years and did not experience the turmoil here or the challenges that were involved for those of us who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam war.” (Teddy Davis and Molly Hunter, “Dem Guru: McCain Limited By POW Years,” ABC News’ “Political Radar” Blog, blogs.abcnews.com, 6/30/08)

Hillary sees McCain's service differently:


Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune: