A Message from Wes Clark - SecuringAmerica.com

[paineinthearse]

Received by email.



A Message from Wes Clark
March 16, 2005

Dear Loyal Supporter,

It's been several months since I last wrote to you. During that time, I have been working hard to regroup after the November elections and strengthen WesPAC for the challenges ahead.

Today I am pleased to announce the launch of the new WesPAC website!

You can find the new WesPAC website at our new URL -- SecuringAmerica.com. Our goal has been to design and develop a site that makes it easy for you to stay connected to the national and economic security issues that we know are so important.

I am committed to staying at the forefront of the national debate, and our new website will be more important than ever before. Your involvement is mission-critical because only by working together can we get our message out.

Take a look at our new website -- visit www.SecuringAmerica.com today!

Like you, I am involved in this great national conversation because the lives of our children and their children will forever be affected by the decisions we make over the next ten years. We owe it to them and to those who came before us to leave the world a better place.

It's up to us. Let's get to work.

America today is at a crossroads. Both at home and abroad, our security and values are being challenged. We must act now.

The evolving global economy is making it harder for America to maintain its economic preeminence in the world, threatening Americans' ability to compete for the best jobs. The threats to our physical safety and national security are greater now than they have been during any period since the end of the Second World War. We need a strategy and a vision for America that recognizes our place in the world.

Poverty, ignorance and desperation are feeding the wellspring of hatred against America and the values for which we stand. Many people perceive Americans as rich, arrogant, and uncaring. Unfortunately, this Administration has done more to feed that stereotype than to dispel it.

As a nation, we must show the world the formula that will lift them from oppression and prevent needless violence. It's an American formula. It's the formula of freedom, opportunity, and equality.

Read more about my thoughts on this new vision for America at SecuringAmerica.com.

Here at home, we need to prepare ourselves for the fact that very soon, China and India will overtake us as the world's largest integrated economy. That means we need schools that prepare our young people to remain competitive for the best jobs. We need a health care system that stops driving employers away and bankrupting small businesses. We need a government that works for the common good and exercises common sense.

In the coming days and weeks, I will be writing to you frequently with specific actions you can take to help WesPAC advance our new vision for America. I'm really looking forward to continuing this journey with you -- nothing is more important to the future of our country.

In the meantime, I hope you'll spend some time visiting our new website at www.SecuringAmerica.com and preparing for the exciting work ahead.

Sincerely,



Wes Clark

[paineinthearse]

1. Forging a New Vision for America

http://www.securingamerica.com/?tr=y&auid=767614

Forging a New Vision for America

Thank you for taking the time to care about the future of our country. Like you, I am staying involved in the great conversation because I believe that the lives of our children and their children will forever be affected by the decisions we make as a nation over the next ten years. We owe it to them and to those who came before us to make the best of the time we have here to make the world better off than it was when we inherited it.

It's up to us. Let's get to work.

America today is at a crossroads. Both at home and abroad, our security and values are being challenged. And while technology and the globalization of capital present many opportunities, we also face many threats. America needs a new vision for itself in order to deal with its challenges and make the most of its opportunities.

The evolving global economy is making it harder for America to maintain its economic preeminence in the world and threatens Americans' ability to compete for the best jobs. The threats to our physical safety and national security are greater now than they have been during any period since the end of the Second World War. We need a strategy to cope with these threats and to maximize our opportunities.

Poverty, ignorance and desperation are feeding the wellspring of hatred against America and the values for which we stand. Many people perceive Americans as rich, as arrogant and as uncaring. Unfortunately, this Administration has done more to feed in to that stereotype than to dispel it. As a nation, we must show the world the formula that will save them from their oppression and save the world from endless wars. It's an American formula. It's the formula of freedom, opportunity and equality. We need a new vision for ourselves and our place in the world for the 21st century.

Part of our new vision for America is new strategy for national defense. So far, this administration's strategy hasn't been productive.

Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose, Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and the middle east remains unstable. These challenges demand a new vision for America.

My experience tells me there are three parts to resolving international tension and conflicts. First, we need to maximize diplomatic measures so that the world community speaks with one voice to represent the values of liberty, democracy and capitalism. Second, we need to commit to understanding the regional and local political situations, so we can walk a mile in the shoes of our adversaries and better understand the pressures they face. This understanding helps us arrive at the best solutions. Lastly, and only lastly, comes military force. The United States military is the best in the world and will accomplish whatever goals we set out for them -- but they are not equipped to do it all and do it alone. Nor should we be putting them in that position. They deserve better -- we all do.

The next 20 years of American life will be consumed not only with the war on terrorism. We will be consumed with how we adapt to living in a changing world. For the first time in American history, we're entering a period where we will compete with nations that have larger, more integrated markets than we do. They're not larger in dollars but they are larger in consumers. As they develop economically, they will tip the Law of Scale. In economics, you worry about the Law of Scale over supply and demand. In a country of 1.3 billion people, when those people start buying cell phones you will find that that's where cell phones are manufactured and that's where the technologies are developed. China doesn't have the cultural impediments that effect India, so China is growing at a rapid rate and India is a little further behind.

This country was the greatest economic power in the world at the start of the 20th century. Our steel industry, our coal, our iron, our railroads, they all came from foreign investments. After the Civil War, money poured in because European investors like Germany and Britain looked at this country and said, Wow look at the size of that market. How can we not get into the American market?

And now in this country we're looking at China. We're saying, Wow look at the size of that market! How can we not get into that market? And with that size and scale will come new challenges for this country. It will be in the economic sense, the educational sense, and in the military sense.

We need a strategy for this. This strategy will have the following components:

1. A strong base with Europe. We need to strengthen our relations with Europe through NATO.

2. We've got to have strong international institutions. We have a lot of work to do with the United Nations for them to meet the needs that we will put on it over the next 30 years.

3. We need to cultivate and nurture our working relationship with India to produce a balance to China. India after all is the largest democracy in the world.

Here at home we need to move forward with higher quality education, health care that is affordable, environmental regulations to help protect the beauty of our environment so that this is a country that people want to live in years from now, and investments in science and technologies so that we can continue to produce innovative products that will keep us at the forefront economically.

Making a successful strategy a reality will take all of us working together bravely and in the face of adversity. We must remember that nothing less the future and quality of life we leave our children and their children is at stake. I make this call to action because no one man can do all the work needed to make a more secure America. I need your help.

Wes

[dogman]

2. That's my vision of a President!

Leadership and intelligence, what a difference.