Gen. Wesley Clark

* I strongly concur with your July 29 editorial on the apparent early dismissal of Gen. Wesley Clark, NATO commander. Not only has Gen. Clark been a brilliant and exceptional leader for his 33 years of service, he has also demonstrated an equally important dimension of courage: intelligence. All members of the armed services (especially since My Lai) have a duty to question illegal orders from superiors; likewise, they carry a duty to question what seem to be inappropriate or poorly thought-out orders.

Clark encouraged the use of ground forces in Kosovo; and in his judgment he felt an air campaign alone would be inadequate. After making his case, he saluted and followed the commander in chief’s final decision. Now, in an apparently spiteful vendetta, a relatively young (54-year-old), top-notch officer is being put out for early retirement and Slobo is still in power!

I hope that public and political resentment will not allow an outstanding leader to be written off.

JAMES A. HEATH

Long Beach

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* Your editorial and July 29 article detailing the termination of Clark points out just what is wrong with the Clinton presidency. Why can’t President Clinton or even his secretary of Defense simply fire Gen. Clark? Clark stepped out of the structured military system to express his opinion and now he has to suffer the consequences. Why is this so difficult? Lincoln fired Gen. George McClellan and Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur for the same reason. Both presidents simply did it and went on with the business of governing.

Yet President Clinton had to come up with some cover/spin to protect himself or his image. President Truman had a sign on his desk that stated, “The buck stops here.” That says it all.

DENNIS MARTIN

Whittier