This was Gen. Clark’s first lecture since joining the UCLA Burkle Center last month and I was very fortunate to be able to attend the class. General Clark is no slouch when it comes to teaching a class, he even joked (which I think he was being serious) about giving the whole class a test on the required readings that were supposed to be read before class.

The class started with the main professor introducing Gen. Clark and naming his awards/accomplishments (which is no easy task). Gen. Clark then started talking about Foreign Policy, specifically on conflicts. He started reading a whole list of conflicts that dated back to the Trojans and Spartans, just to make that point that conflicts have been unavoidable in our history. Gen. Clark then started talking about conflicts that he was involved in throughout the years, specifically the ones that were mistakes, like China’s War with Vietnam or our war in Vietnam.

He stated that the decision to use force must be a smart one and ONLY as a very last resort, because, “it’s easier to start a war than to end it.”

He pointed out how WWI was the first war in which people realized mass war and mass casualties could result in no political gain. General Clark reviewed Clinton’s Foreign Policy Report of 1995 (which he helped write) with the Bush Administration’s Foreign Policy Report of 2002 and the Report on Terrorism that came out this year. He compared the reports and pointed out the flaws in the Bush Administration’s report and how it was filled with more rhetoric than actual policy.

Gen. Clark then talked about how he believed that we must always work with our allies, not only when it is convenient for us. He said the best way to use force is to have it but not use it, show it but withhold it, and again must only be used as an absolute last resort.

He saved the last half hour of the class for questions from the students. Questions ranged from Nuclear Proliferation to the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima to whether or not he agreed with the decision of executing Saddam Hussein. There was my question about whether the Sunni & Shiites would kill the Al Qaeda that are present in Iraq and about troop withdrawal. Gen. Clark answered each question thoroughly and completely, even the controversial ones.

One of the most interesting things I heard was when the class was over. As I was putting my binder and computer away, students leaving the class were talking amongst each other with one saying, “Yeah I really like him. I like the way he answered the questions and didn’t steer away from any of them…” As he left the classroom students followed him to get a better opportunity to talk to General Clark.

A great experience for me to be able to see the next possible President of the United States in a non-political environment.