Jamie Rubin, senior foreign policy advisor for Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark spoke at Memorial Union Wednesday, outlining Clark's ideas about the Kosovo crisis, North Korea, the AIDS epidemic in Liberia and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
According to Rubin, durning the Kosovo crisis in the '90s, when Clark was a four-star general in the Unite States Army, he saw the Albanian community driven out of their homes, separated from family and killed. This caused Clark to help former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright convince President Bill Clinton to intervene in the crisis.
\There is no other candidate who has actually done it, actually negotiated with allies,"" Rubin said.
Rubin explained with Clark's experience in Kosovo, he could handle the problems in Iraq, adding Clark thinks the United States will have a hard time emerging successfully from Iraq under President Bush.
Rubin also said Clark's four-star general status proves his policies will be respected by both Democrats and Republicans should he become president.
Rubin said Clark was concerned about weapons of mass destruction, and Clark thought North Korea was a more formidable nuclear power than Iraq.
Clark also has a strong strategy for Africa, AIDS and Liberia, according to Rubin. He said Clark feels Bush missed the opportunity to help Liberia with this massive problem. Rubin added Clark has previously proposed additional funding on AIDS internationally.
Bev Orr, a UW-Madison graduate, said she wished Rubin had spent more time on this issue.
""I wanted to get more into questions about Liberia. I have a problem with people not knowing what they want from us ...When they know what they want, then we go in,"" she said.
Rubin also addressed Clark's support for Israel in its conflict with Palestine, saying cooperation from Palestine is the only way to stop the violence.
Amy Schultz, a UW-Madison junior and co-coordinator for Students for Clark, said she is pro-Israel and very comfortable with Clark's stance on the country. She said, ""Clark actually wants to bring the the region together, and knows this is possible.""
