Wesley Clark will be testifying at a war crimes trial against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in two weeks, but thanks to the Bush administration, he’ll be doing so under heavy secrecy.
On Meet the Press last month, Clark explained that he had been called to testify in Milosevic’s tribunal and will take a few days off the campaign trail to appear at The Hague.
Noting that U.S. officials had already approved his trip, Clark said his testimony would focus on his extensive contact with Milosevic, which spanned several years.
“[My testimony] is about what Milosevic knew, when he knew it, what his intent was, how he viewed situations, how he operated,” Clark said. “There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence that I bring, plus maybe more than that in some cases.”
But, as several Carpetbagger sources have mentioned to me this morning (thanks to all), Clark will be testifying under very unusual conditions, thanks to a White House that is obviouslty afraid of Clark’s political prospects.
As the Chicago Tribune reported today, “The Bush administration has imposed heavy secrecy and censorship measures on the testimony of retired Gen. Wesley Clark…when he takes the stand later this month at the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic.”
“At the insistence of State Department’s legal office, the courtroom’s public gallery will be cleared when Clark is called to testify Dec. 15-16 in The Hague,” the Tribune explained. “Cameras that normally broadcast the proceedings on closed-circuit television and the Internet will be blacked out.”
Clearly, United Nations prosecutors, aiming to convict Milosevic of genocide, disagreed with the Bush administration’s conditions for Clark’s testimony, but had little choice but to accept the terms.
“It’s always better when you have everything in public and out in the open, but this is the best we could get,” said Florence Hartmann, spokeswoman for Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor.
It appears the Bush administration will have a hard time coming up with a non-political excuse for this censorship.
“[F]or a high-profile public figure, the secrecy surrounding Clark’s testimony is unprecedented, especially in light of the fact that Clark has written a lengthy book and numerous articles on NATO and the Kosovo war and has freely given his opinion on these subjects as a TV commentator and presidential candidate,” the Tribune noted. A tribunal source told the Trib, “Closed sessions are for victims who might be harmed, not governments who might be embarrassed.”
Indeed, how will the White House defend censoring Clark while allowing former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to testify at the same trial in a public session? For that matter, why can military leaders from other countries — including NATO generals from Germany and England — testify against Milosevic in view of the world, while keeping Clark hidden?
Josh Marshall notes that the White House may be censoring Clark due to the Bush administration’s “contempt for international law and legal institutions.”
That may be true, but I suspect the reason is more political — they’re just afraid of Clark.
After all, Clark’s testimony would offer him an incredibly powerful international spotlight during a presidential campaign. Karl Rove certainly can’t let a four-star general — who wants his boss’ job — to remind the nation and the world that Clark led an international coalition to bring down a genocidal maniac.
The Tribune article has been picked up by a few other papers, and if this trend continues, I wonder if this move will end up backfiring on the White House. At this point, the State Department has refused to offer an explanation for censoring Clark. If this keeps up, interest in Clark’s testimony will probably increase, as will demands for a justification for all this secrecy.