General Wesley Clark on MSNBC's Morning Joe


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MA3's picture

 
March 17. 2008
Transcript by RegNYC

Joe Scarborough: Hey, welcome back to Morning Joe. Great to have you with us. A beautiful shot-

Mika Brzezinski: Mmm.

 Joe Scarborough: -of the Rockefeller Plaza. Right now though, let's bring in General Wesley Clark. He's an MSNBC analyst and also author of A Time To Lead: For Duty, Honor, and Country. General Wesley Clark, thank you for being with us.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you, Joe.

Joe Scarborough: Yesterday, General, of course The New York Times 'Week in Review' talking about the five-year anniversary. Five years is upon us. Tell us, General, five years later. W-what position has the war in Iraq put America in?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, Iran is the big winner. The United States military's done very well. We've taken a heavy beating over there, and the military's awfully tired. L-lot of the expected benefits of the invasion didn't come through. We didn't spark democratic change throughout the region, and Al Qaeda used us in Iraq as a recruiting tool. And in fact, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated. So, it's been a really tough five years, and now we're faced with the prospect of what to do. John McCain was over talking about if we make a pullout, maybe the Al Qaeda will take credit for it and say they ran us out of Iraq. But that's not an adequate reason to stay there indefinitely. The Armed Forces can't do that, and really it, we've given the Iraqis an opportunity. They've got to take it.

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 * If the links do not work please visit: http://securingamerica.com/

MA3's picture
Submitted by MA3 on March 17, 2008 - 7:59pm.

I just read an article and learned that Vice President Cheney wears dark cowboy boots! Well nothing beats Gen. Clark's ties ;-). And of course it's interesting to compare and contrast from what Gen. Clark said in the Morning Joe show and what VP said while he was visiting Iraq...

Cheney warns against large cuts in Iraq

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 30 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Vice President Dick Cheney warned Monday against large U.S. troop cuts that could jeopardize recent security gains in Iraq, as he marked the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion with a two-day visit to the country.

Cheney used words like "phenomenal" and "remarkable turnaround" to describe a drop in violence in Iraq, and he hailed recently passed legislation aimed at keeping Iraq on a democratic path.

"It would be a mistake now to be so eager to draw down the force that we risk putting the outcome in jeopardy, and I don't think we'll do that," Cheney said after spending the day zigzagging through barricades and checkpoints to get to meetings in and out of the heavily guarded Green Zone. He spent the night at a U.S. military base, the second overnight stay in Iraq for the vice president — the highest-ranking official to do so. Reporters accompanying him were not allowed to disclose the location. Last May, Cheney stayed at Camp Speicher, a base near former leader Saddam Hussein's hometown and about 100 miles north of Baghdad.

"It is good to be back in Iraq," Cheney, dressed in a suit and dark cowboy boots, said after his meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "It's especially significant, I think, to be able to return this week as we mark the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the campaign that liberated the people of Iraq from Saddam Hussein's tyranny, and launched them on the difficult but historic road to democracy."

He acknowledged that there is still a lot of difficult work to be done in Iraq, where 160,000 troops are deployed and the U.S. death toll is about to top 4,000. His own motorcade, escorted by Humvees manned by troops with machine guns, never ventured farther than about a mile outside the Green Zone.

"But as we move forward, the Iraqi people should know that they will have the unwavering support of President Bush and the United States in consolidating their democracy," Cheney said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cheney


Dormaphaea's picture
Submitted by Dormaphaea on March 18, 2008 - 9:28am.

Yes it is Joe.

Thanks for this, Blog Angels.


Submitted by Dinger on March 18, 2008 - 10:14am.

Can you help?

"Just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back, up front there ought to be a Man In Black."
-Johnny Cash

MA3's picture
Submitted by MA3 on March 18, 2008 - 12:31pm.

Submitted by Phyl on March 18, 2008 - 10:20am.

They do not work for me, either.

Submitted by Kat on March 18, 2008 - 10:33am.
Submitted by Phyl on March 18, 2008 - 10:51am.

The Quick-time link in your post worked just
fine. It was a great appearance, lasting about
7 minutes. But no matter what Wes says and how
many times, his questioners seem to continue to
judge progress in Iraq by military success only.

MA3's picture
Submitted by MA3 on March 18, 2008 - 1:01pm.

we are not aware of what is really going on.  We are simply blinded with this image of progressing in national security while technically the way the war is handled is causing more problems, as what Gen. Clark keeps informing us.


Submitted by summercat on March 19, 2008 - 1:15pm.

I saw this one kind of by accident--I had taped the show and was just flipping thru it (I guess to see if they would raise my BP with anti-HRC stuff), when I saw WKC. What a gift!! Hope he is on again soon, per Joe's request.
The General gets it right.
Competence--What a concept!

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