October 9, 2005
Geraldo Rivera: Last year near Mosul a sniper attacking our convoy, one of the many indelible memories we had from the last four years. Now moving on to this bird flu story first. You know Europe got hit over this weekend with confirmation of its first two cases of the deadly bird flu, one in Romania and the other in Turkey so now there are confirmed cases in Europe for the first time. Some here at home are wondering whether our [Bush] Administration's plan for the possible outbreak in our country is adequate. General Wesley Clark joins us from Little Rock. So General, what do you think? First of all, I'm sure you are familiar with the Administration's planned approach to dealing with a possible pandemic, how do you feel about the ahh, it's viability?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, Geraldo, this plan the Administration has been working on for months and months and months has never actually been released to the public. It's being briefed in confidential sessions to key lawmakers and others, and it's still being worked. But in essence, this plan is going to put most of the responsibility on local authorities because this is where it has to be. It's the local doctors who have to diagnose the case and local people who have to set up the priorities for who is going to receive the limited amounts of vaccine or the anti-viral medications that are going to be available.
When you are dealing with something that's potentially of this magnitude, the federal government's role is too assist in getting communities prepared but the communities themselves have to take the lead.
Geraldo Rivera: I hope that there won't be a shortage of the vaccine as there were some shortages in the past.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, all indications are that there will be a shortage of the vaccine because right now, where the avian flu is that it is infecting people that are directly in contact with the fowl who have the disease. But it hasn't shown yet the ability to be communicable between humans, and so it's not infectious yet. Now, it's anticipated that the virus will further mutate. When it mutates then, that's the time where the vaccine that's been developed right now may have to be further modified. So it will always be a matter of chasing after the virus.
Geraldo Rivera: Catching up, catching up.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right.
Geraldo Rivera: General, stick around, I want to go live to Iraq where the government has announced a curfew, weapons ban, border closings, and other measures to enhance security ahead of next week's key Constitutional referendum. Our pal Steve Harrigan is in Baghdad. Steve.
Steve Harrigan: Geraldo, U. S. military forces doing everything they can to level the playing field. To make sure terrorists will not interrupt voting scheduled for this Saturday. Another major offensive going on in the west, this time focused around the city of Ramadi, at least 500 U. S. forces involved, a similar number of Iraqi government forces also trying to drive out terrorists from Ramadi to make sure those people can vote for or against the proposed [Iraqi] Constitution this Saturday. Right now in Baghdad, Iraqi government officials doing everything they can to make sure they get out the vote. A number of ads and banners, television advertisements, five million copies of the Constitution distributed across the country. There's fifteen million registered voters in Iraq. It's clear that the Shiite majority, as well as, the Kurds will likely vote for the proposed Constitution. The big question still, how will the Sunni Arabs vote? They make up about 20% of the population. Many Sunni leaders telling their followers either to vote no, or to boycott the voting entirely. One thing that is certain. That is that security will be extremely tight during the vote. Iraq has decided to close its borders except for emergency goods during three days around the Constitutional vote. Also, a ban on cars, and this could be crucially important, so no suicide car bombers can be out attempting to strike when Iraqi's go to the polls on Saturday. Geraldo, back to you.
Geraldo Rivera: Steve, stay safe. General, I was there for the elections earlier this year. I was very proud to be there it was really an inspiring moment. Then when we analyzed the results we found that most Sunni's stayed home. Do you feel they'll stay home this time, or will they vote, and if they do vote, will they vote down the Constitution?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think you will get a mix in the Sunni population. I think a substantial number will vote this time, but there will be some who don't but I don't think they will vote down the Constitution. They'll vote against it but there won't be enough. They've got to have the majority and they've got to carry three provinces basically and they can't do that. So they're not going to be able to vote down the Constitution. I think the most probable result is the elections will come off OK. I am delighted to see the additional security measures that are in place. The Constitution will pass. It may have a couple of more modifications put in tomorrow but they won't be enough to ease the Sunni concerns and the insurgency will be there. It will still be supported by large elements of the Sunni population and it will still be real trouble for us and for the Iraqi government.
Geraldo Rivera: Trouble I'm sure lies ahead General, but what do you think of the document itself. It gives a lot of power to the provinces. It decentralizes what had been concentrated in Baghdad under the Sunni minority leadership of that country for many years under the Baathists. What do you think of it?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think the document is going to pave the way for the Shiite majority to have the kind of power that they have wanted. I think the problem is the way the process worked is the Sunni's weren't brought into the process soon enough with the right quality of representation to feel that they are involved and give it legitimacy. I think there is going to be deep factional division in this country. And regardless of the quality of the document, I don't think it's going to accomplish the strategic purpose which is to deligimate the resistance, or the longer term political purpose, I think it's something we are going to have to work with and hopefully we can continue to modify it.
What I have been asking the government to do, our government to do, is to get with Iraq's neighbors and to try and set up some kind of a regional architecture of diplomacy in which the neighbors can reassure each of the groups inside Iraq and help them work together peacefully. That's not quite happening
Geraldo Rivera: But General, you don't expect them to help out, shoulder-to-shoulder with us? Even our friends Kuwait, and Jordan, and Turkey. They're not going to send troops in.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No we don't need troops. What you need is the consultation. You need the advice. You need the business connections. You need the family connections. There are tribes that span all of these borders. There are all kinds of connections in these regions that we haven't officially dealt with. And we keep talking about this as a war, but it's a war. It's politics. It's diplomacy. It's factional fighting between religious factions. It's all kinds of stuff mixed up in this. And we've got to put the military in its proper place. We've done
Geraldo Rivera: right
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: a great job with it, but it's not sufficient.
Geraldo Rivera: Long hard road to howe ahead
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right
Geraldo Rivera: General thank you from Little Rock. General Wesley Clark.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.
