General Wesley Clark on ABC News Politics Live

September 5, 2006
Transcript by Reg NYC

Sam Donaldson: Let's talk to some of the- about the Democrats, because a number of them fired back in advance (laughs) of the President's speech today. Of course, they'd heard the first speech the other day. And joining us now is one of those Democrats, General Wesley Clark, retired Commander of NATO and a Presidential candidate in the year 2004. General Clark, welcome.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you, Sam. Good to be with you.

Sam Donaldson: Alright, 'Stay the Course', it's a great theme, and as Mike suggested, it may have some validity. What's wrong with the president saying, 'We've just got to tough it out'?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, the policies aren't working. He hasn't made us safer. He's made us weaker. Look, the American public understand, the War on Terror's a very serious business, but they're also understanding in greater and greater numbers that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake and that staying there and pursuing the policies he's pursuing in Iraq is actually serving as a recruiting magnet for Al Qaeda.

There were a number of us who testified on the Hill in 2002, and we warned of this very occurrence. And it's come to pass, because this administration went to a war we didn't have to fight with Iraq, and then handled the aftermath of that war very, very poorly. The American public see it. You know, when you're dealing with a democracy, you don't get down into the fine nuances. People are busy in their own everyday lives, but what they know is: This administration promised the American people a cakewalk in Iraq and then a sweep through the rest of the Middle East to sort of clean up those old regimes and rubber-stamp Democracy in there. And it hasn't worked. It's a failed policy, and in Democracy, leaders who fail are held accountable by the electorate. That's what President Bush has riding on this election. He's failed. The American people are beginning to see it.

Sam Donaldson: Alright.

Mark Halperin: General Clark, let me be the second to welcome you back to Politics Live. I appreciate you joining us.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thanks, Mark.

Mark Halperin: The, the President says this is a choice election, and it is of course a choice for, in many races between a Democrat and a Republican, different policies on both Iraq and the war against terror. If your party takes control of the House of Representatives, say, and maybe the Senate, what can Americans expect to be done differently, given that President Bush will still be the Commander in Chief, can still veto bills, will still be setting America's foreign policy?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Sure, it's not as easy as if we had control of the White House and the Congress, but I think what you can find from a Democratic Party that's back in charge in the House of Representatives is very strong support for the resource needs of the American Armed Forces, taking care of the men and women in uniform and their families, because they are suffering. We're wrecking our Armed Forces with this policy.

Second, a very strong and proactive series of measures in Homeland Security.

Third, I think you'll find a toughening up of policies and standards for the Armed Forces, strengthening of the Special Forces.

Fourth, I think you'll find that this Congress is urging the administration to talk, not to Al Qaeda - no one's suggesting talking to Al Qaeda - but how about those other countries out there where the administration fails. And where the President's rhetoric fails is in having the American- wanting the American people to believe that it's only America that has an interest in the successful outcome of the struggle against terrorists. It isn't. It is those moderate Arab nations in the Middle East, our allies in Europe and our friends around the world. They all want to work with us, but we have to want to work with them. So, I think these are themes you'll hear from the Democrats in Congress.

Sam Donaldson: General Clark, as you know, one of the President's other favorite phrases is 'We're not going to cut and run' from Iraq, and it, it, it reverberates, particularly with military men it seems, and-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Surely-

Sam Donaldson: -one of the problems your part has had, one of the problems your party has had is trying to find out What should we say? Should we say, 'Get out now'? Should we say, 'Set a date'? Should we say, 'Let's have some progress'? What do you as a good Democrat say we should do in Iraq? How should we leave and when?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Now, what I've said all along is we need a strategy for success in Iraq. I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post over a year ago, and I called for a policy that uses diplomacy in the region, politics in Iraq and the successful use of the Armed Forces on the ground in Iraq, coupled with local economic development measures in Iraq to restore confidence of the Iraqi people in the U.S. purpose and efforts and capabilities in Iraq. The administration still has no regional policy.

Sam Donaldson: M-, m-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You have to- Look, Ir-, Iraq is not isolated. It's not an island. It's connected to Syria and Iran. It's connected to Turkey and Kuwait, and these countries have to be intimately involved in the dialog about what's happening in Iraq. We either involve them in this dialog, or they play in the dialog underneath-

Sam Donaldson: Well, you- General-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -by funding militias.

Sam Donaldson: You're not suggest- You're not suggesting that we give in, in a sense, to the Iranian policy or the Syrian policy?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Certainly not.

Sam Donaldson: And when you said the effective use of the Armed Forces, can we do it at 135,000 people in Iraq? W- we need more men?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I, I think that you have to construct a policy that has a regional diplomatic strategy component. I think you've got to put civilian American advisors in to help the Iraqi government get started. I think you've got to get their, their neighbors positively involved.

Remember Sam, when the administration went into Iraq, the understanding in the region by the government of Syria and the government of Iran was they were next on the hit list. So, they have been trying to impede our efforts inside Iraq. This administration wants to stay the course. We want to succeed, but we believe that to succeed you have to change the course.

Mark Halperin: General Clark, three-part question, the first two only can be answered yes/no. So, please yes/no. Then I'll ask you more of an essay question. Question one: Do you have faith in the good judgment of the American people?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yes.

Mark Halperin: Question two: Do you believe that the war in Iraq has been a failure and that the voters will hold people who voted for it accountable?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yes, they will eventually.

Mark Halperin: Okay, eventually. Well, that's the question. You've got Senators like John Kyl of Arizona, Senators like Talent in Missouri. These are people who supported the war, have been supportive of the President, haven't backed off very much in their support of the war. Why is it that those aren't w- lay down, lock cinch, surefire, sure bet wins for the Democratic Party?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Because I think the administration has had a policy of guns and butter and tax-cuts. And so, it's used the volunteers in the Armed Forces, sent them overseas. There's no draft, and so for many Americans, what they see is the spectacle of U.S failing policies in Iraq, but it hasn't come crashing home the way the failures in Vietnam did on the broad electorate. That's changing. As I've traveled around America, I find a widespread sentiment that Iraq has been a mistake, and the people like John Kyl and Jim Talent who supported it, they're losing ground. The American people will hold them accountable.

Mark Halperin: Alright, General Clark. Let me play for you a sound bite from somebody you appeared with earlier today. This is Senator Harry Reid, their Democratic leader in the Senate-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Mm hm.

Mark Halperin: -from Nevada. Let's listen to what he said, and then let me ask you about it.

(clip)
Senator Harry Reid: All the speeches in the world do not change what's going on on the ground in Iraq, and as we've heard here, the ground in Iraq is not a pleasant place.

(end clip)

Mark Halperin: General Clark, your party has argued for months that Iraq is going badly. It's not a pleasant place, as Senator Reid said. Is that a message that you think's gotten through to the American people? Are you convinced that the American people understand, as you say you do, what's going on on the ground in Iraq and will vote based on that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think increasingly, the American people do see it. It's not because Democrats have been saying it. We want to succeed in Iraq like everybody else does. What they're seeing is the facts in Iraq and the fact that the President always is talking about turning corners and see lights. We've been about three laps around the Pentagon right now in terms of the number of corners we've turned, and we still haven't really turned a corner in Iraq. So, I think people have enough common sense to recognize that 'Stay the Course' is not a strategy for success.

Sam Donaldson: General Clark, I'll adopt Mark's technique of asking you to answer yes or no.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I'm sorry, okay.

Sam Donaldson: Are you going to run again for the Presidency in two years?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I haven't said I won't.
(chuckles)

Mark Halperin: Neither have I, General Clark.
(laughter)

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But you haven't done it

Sam Donaldson: I take that as yes.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: You haven't done it yet. I was really-

Sam Donaldson: Thank you very much. General Clark.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I was really thrilled to be there the- and run the first time, and I warned about the problems ahead in Iraq at the time.

Sam Donaldson: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And I think it was a little too early. Some people didn't it. Now they do.

Sam Donaldson: Well, in Oklahoma you won that primary.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Oklahoma's OK, and it was a thrill to be there.
(laughter)

Sam Donaldson: Okay. Thank you very much, General Wesley Clark-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

Sam Donaldson: -for joining us today