General Wesley Clark on Fox News
October 2, 2006
Transcript by Melange
Anchor: Joining us now is General Wesley Clark, Fox News Analyst and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. Thank you for being with us, General.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.
Anchor: Well, whether it is accurate or not, and of course the White House disputes the accounts, the troops on the ground realize that this book is claiming that there is dysfunction reigning in the White House and that the person who is leading the war on terror is being second-guessed and disliked by everyone. Does that have a psychological impact on them?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think the troops on the ground are really looking at the situation that they're faced with in their day-to-day work over there. There's an awareness that there's a discussion going on in the United States. There's nothing new about that. There's been a dispute that's been going on really since 2003. And, I think for the troops on the ground the reality of it is the…a lot of them have been extended, some of them feel like they've done a lot of good there in their personal work, some of them feel enormously satisfied - they like the people in their teams that they're working with and they're worried about the overall course of the mission. I hear it from the troops all the time when they're back and when they e-mail me and so forth.
Anchor: But does this increase the doubts because you have the claims in Woodward's book that from Andy Card to the First Lady herself were trying to get the president to let go of Rumsfeld.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I don't think you can underestimate the troops. I mean, I think the troops are pretty…they've got an understanding that people have disagreements, people challenge each other. They don't see it as a, you know, fairy tale world. They know they're in a really tough position. What they're looking for is the leadership and the strategy and the equipment - the force protection needs they need to be successful. We've had a long time coming up with the body armor they needed. Most of them had it, some of them have still had to put add-on armor on to their trucks. We don't have the right kits. We don't have really the best armor - they're welding steel plates on over there. So there are still some real problems that our troops are facing.
Anchor: What matters most to them - is it the guy who's…or gal who's directly on the ground that's leading them or is it someone much higher up in the command chain?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well they want to see two things. They want to have great teams that they're with. They want to be able to trust the people…the man or woman on either side of them in their immediate chain of command. And they want a sense of purpose - that what they're doing is going to make a difference in the long run.
Anchor: What about this claim that Secretary Rumsfeld wasn't even taking Secretary Rice's phone calls? She says that's ridiculous that they talk numerous times a day but still the report is out there and of course it lingers.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well I don't find that as a surprising report - we know there's been frictions for a long time. We know that there's always been splits in that team, that Secretary Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney were on one side of it…that to some extent Condoleeza Rice when she moved over to State became part of the other side of the discussion. That's pretty common in a lot of administrations but in this case it's aggravated because the nation is at war, there's a lot of criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld and it's unfortunate that they don't get along better and really work together.
Anchor: Okay, we appreciate your time this morning. General Wesley Clark.
