General Wesley Clark on Fox News

April 4, 2007 | transcript by Reg NYC

E.D. Hill: The President says, 'You know what? If you include a timetable, I'm vetoing that spending bill.' The head of the Democrats, Senator Harry Reid saying, 'Fine, then we're going to simply flat out cut off money.' What is happening there and how does this effect our troops? Joining us now Wesley Clark, Fox News contributor, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander. Thank you very much for being here.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you E.D. Good to be with you.

E.D Hill: You know the- I think the chances of Senator Reid being able to carry out what he is threatening are, are pretty slim to none. Senator Barak Obama saying he won't go along with that. But still there is this, this great clash going on Washington. How does this play out in the field?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I, I think the troops are anxious to have the right kind of strategy to succeed. There are people on all sides of the issue over there from the people I hear from, but they're doing their job. What they need are the resources to succeed. I think the Army's got the ability to reprogram funds and keep this going for another couple of months, but there is a, a finite time by which they need more money through that supplemental.

E.D. Hill: Mm hm.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I hope that the President and the Congress'll get together and compromise on this. The Congress thinks they're carrying out the will of the American people. The President thinks he's carrying out the will of the American people. I hope they'll deal with each other with respect and work to put together a strategy that brings America success there.

E.D. Hill: You know, I, I, know that a lot of Senators and Representatives on both side of the aisle have spent time in Iraq, in Afghanistan trying to get a sense for what's going on there on the ground themselves. You've been both in the administrative position. You've been on the, the battlefield. Who do you think really is best equipped to make the decisions about where that money is, is or is not, most wisely spent?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think it's not just the battlefield that you have to look at. It's, i-i-it's the whole region that has to be worked, and what a number of people have been saying to the administration for a long time is you can't win this through military power alone. Even General Petraeus has said this. It's first and foremost a problem for the diplomats, and then it's a political problem inside Baghdad, inside the leaders there. So, somehow the United States has to keep the military engaged but understand that the military is not sufficient to solve this problem.

E.D. Hill: Well, as you mentioned accurately, it is a regional issue that we're dealing with on the larger and longer term scale. If you don't have American forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan, does that help or hurt your diplomatic efforts?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think there will be American forces there for a long, long time, and obviously it's not only whether they're there or not, but it's how they got out. So, I think that there are a number of, of us who would be very concerned about just pulling the plug and having everybody line up on the highway and drive out to Kuwait. That's not going to work, and that won't solve the problems. But what does have to be done is put together a proper strategy, and the American people, I think, want the administration and the Congress to find a way to work together on this. And I think the President is the- he's the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He's the Chief Executive Officer of America. He should listen to the Congress. They're trying to give him their view. He should come back and deal with them.

E.D. Hill: And y-y-you, I'm sure, are very familiar with General Petraeus. Do you think he's got a good grasp of what the reality is? I mean, he is, he is over there on the ground. Do you that he's well qualified to handle that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think Dave Petraeus is superbly well qualified to handle it. I think he does have a good grasp of the issues on the ground, but it's not just the issues on the ground. There are larger forces at play, like the 15 Briton- Brits who've been captured by the Iranians. There are problems in Afghanistan. And of course, Iraq's neighbors are engaged in some of the discussions as well.

E.D. Hill: Yeah.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: So, it is a regional problem.

E.D. Hill: Alright. General Wesley Clark, thank you for your time this morning.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you, E.D.