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General Wesley Clark with Nicole Sandler on AM 940 WINZ, Miami
November 9, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC
Nicole Sandler Many Americans were introduced to him in the last Presidential election when he ran for the office of the Presidency. This time he opted not to run, although there are some who are throwing his name around as a possible Vice Presidential candidate for the Hillary Clinton ticket, should she get the nomination. Right now though he is promoting his new book. It's called A Time To Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country. General Clark will be in town tomorrow appearing at the Miami Book Fair International, 11AM at the Chapman Auditorium, and I'm thrilled to welcome him right now to 940 WINZ. Good morning, General Clark.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Good morning. It's nice to be with you.
Nicole Sandler Well I-I appreciate you taking the time out to talk to us this morning. Now this has turned out to be a jam-packed hour so we don't have a lot of time with you. But some say that your book sounds like, A Time To Lead, like you are ready to lead, that, and, and when it was first published, it often, it sounded a bit like you were going to run again. What made you decide not to?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think it's a time for America to lead. I think this country needs to step up, recognize who it is, what we stand for and resume our rightful role of leadership in the world. I, I have to tell you that under the leadership of George W. Bush we have lost our leadership in the world. We're confused about who we are. We've just confirmed an Attorney General of the United States who can't say that waterboarding is torture. And yet, it is torture. I spent my life in uniform, fighting against regimes and working to protect the United States of America from countries that tortured by using things like water-boarding. And now I find we're doing it and we've got an Attorney General. So, I think with an Attorney General like that, if we don't know who we are as nation, as a nation, we can't lead. This is a time that the world needs American leadership.
Nicole Sandler I agree with you. General Clark, it's scary. I wake up every morning and turn on the news before I come in here, and today it was a, a whole piece on how the dollar is collapsing. I mean, my eight-year-old hears bits and piece, and yesterday she said to me, "Is the dollar becoming extinct?" Because she hears-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think it's very hard for economists to find the bottom edge of where the dollar could drop to. I've talked to a number of very influential people. I've been very concerned about this issue, and the truth is we're caught in a dilemma, because as we lower interest rates to try to offset the problem with the American economy, we lose our attractiveness to foreign investment in the dollar. And so, the dollar continues to fall as we continue to lower interest rates. That in turn is going to lead to inflation in the United States. It's just inevitable.
Nicole Sandler But the interest rates were so low not too long ago, and we didn't find ourselves with oil prices at $100 a gallon (sic) or, or in this dilemma of the falling value of the dollar. What's different now?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: One thing that's different is that oil prices are driven not only by the falling value of the dollar, but by incredible demand from countries like China and India, which don't have large domestic resources and are now competing on the world market. They're growing nine or ten percent a year or more in the case of China, and they want these petroleum resources. So, they're bidding up the price. The market's very, very tight right now. It has nothing to do with OPEC.
Nicole Sandler Hm. Wesley Clark is with us here at 940 WINZ. The other really, really scary thing right now is as we're looking at how this administration lied us into this war in Iraq, we are seeing a, experiencing a very scary almost deja vu when it comes to Iran. A-a-and they talk about the threat, the nuclear threat from Iran. Are we under more threat from Iran and terrorists than we were when we had nuclear missiles pointed at us from the Soviet Union?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Of course we are not, and this is one of the points I make in the book. We're not under an existential threat. We need to be concerned about Iran. It is a problem, but in a larger sense, as I explain in, in my book, we have to find a way to back out of this fixation on the Middle East. Terrorism is not an existential threat to the United States. Iran is not an existential threat to the United States. All we have to do to be a great nation and a leading nation is take care of our infrastructure, our education, our healthcare, our own people and stand up for our own values and know who we are as a people. Our values are the values that many people in the world aspire to have. I'm not talking about waterboarding. I'm talking about who we really are as Americans, and if we'll live up to our values, then we will lead and we will be safe.
Nicole Sandler You think we can turn it around?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think with the right leadership we can turn it around.
Nicole Sandler Now, General Wesley Clark is with us. The book is A TIme To Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country. He'll be at the Book Fair tomorrow morning 11AM at the Chapman Auditorium. You've endorsed Hillary Clinton.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: She's the most experienced person in the race on either side. She's been in public life for 25 years. She's seen it all. She's been part of it all. She's got good judgement. She's got strong character. She'll be a great Commander In Chief.
Nicole Sandler Do you, what do you think about her decision to sign on to the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which, you know, many say is very reminiscent of, of legislation that was passed before we went into Iraq?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think you have to be careful in making that analogy, because the people who are critical of this say that if you, if you say anything at all about Iran it may give President Bush an excuse to go to war. Look, he doesn't need an excuse to go to war. He can go to war any time he wants against Iran, and he's probably preparing to do it right now. What Kyl-Lieberman does, and I don't like the name-
Nicole Sandler Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -but what it does is it gives the United States a diplomatic weapon to use against Iran through sanctions and through calling the Congressional, putting Congressional pressure on our diplomacy to go out there and work against the Iranian interests. When I was negotiating in the Balkans, I used Congressional pressure for that negotiation. This was a sound diplomatic move. It has no connection to President Bush's decision to go to war, and I think you have to recognize that Iran is the big winner in Iraq. It is a problem, and it does have to be dealt with.
Nicole Sandler Okay. General Wesley Clark with us. One last question: If Hillary Clinton asks you to, if she gets the nomination, and to be on the ticket as her Vice President, would you do it?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I haven't speculated on anything like that. It's just way too early. I think sh-, you know, she's got to win the nomination. She'll pick whoever she needs. There's a lot of good people in this Party. But I will say this, that this is the time for Democrats to really stand up and be counted. I-I'm very disappointed in the confirmation of, of the new Attorney General, and I hope our Democrats will stand up for what's right and good about America.
Nicole Sandler Okay, I know I said that was the last question but one more: Do you think this Democratic Congress that we put in office a year ago is doing what the people elected them to do?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think it's tried to do this. Remember, with men like Joe Lieberman in the Congress, the Democrats do not control the Iraq policy.
Nicole Sandler Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: They just don't control it. It goes to the Republicans every time. So, I don't think the Democrats have been fairly judged. I think the Congress is only partially under Democratic control. I think the House is partially under Democratic control. It does not have a veto, veto-proof majority, and the Senate is badly split.
Nicole Sandler Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: So, I think you got to be careful in making those kind of judgments about Democrats.
Nicole Sandler I gotcha. Well, w-we like to her it from you, because I know I honestly respect your views and, and I know our listeners do too. So, it's great to hear you speak out on, on what's going on in the world. Wesley Clark, A Time To Lead: For Duty, Duty, Honor and Country is the book. General Clark will be at the Book Fair tomorrow 11AM at the Chapman Auditorium. I look forward to seeing you there.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.
Nicole Sandler Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Bye.
Nicole Sandler B-bye. General Wesley Clark.
