November 22, 2005
Transcription by Reg NYC
We encourage you to listen to the clip.
Bill Hemmer: Now the future of the US military in Iraq is tied directly to the strength of Iraqi forces on the ground. So then how strong are they today? General Wesley Clark, Fox News analyst and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander is my guest now and General, good morning to you.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Good morning, Bill.
Bill Hemmer: How do you assess those forces in Iraq?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think they're getting better. I think there's hope that the forces can make a very strong contribution to Iraq's security. The question is how soon and how loyal the forces will be, depending on the government and as the US withdrawal starts.
Bill Hemmer: Yeah, and as you look at the forces on the ground, Are the expectations too high from an American perspective? In other words, are we trying to build up the 82nd Airborne in Baghdad today, or should we just recognize that this is a fledgling Arab army that's trying to get off the ground?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think some people may think this is the 82nd Airborne, but it can't be. In reality, it takes 10 to 20 years to build an armed forces. We rebuilt our Armed Forces after Vietnam, and we had a lot to work with start with. So, this takes a while, but to build a fighting force at the battalion and brigade level where troops can get on the ground and maneuver, if we can provide them the air support, help them with command and control, make sure they've got the logistics covered, help with the medical evacuation and casualty treatment, then they can do the direct combat skills, and that's easier to train.
Bill Hemmer: You've said it twice now, "This'll take time."
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Lot's of time.
Bill Hemmer: Where are we on this issue a year from now, General.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think we'll find the forces are substantially better. It really depends on the leader development programs that are underway and how effective we are at reaching in through the chain of command, identifying the key leaders, and getting them promoted and given positions of higher responsibility. We have put all of the modern training technology to work over there. They're the beneficiaries of a lot of experience that we developed in our army in building our forces in the 1970's, 80's and 90's. So, we're doing everything that we can do, but it's really a problem of human dynamics, and to some extent it's cultural.
Bill Hemmer: Yeah. On a political question, though, we're three weeks away now from the next elections to elect essentially a new Parliament throughout the country of Iraq. How do you see those elections dictating and determining the near future for that country?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think the administration- I think that obviously the elections will go off. They're not going to be able to be disrupted by the insurgents. I think the administration will want to say that the elections mark one more milestone in being able to call our mission there a success. It's not clear yet, because it depends really on the Sunni participation. I hope that the Shia majority right now will make the concessions on the constitution to address Sunni concerns. What we don't want to see in these elections is a strong rejectionist Sunni block elected, because after all the history of conflict, even in our own Civil War. We had elections in 1860, and then we went to war. So, the fact that there are elections doesn't mean that you won't have a civil war. What you want to do is use the elections as the fulcrum really to draw together the divergent political views and try to get them shaped so the elections represent a consensus, not a divergence of viewpoints.
Bill Hemmer: December 15th, the vote goes down again in Iraq. Wesley Clark, thanks for being with us today.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thanks, Bill.
