General Wesley Clark on Fox News 12/14/05

December 14, 2005
Transcript by Reg NYC

E.D Hill: With us from Washington, DC is former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, and a Fox News military analyst, General Wesley Clark. It's good to have you with us.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thanks E.D. Good to be here.

E.D Hill: Well, what we know so far is that we have had the Sunni Arabs have been given a fatwa, I guess to go and vote, that they have to go and vote. Quite the opposite actually of what we had seen in the previous trips to the ballot box. How significant is that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think it's a very good sign that we're getting the Sunni out to vote, but I think we also have to be realistic in the expectations. They're not going to vote for the same things that that the Kurds and the Shias are going to vote for.

E.D. Hill: Right. Um hm.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But what we want to do is we want to try to get the deep-seated animosities moved into the political process where issues can be worked politically instead of by force. That's the goal. So, the real challenge, then, is after they vote and the National Assembly is formed, will that constitution be changed to give more weight to Sunni concerns?

E.D.Hill: Mm hm. Well, I guess when we take a look at our own constitutional history and we realize that, you know, they came up one version. They talked about scrapping it and starting from scratch, and they said, 'No, no, no. Let's go with this, and then lets start adding to it.' And we come up with the Bill of Rights. Do you think we'll see that same sort of slow but necessary process in Iraq?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Hard to say. Most of the people who are close to the Shias tell me that they will not concede on the two key issues, which is the control of the oil revenues- they want to oil revenues to stay with the Shia-dominated area in the south, not go to the central government- and they will not concede on their ability to set up a separate Shia-like set of provinces in the south that's almost like a mini-state. And so, if they don't concede on those two issues, it's going to be very difficult. You know, if you look back at American history, we had to fight a Civil War to try to resolve whether we were going to be one nation or not,

E.D.Hill: Mm hm, Right.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And a lot of people voted in the South in 1860 in that election, and it didn't stop a Civil War. So, it really is going to depend on how astute the US ambassador is there and the military leadership on the ground to be able to transfer our military power into political leverage to persuade the Shias and Kurds to give up something for their own good to keep Iraq together.

E.D. Hill: Alright. Well, it's wonderful talking to you. I appreciate and would love to talk to you after the election to get your take on how that's gone.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: That'd be great.

E.D.Hill: Thank you very much. The former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark.