MEDIA ALERT: Fox News 12/15 @ 12:20pm EST

Dec 15 2005 - 11:20am
Dec 15 2005 - 11:30am

General Clark will appear on Fox News with Bill Hemmer, Dec 15 at 12:20PM EST:

12:20 PM EST | 11:20AM CST | 10:20AM MST | 9:20AM PST

All times of scheduled programs on Fox are subject to change. We recommend tuning in a little early.

See the transcript here: http://securingamerica.com/node/392

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Submitted by Tom Rinaldo on December 15, 2005 - 1:38pm.

Here are my impressions

Non hostile interviewer, which was a change of pace. Clark got to clearly explain what the Sunnis need to get out of the next government in order for the domestic insurgency to lose legitimacy, and he thinks it will be a struggle for them to win the changes in the direction of the new Iraq that they need (more respect for secular choices over strict fundamentalism, fair sharing of oil revenues, no near break away southern Shiite State etc.) He said negotiations will be much more difficult to conclude successfully because "this time it's for keeps". U.S. must use the leverage that Shites still wanting us to provide security for them gives us to prod diplomacy toward legitimate compromises on key constitutional issues. Failure to reach an agreement accepted by all can lead to Iraq flying apart at the seams. Iran is watching closely to see if they can expand their influence with the permanent Iraq government.

Best moment was when the Fox anchor said, something to the effect of "Isn't it great to see democratic elections in Iraq?". Clark deftly started his answer with, "It's exciting, isn't it?" Then he posed an important counter question, after explaining that the Arab world has some history of holding an election after which the government in power subverts/ suppresses all trappings of Democracy; "Will this be a one time only "democratic election"? (that's probably not an exact quote, but close).

I'm just going off memory so I may have gotten something wrong or missed a nuance or two or three, but it was another good interview in my opinion. Some times I think one of the reasons why General Clark chose to appear on FOX is because it gives him a way to reach out directly to more of the Republicans who may be in a better position to influence the Bush Administration than most Democrats are. Clark is talking sense and hopefully some one outside of the Democratic Party is listening. A lot of terrible mistakes can still be made before the mid term elections if Bush is allowed to stay his same flawed course until then.

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