General Wesley Clark on Big Story Weekend Edition

Jamie Colby: .... The big question on the Big Story tonight: Could another mideast war be in our immediate future?

Joining me now from Little Rock, Arkansas is the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and current Fox News Military Analyst, General Wesley Clark and in Philadelphia, terrorism expert - Professor Ed Turzanski.

Good evening to both of you - really appreciate you being here tonight.

I want to start with you, General Clark. Could we be looking in 2006, so much emphasis on Iraq in 2005, could we be looking at perhaps some measures being taken or perhaps an invasion of Iran?

I want to start with you, General Clark. Could we be looking in 2006, so much emphasis on Iraq in 2005, could we be looking at perhaps some measures being taken or perhaps an invasion of Iran?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think you could be looking at a military option to take out their nuclear program along with their command and control air defense and retaliatory capability - 4-6 days of air strikes, maybe more. Of course I don't have any classified information. This is purely, um, an estimate, my judgment. This is not based on any classified reports.

Jamie Colby: Can you confirm whether or not the US has asked for military bases in Turkey in order to be positioned for such a potential strike if needed?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: The military has a US base in Turkey, at Incirlik, <crosstalk>

Jamie Colby: How about additional bases?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It's very possible, the US has used bases elsewhere in Turkey at previous times. They are there. They could be used. There are other bases throughout the region and, uh, over the last month or so there have been repeated rumors through the middle east of Porter Goss and Vice President Dick Cheney - Porter Goss being the head of the CIA and the Vice President - traveling to the region, talking to governments, talking up the threat from Iran. And of course there are many governments in the region who, even though they don't welcome a military strike, they are very fearful of Iran getting nuclear weapons. So I think yes, there's a distinct possibility that there could be this. Certainly prudent planning, prudent military planning, is probably going on right now.

Jamie Colby: Okay. Let's get Ed in here. Ed, I want to ask you, you know, Iran has been very vocal about their desire for nuclear, ah, capability, let's say. And Israel who generally doesn't come out in terms of intelligence or, ah, security measures, isn't that verbal but has really expressed a direct concern about the situation in Iran. Is Israel the sole target, potentially, for Iran or should other areas be keeping a very close eye on this?

ED TURZANSKI: I think everyone in the region should be very concerned about what the Iranians are doing. The Israelis would certainly have more of a concern, specifically because of the kind of rhetoric that Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been aiming at them and as General Clark mentioned a moment ago, it's very likely that if this were to happen, it would be a concentrated attack over a period of days. It's not going to be as easy as it was for the Israelis in 1981 when they took out the Osiraq reactor in Iraq. The Iranians learned from that so their capability is much more dispersed. It is more well-protected, much of it underground. And if there's going to be a strike, it will be coordinated over time. That certainly makes it a much more politically difficult situation. Keep in mind that about 75% of that country is under the age of 25. They don't like life under the mullahs. We had hoped to use that discontentment to our advantage. An attack runs the risk of rallying support for that regime and it's the last thing that we'd want to happen.

Jamie Colby: Let me ask you, General Clark, about public sentiment. Uh, the Iraq war, the American public has at times supported it and felt that it was the right thing to do, that we needed to stay until we left democracy in place. What about gaining public support for the potential for an invasion in Iran? How difficult a challenge is that, politically, for the president?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, a couple of points. First, there's going to be a lot of skepticism about the exact nature of the Iranian program because the record of our intelligence agencies on the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program wasn't very good. Secondly, of course, when the president calls for strikes, he's going to strengthen his hand at home once these strikes are underway because his critics are going to be faced with the dilemma of going against a threat to the United States and our allies abroad if they challenge the president. So he's going to pick up support. At least that's the way I believe the White House will read this. So I would guess there would be a program of consultation with allies. There would probably be the appearance of some last minute diplomatic measures and then there would be, um, the buildup here at home, politically, and then the strikes. And…<crosstalk> I think the administration would calculate that this would be the end of it.

Jamie Colby: Let me just bring in Ed, General Clark, I have less than a minute, sir, I'm so sorry. We could really talk about this for some time because it could be a big part of our year, this year. But Ed, I want to ask you how much support for the Iraqi insurgency is coming out of Iran? And I have about 30 seconds.

ED TURZANSKI: Depends on which portion you're talking about Muqtada al-Sadr is being supported by the Iranians but Iraq's a difficult situation for them because Ayatollah Sistani does not subscribe to the kind of Shi'a Islam that the Iranians are trying to sell. So, by no means is it clear for Iran that the Shi'a of Iraq will go their way.

Jamie Colby: Ok, I have to cut you off Ed. General Clark, thank you both so much for being with us. Happy New Year.