General Wesley Clark on Fox Studio B

February 18, 2006
Transcript by Melange

Trace Gallagher: Secretary Rumsfeld saying Al Qaeda knows we're in a battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims, but can the west win that battle?

General Wesley Clark, commanded troops in another controversial war: Vietnam. General Clark the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander is here with us now and General, I guess the first question is: has it really come down to words over weapons?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Absolutely not, because what really is going to determine the outcome of this war are the actions and the policies of the United States of America. The men and women in uniform, our diplomats, our intelligence agencies, our ability to interact with others around the world. That's 90-95% of it.

Trace Gallagher: So you're saying, really, that the Abu Ghraibs, the Guantanamos have kind of given us a black eye. That's your assessment.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, not only have they given us a black eye but it's more than that. Those policies undercut the most important weapon that the United States has, which is what we stand for as a nation. We stand for telling the truth. That's what we believe we stand for. We have to do that. We stand for treating people with respect and dignity. We say that's what we stand for - we've got to act that way. When information comes out on Abu Ghraib, that's not a public relations problem, that's a fundamental policy problem!

Trace Gallagher: Ok, in Guantanamo, General, you know the President has said this, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has said this, saying 'you know, if we let these guys go, they have said we're going to go out there and try and kill you again.' What…what do you do?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, first of all this is a problem that's not just directed at the United States. It's an international problem. So this is a case where we do need to bring it to an international court, we need the court to have some teeth, we need some rules of engagement. These people need to be put on trial.

Trace Gallagher: Y…is it…ah…maybe…is it your contention that we're fighting the good fight in this war but doing a lousy job of selling it?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well I think we're doing a lot of great things in this war and I think we've got a lot of tremendous men and women in uniform and out of uniform who are doing a lot of things that we never hear about that are very important. But, but…to win this war, we have to separate our adversaries from everyone else. We can't lump everybody who believes in the Prophet Mohammed in one camp and we can't give the impression that we are hypocrites in terms of our own values and, unfortunately instances like Abu Ghraib - whether they were publicized or not, they were well known inside of Iraq. Those instances are terribly dysfunctional to the United States. This is a strategic issue. We may get tactical intelligence out of torturing people. Maybe. And maybe you'll get a fragment of information here or there that maybe will mean something but the strategic value of it is minimal compared to the loss of what we stand for as a nation.

Trace Gallagher: General, I've got about 30 seconds left. The acrimony around the world over these controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed - does that… does that help Al Qaeda in a way?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, what's…it feeds into the resentment of ordinary Muslims around the world toward the west. And, yes that does help Al Qaeda. We have to answer this in the right way and the answer is there should be no calls to violence and we should be respectful of other people's beliefs and standards.

Trace Gallagher: General Wesley Clark, sir, it's always a pleasure. Thank you.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.