General Wesley Clark on The Big Story with John Gibson
June 29, 2006
transcript by Reg NYC

John Gibson: Back to our Big Story, the Supreme Court ruling that military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay are illegal, unconstitutional. Now the White House trying to figure out how to make them legal. According to a Fox New Opinion Dynamics poll, 48% of those asked think we are safer because of information gathered from these prisoners. So what happens if these terrorists who've spent years in US custody get out? Here's former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Fox News Channel analyst, General Wesley Clark. General, What now?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Hey, John. Well I, I think that what we need to be doing is turning these people over to international justice. You know, these terrorists are not a threat to just the United States, they're a threat to the, the whole world. They're a threat to the, the Britons and the, and the French and the Germans and, and, and the Saudis and everybody. So, put an international tribunal together. Bring the evidence on. Let international judges decide what to do with them, and let them be incarcerated for the rest of their lives, but take the heat off the United States of America. This is a world problem not just an American problem. And by the way, there's no reason to try to reconstruct military tribunals. They're not an offense against the military. They're attacking American society. We need the whole world to come down on these terrorists, not just the men and women in uniform who are charged with doing the fighting overseas.

John Gibson: General Clark, a-a-a- according to the judge trying to explain this to me - and I'm a layman in these matters, and maybe you are too - the President has a choice of putting some of these people on trial and revealing the intelligence we have as evidence against them or maybe sending them to another country, for instance, if they were picked up on the field of battle in Afghanistan, turning them over to the Karzai regime in Afghanistan, where they would be imprisoned and tried. Is that, in your mind a workable solution?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, that might be one workable solution. I'd rather see an international court established. I think you have to look at each specific case and all the evidence that's available in that particular case to determine whether or not you can share that information publicly or privately with the court. So, I don't think you can make a, a sweep of the hand and say, 'Well, we couldn't possibly bring them to trial, because we couldn't share any evidence.' Of course you can share evidence. Much of this evidence is gained by testimony by other people. Those people are available as witnesses. Much of the evidence is from the field of battle. They can have been seen holding weapons. Soldiers can testify as to that. That's the kind of evidence that the United States needs to display publicly to gain credibility, rather than having to keep the sore of Gitmo there on our shoulders. We need to get rid of that as soon as possible.

John Gibson: Why do you think that our international friends would participate in an international tribunal?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, they're the ones who've been criticizing Gitmo. Let them belly up to the bar and take their turn at helping protect the world like they say they want to do. Let us see their values. Let's put them on the line. You got to get some other people on the boat with you on this. You know, the President talks about leadership. I'd like to see him show some international leadership on this issue. There's no reason to sequester these people under US control exclusively when they're a threat to the whole world. Let the whole world participate. Let us set, set the rules. Let us control the evidence as we write the rules for the court, and then let the court decide.

John Gibson: General Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and a Fox News Channel analyst.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

John Gibson: General, always good-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

John Gibson: -to see you. Thanks.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thanks, John.