General Wesley Clark on Studio B Weekend
October 21, 2006
Transcription by Melange

Trace Gallagher: Well, he's one of the most well-known and powerful enemies of America, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr just yesterday his militia seized control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah from Iraqi security forces and then gave it back as if the move was just a display of the group's power. Today al-Sadr is sitting down for talks with Iraq's Interior Minister. General Wesley Clark is a Fox News Military Analyst and the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and he joins us live from New Hampshire, which is why you have to ask, General why are you in New Hampshire?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I'm campaigning for a lot of people who are running for office up here in 2006.

Trace Gallagher: But you haven't ruled out running for office yourself in 2008 sir, have you?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: No, I haven't said I won't but I haven't done anything - I don't have any money raised or anything. I'm really interested in 2006. I think we really need to have a national debate in this country. We need to really look at where we're going in national security; we're in a very dangerous position.

Trace Gallagher: Talking national security, General, I want to talk about what's going on right now in Iraq and al-Sadr's influence on the Iraqi peace process there. It seems to me you read more and more stories about people in Iraq are now siding with militias because quite frankly they don't believe the government can keep them safe. Does al-Sadr have that much power there, in your estimation?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, he's always had a lot of power there and actually his power is constrained not only by the Sunni militias but also by the militia that's loyal to Hakim, one of the other Shiite leaders. So there's a 3-way, 4-way, 5-way, 6-way power split inside Iraq depending on where you are. The situation is not simply sectarian but there are conflicts between the sectarian groups within each sect.

Trace Gallagher: No matter how many ways you slice it, General, how do you convince people in Iraq to rely on the government instead of the militias? It seems like a very tough task.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well it's going to be a very tough task. You don't directly convince them of this. What you have to do is you have to convince the political leaders who head the militias to move away from using force to settle their differences and to work cooperatively together and ultimately this is just like negotiating between different countries. You have to have confidence-building measures. You have to be able to reestablish trust and then you have to start talks about laying down weapons. But, it's politics up front and in the meantime, there's a lot of people going to get hurt in Iraq, unfortunately.

Trace Gallagher: General, I want your take on this video coming from CNN. A Congressman now asking the Pentagon to remove embedded CNN reporters after the network showing snipers targeting US troops and CNN saying they got this from an insurgent leader and they showed it because they want to show the real…in fact the quote is they want to show what the truth is about this war. What's your take on that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I'm reluctant to have the government tell the media what it can and can't show. You'll remember that we were very proud of the fact that we embedded media with the United States Armed Forces when they went in and there were pictures on that media of Iraqis who had died and were dying. Um, this is a very tough call. The network has to make it. Public opinion needs to be heard on this but…ah, it's, it's a dangerous thing when we start telling the media what they can't <crosstalk> what they can't show especially in a <crosstalk>

Trace Gallagher: What do you say to the family of that soldier? We have Congressman Bilbray now saying this is the publicist for the enemy. They're saying this is nothing more than a terrorist snuff film. I know CNN kind of…they fancy themselves as worldwide news organization and that they're, you know, they're trying to be unbiased but the bottom line is they're still based in America. It's an American news agency just like this news channel is and they're showing that type of footage and it seems to me the family of those soldiers, the people in Iraq that we send over there. It seems it's just not fair to them, General.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well I think it's a really difficult situation in Iraq. I guess what I'd say to the families of the soldiers is, if I were one of the Republican congressmen, I'd be asking our President to come up with the strategy that can win, succeed in Iraq. The strategy that we've got, apparently it doesn't work, we're not quite sure what the strategy is. It's never really been explained, but what we know is we're in a sort of worsening spiral and the real problem is not what's shown on television, it's what the reality is. It's the fact that that soldier did in fact die. And he died serving our country, doing something our government asked him to do and we have to ask - every one of us as Americans, is this what we want our young men and women dying for? And if it isn't, then what's the alternative? What are the strategies? How are we going to change this course? The President and the Republican leadership owe that explanation to the American people. I think it's a bit of a distraction to go after CNN, to be honest with you. I share the family's pain, but I really think that the questions have to be directed to our government's leaders - they're the ones that put us in this position.

Trace Gallagher: Noted. General Wesley Clark. General, thank you very much