Brian Kilmeade: You heard it on Fox: President Bush announced that a, a NATO-led offensive will take place this spring in Afghanistan rather than be on the defensive, but with reports of Al Qaeda actively rebuilding in Pakistan, what can we do about it?
Gretchen Carlson: Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wesley Clark joins us now in the studio. Good to see you General.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you. Good to be here, Gretchen.
Gretchen Carlson: So, let's talk about this offensive. We've heard a lot of reports about the fact that Al Qaeda is rebuilding itself in Afghanistan.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yeah.
Gretchen Carlson: What are we going to do about it?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think it's a military problem, but it's also an economic problem, and it's a diplomatic problem. It has to be worked on all three levels.
Gretchen Carlson: Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: So, now that NATO's in charge over there, it should give us greater diplomatic sway with Musharraf. He's got to do a better job of cutting off support for the Taliban. Of course, some elements of his intelligence service apparently are still working with the Taliban-
Gretchen Carlson: Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -and helping them build their base areas. And we've got an economic problem. Afghanistan is very, very poor, and opium has really taken root there. It's the-
Gretchen Carlson: Hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -greatest cash crop you could ever want to grow. It doesn't have to be refrigerated. It could be processed. It doesn't take big trucks to haul it out, and it's worth a lot of money.
Gretchen Carlson: Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Even to the farmers who are growing it, some way's got to be found for people in Afghanistan to make a living without growing opium.
Gretchen Calrson: Mm hm.
Brian Kilmeade: Do you take this report as credible - what was in the New York Times yesterday - saying that the Bin Laden and Zawahiri have reaffirmed control. They've opened up camps right in the Northern Waziristan area.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Yes, because there, there has been movement in this direction for some time. In September, when Musharraf signed the agreement and basically let the tribes and, and Taliban alone, he lo- He had 70,000 people, 70,000 troops in the area. He'd had tremendous losses in the area. He was unable to get a grip on it, and he basically cut a deal, and they declared a truce. And after that, all the sort of mechanics of terrorism have come up and taken root, and they're more visible now. They were there before, but Al Qaeda's got a stronger base area now.
Gretchen Carlson: Yeah, because Musharraf is in a no-win situation in his own country. He has the people of his country-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: He is.
Gretchen Carlson: -who don't want him to have the fight along side with the Western, you know, with President Bush. So, what are we going to do about the situation there, because you have Karzai and Musharraf who don't like each other, and how long can this continue without having complete unrest?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well it's, -i-it's going to have complete unrest, and we've got to work this as a classic insurgency situation inside Afghanistan.
Gretchen Carlson: Mm hm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: So, that means you've got to have the, what they call PRTs, the reconstruction teams out there that are military and economic and political everywhere, and they've got to stay in there and work the people, because the Taliban are coming back as night. They're working through the relationships. And then, we've got to use our NATO allies to put more pressure on Musharraf. He's got to tighten back down and make it more difficult. You'll never cut it off, but you've got to make it more difficult so the people themselves-
Gretchen Carlson: Right.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -got to the Karzai government instead of relying on the Taliban.
Brian Kilmeade: General, here's the thing. The President talked about NATO, and they have done some historic things coming into a non-offensive capacity out of Europe, but still a lot of the NATO nations don't want to get their hands dirty. Germany's like, 'Hey, I'll stay here where it's safe and maybe build a factory or two.' How do you get the European nations as committed as the U.S.?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, you may not be able to get them directly as committed as the U.S. You've got to use them for what they can do. They've got their own domestic political problems. This is, (laughs) this is the thing about democracies. They don't see the same need, and that need hasn't built, built up politically. They-
Brian Kilmead: But you always talk about talking.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -weren't struck on 9/11.
Brian Kilmeade: You always talk about talking. The Germans, hey, where was the Hamburg cell? In Germany.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Sure.
Brian Kilmeade: Where is Al Qaeda? In Afghanistan.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right.
Brian Kilmeade: Can you come to Afghanistan and fight these guys with us? Doesn't that play?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It plays partially, but they can do other things even if they don't - and they should put their troops in, but if they don't, they can still do other things. They could do economic assistance. They can do police training. They can help the-
Brian Kilmeade: Fine.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -Karzai government-
Brian Kilmeade: Right.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: -extend their grip. And the key thing is to use every single member of NATO in whatever their best role is. Britain has the best relationship with Musharraf.
Gretchen Carlson: Mm.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Britain should be the country that's really working Pakistan to keep Pakistan from supporting the Taliban. So, every country has its own distinctive contributions to make.
Gretchen Carlson: Alright, completely complicated situation. Always good to speak with you.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.
Gretchen Carlson: General Wesley Clark. Good to see you.
Brian Kilmeade: Just ask a question, when are you going to decide if you're running?
Gretchen Carlson: (chuckles)
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, pretty soon, I think.
Brian Kilmeade: Within a, within a month?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don't have a specific timeline, but it's a very interesting race. There's a lot of great candidates out there, but there are some really, really important issues in this election.
Brian Kilmeade: Alright, General Wesley Clark, we'll wait and we'll find out, and hopefully you'll tell us here. Meanwhile coming up straight ahead- Thanks for joining us, General.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.