General Wesley Clark on Fox & Friends
February 20, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC
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.