General Wesley Clark on MSNBC

April 17. 2008

Transcript by Reg NYC

Andrea Mitchell: Today, Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Pennsylvania. This afternoon, just about an hour, she will be meeting with families at Haverford College on the mainline. Last night she was debating Barack Obama, and she promised as President she would bring the U.S. troops home from Iraq no matter what her Generals said.

(on tape)

Hillary Clinton: I have been convinced and very clear that I will begin to withdraw troops within 60 days. And we've had other instances in our history where some military commanders have been very publicly opposed to what a President was proposing to do. But I think it's important that this decision be made and I intend to make it.

Charlie Gibson: But Senator Clinton, aren't you saying, I mean, General Petraeus was in Washington - you both were there when he testified - saying that the gains in Iraq are fragile and are reversible. Are you essentially saying, 'I know better than the military commanders' here?

Hillary Clinton: No, what I'm saying Charlie is that no one can predict what will happen. There are many different scenarios.

(end tape)

Andrea Mitchell: Retired Four-Star Army General Wesley Clark is an MSNBC military analyst. He is supporting Hillary Clinton for President. Good to see you, General.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you, Andrea.

Andrea Mitchell: Okay so, go back to when you were NATO Commander and you were in charge of the war in Kosovo, how would you feel if the Commander in Chief said, 'No, General, we're withdrawing. We're pulling our forces out,' even if you said, 'It's fragile. It's going to reverse. It's not secure'?

General Wesley Clark on Tavis Smiley (PBS)

March 24, 2008
Transcript by Reg NYC

Tavis Smiley: General Wesley Clark served as NATO Supreme Allied Commander from 1997 to 2000 and then went on to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2004. His most recent book is A Time To Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country. He joins us tonight from New York. General Clark, nice to have you back on the program, Sir.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you, Tavis. Nice to be with you.

Tavis Smiley: Let me go right at it. What do you make of the fact that we've been there five years now and as of Easter Sunday, 4000 dead?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, first of all, my heart goes out to the families and to the men and women in uniform who have volunteered and served in this country and done it so courageously. It's just a terrible burden we're putting on the men and women in the Armed Forces and their families, and I think about them first. No one would've believed, Tavis, that if we had said five years ago that five years later we'd have more troops in Iraq then we did to do the invasion AND that we'd have lost 4000 fine young men and women, no one would've believed it. It's been a war we didn't have to fight. It's been a war that's been mismanaged. The- been an excessive and over-reliant on the military, a lack of good policy in the region. We've alienated our friends around the world, and we've served as a cause for Al Qaeda recruiting. And the, the real winner of the war is, so far, has been Iran.

"What this country needs is leadership."

Text of the ad:

I see that Hillary’s opponents have started attacking her. That’s politics. What this country needs is leadership.

I’m Wes Clark; I commanded our forces in Europe when we won the fight to halt ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

I’ve known Hillary Clinton for twenty-four years. I know she has what it takes to end the war in Iraq, avert war with Iran, and restore our country’s standing in the world.

These are tough times and Hillary Clinton is the right choice for America.

General Wesley Clark on the Alex Bennett Program on Sirius Satellite Radio

November 28, 2007

General Wesley Clark on the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC

November 28, 2007
transcript by Reg NYC

Brian Lehrer: How about a Hillary Clinton/Wesley Clark ticket? How about another war in Kosovo. Brian Lehrer on WNYC, good morning everyone. After the news former NATO Commander Wesley Clark. He served under President Clinton, now campaigning for Hillary Clinton. Among other things, he is predicting that President Bush will declare victory in Iraq, complete with a parade, and believe it or not, he calls for sending more U.S. troops to the Balkans now, which he says could again become a major security threat.

General Wesley Clark is with me, the former NATO Commander under President Clinton, who ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2004. This year, he's supporting Hillary Clinton and has been campaigning with her, fueling speculation he could even be her running mate. General, it's so nice to have you with us. Welcome to WNYC.