Clark: * sending mixed messages to Iraq. Discusses National Security Plan [View All]

[Clarkie1]

Host: Okay, so the Democrats say that they have this new national security plan. What is it?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well I think it's a unified approach across all elements of national security. It includes energy security, taking care of the men and women who fought - our veterans. It includes going after weapons of mass destruction, dealing with the problems of North Korea and Iran and resolving the problems of terrorism and Iraq.

Host: Well, it's awfully ambitious. I actually read part of this plan today and it also said that one of their big focuses is to “eliminate Osama bin Laden.” How do they propose to do that?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well we're going to put renewed emphasis into working Afghanistan and with Musharraf in Pakistan and we're going to double the size of our special forces and we're going to crack the nut in going after Osama bin Laden. When the president said he wanted him dead or alive right after 9/11, his name soon dropped off because it's very difficult to go after one person. You really have to focus on it. We went into Iraq instead of focusing on Osama bin Laden and the result is he's still on the loose.

Host: Now, about on the topic of Iraq, this new plan says that the Democrats will ensure that 2006 is the year that Iraq can transition to full sovereignty with Iraqis assuming responsibility for their own security. That sounds easier said than done. How do they propose to do that and hasn't…isn't that what the president has been trying to do?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, the truth is that the policy that we've had in place - the president's strategy - is simply running out of gas in Iraq. Right now, 3 months after the elections were held, there's still no Iraqi government. You have feuding political leaders and it's not the fault of the men and women in uniform. This is a political strategy that the president requires, to work behind the scenes, to use maximum US leverage, to engage in dialogue with Iraq's neighbors and to get help from other Arab countries to be able to pull together an Iraqi government that de-legitimizes the insurgents, that modifies the constitution so there's no need to fight. That's the principal work that has to be done. It has to be done now, in 2006. This can't be deferred to 2007 because if it is the insurgency will grow and deepen and Iraq won't hold together.


Host: Well, that sounds good, but how will the Democrats - your party - deal with the things like the car bombs and the daily violence from the insurgents?


GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: This is a problem that has to be dealt with first at the political level, inside Iraq. Adequate incentives must be provided and leverage attained against the various parties in the Iraqi government and their supporters, to be able to pull together an Iraqi government that really does legitimate the Iraqi people and de-legitimate the insurgency. That hasn't been done. That leverage has been two years late in being applied, the recognition of what the problem was has been late. All the leverage still hasn't been applied. When the president sends mixed messages like 'we'll be there through the next president's…into the next president's administration' and at the same time tells the Iraqis to pull up their socks and get going, that's a mixed message. The truth is that we can't be effective keeping our people there unless the Iraqi leaders do their part and that's a message they have to understand. And Democrats are giving them that message.


Host: Okay, General Wesley Clark thanks for outlining the plan for us.


GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

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