Andrea Mitchell: Tonight's Democratic debate will likely highlight a shift in discussion from Iraq to Iran. Senator Clinton is the only Democratic candidate to vote for a non-binding Senate resolution declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard - a wing of the party, a wing of the government - a terrorist organization. Retired General Wesley Clark is an MSNBC analyst. We should also point out that he has endorsed Hillary Clinton. General, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you. It's great to be with you, Andrea.

Andrea Mitchell: Is it fair to say that, well, is it fair to say that this conversation is shifting more to Iran then Iraq? We seem to see more focus on Iran and a real fear among some Democrats that the President and the Vice-President's rhetoric is really aimed toward eventually a military conflict with Iran.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Right. I think it does have to shift toward Iran. I think Iran is the principal issue, because the Republicans want to get out of Iraq (chuckles) just as badly as, as, as the Americans do, as any other American does. But Iran is a central question, because when we took out Saddam Hussein, we opened the gates for Iran to pursue it's more expansionist, hegemonic agenda in the region. They're going after nuclear weapons. They've gotten control and influence in Iraq that they never had before. And so, they do pose a threat to regional stability, and it's right that, that the American government and that all of us in America are concerned about Iran. The question is what to do, and this administration is mostly about military action and saber-rattling. And what Democrats are calling for is diplomacy. Diplomacy first. Talk to the other side before we start the saber-rattling.

Andrea Mitchell: Well, Joe Biden and some of the other Democrats have criticized Senator Clinton, saying that her vote for that Lieberman-Kyl resolution. The tough resolution on Iran is giving a green light to this administration to take a military option against Iran.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: It does no such thing. In fact, the version of the resolution that was passed is different than the original resolution. There's nothing in there about military action. It says explicitly, quote, Secretary Gates is saying, "This is a time for diplomacy," and calls on diplomatic efforts and the use of sanctions. I think it's an important resolution, because it does point out the fact that Iran is a threat and it calls the attention to the administration that they must not just sit back and allow the threat to materialize and then suddenly call on America to use force.

Andrea Mitchell: So, will Hillary Clinton strike back at Obama and Edwards tonight when they take her on on that very vote on Iran? Will she suggest that they are somehow soft on Iran?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, first of all, I, I think the record shows that Barak Obama was trying to propose a resolution very similar to this resolution earlier. He didn't even show up for the vote. So, I think what Senator Clinton's going to do is put forth her positions. They're very common sense positions. They're easily explained, and I think if people lis- look at the facts and look at the dangers posed by Iran and listen to the recommendations she's made about proceeding with diplomacy, then I, I think that pulls the party together and puts us in the right position vis-a-vis the Republicans.

Andrea Mitchell: General, putting on your military hat, putting back your military hat, is there an effective military option to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. When, when the President or others say, you know, 'We will not let Iran have a nuclear weapon,' Rudy Guiliani, some of the, you know- Romney, Mitt Romney has talked about bombarding Iran. Is that feasible?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, it's certainly feasible to bombard Iran, but there's no guarantees on military action as we've found in Iraq. If you're not in the military, military action looks like, 'Oh turn, just turn it over to the Generals. Let them bomb and we've got all these great weapons.' It's all true, but we don't know how much we don't know about Iran. So yes, we can strike Iran. We can certainly take out what we see and what we know, and we've collected a lot of intelligence on Iran. If I were the Iranian leaders, I'd be very worried about this because we'll take out a lot of their military and industrial capability. But in terms of finishing this off and how do we come out of this conflict, there are a lot of uncertainties here. And so, that's why I've said that military force should be a last, last, last resort, and we're a long way from that right now.

Andrea Mitchell: Alright. Thank you very much, General Wes Clark,-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

Andrea Mitchell: -who is a supporter of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic field.