General Wesley Clark on CNN Saturday Morning

January 24, 2009

Transcription by Melange

T.J. Holmes: …President Obama fulfilling one of his campaign promises – shut down the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. He also intends to get into to possibly repeal the ‘Don't ask, don't tell' policy which made President Clinton kind of unpopular with some of the US troops. Could Obama be looking at the same kind of chilly reception? Well, let's bring in retired 4-star general and former NATO Commander Wesley Clark, also former presidential candidate. I'll throw that one in there as well. Sir, let's start with Gitmo. Can you do this? Is this the right thing to do – to say you'll shut it down? To get a date for shutting it down without a plan for what you're going to do with these guys?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think it's absolutely the right thing to do. The detention center at Guantanamo has cause the United States no end of problems. First of all, apparently a lot of the people who were there shouldn't be there. Secondly, it's a non-transparent facility. It's there as an alternative to an established system of justice. Let's use our system of justice. We've got the best system of justice in the world and it can certainly handle bad actors like Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

T.J. Holmes: But as you know, the criticism there and the problem people have is these are some of the baddest guys on the planet, according to many. I mean, the 9/11 plotters, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, um, I mean, you name them – they're there, so nobody wants them on US soil and certainly nobody wants to extend the same rights that a US citizen has to these guys.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well I think we have to understand in the war on terror, that the most important thing is that we cut off the flow of recruits to terrorist camps. And in that sense, the starting point for success is changing the ideological terms of the struggle. And Barack Obama has done that very successfully by announcing the closing of Guantanamo. As far as Khalid Sheik Mohammed's concerned, he's absolutely a bad guy. On the other hand, a lot of people say the reason he can't be brought into court is because he has been tortured and the evidence he's given is not legally admissible. Now, that's a very serious problem for a democracy that believes in high standards. And, <crosstalk>

T.J. Holmes: So how do we get around that? I mean, this will open up all kinds of evidentiary items that maybe don't need to be in the public domain. I mean, this is a problem we haven't gotten around yet. We don't have a plan for it.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I think that some of these evidentiary problems in so far as they involve classified information, yes, they have to be protected in a courtroom. But others, in so far as they involve methods that the United States has rebuked elsewhere and turned away from, we need to confront that fore square to restore America's legitimacy in the world and our own sense of moral commitment to the struggle.

T.J. Holmes: Alright, last couple of things here. He did have a commitment to repealing the ‘Don't ask, don't tell' policy of the US military that might be pushed back a bit. He might not make that decision as quickly and take it up as quickly as some might have hoped. Um, should it happen sooner, in your opinion? As soon as possible, in your opinion?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well the United States is engaged in a war in Iraq, it's engaged in a war in Afghanistan, we've got problems in the Middle East with Iran and Israel - trying to find a solution there, we know Pakistan is endanger; so I don't think that you could stand outside the system and say ‘Don't ask, don't tell' is the most urgent problem facing the United States national security apparatus. So I wouldn't be in favor of moving it up. On the other hand, you've got to understand that the armed forces today are considerably different than they were 16 years ago, not only because of the extended conflict that they've been in and the stresses it's put people under, but also because people are a little more tolerant. So I think this is something that will come and it should come.

T.J. Holmes: Alright. Again, former NATO Commander. Former, or rather still, 4-star general and also former presidential candidate Wesley Clark with us this morning from Little Rock, Arkansas.

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you.

T.J. Holmes: Sir, always good to see you. I appreciate you. Good luck getting out there. I know it's cold. Good luck getting out on the golf course today.