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Analysis of President Bush's Speech and Current Military Operations

Aired March 11, 2002 - 10:29   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've been listening to President Bush as he addresses a special gathering at the White House today six months to the day after the attacks of 9-11. The president calling on nations not to give up on the war against terrorism, calling on the global coalition, asking it please not to weaken. President also at the end of his speech speaking of hope, hope of a peaceful world ahead, hope of settling disputes among nations but doing it with reason and not with terror.

Our Major Garrett is at White House, and he's been listening in -- Major.

MAJOR GARRET, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, I would say the most important thing the president said was right at the end, instead of God bless America, God bless our coalition. That encapsulates the underlying theme of this entire event. The White House trying to tell all coalition partners in the war on terror the United States values their contribution, wants them to stay aboard.

President went out of his way to thank nations specifically for their contributions. Then he also talked about the ongoing threat of weapons of mass destruction, why the coalition must maintain its vigilance not only against terror cells but preventing those cells from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. And then painting a portrait of a world that exists after terrorist cells have been defeated, a world where the president said conflicts that we now see can be seen in a new light, and without the threat of constant terror and reprisals, solutions can be found with reason.

So the president in every way, shape and form trying to tell the coalition that their mission is vital, the United States values their contributions and if it sticks together, this coalition can find a way to relieve itself from the threat of terror and find a more peaceful world -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Major, before we went live to the president, we heard from ambassadors from South Korea, Nigeria and Turkey. Why those three countries? And if you're talking about the coalition and countries that are helping out the U.S., these are not three that I think most Americans are used to hearing from.

GARRETT: That's true, but I can assure you, Daryn, these three countries were not names pulled out of a hat. There are very specific reasons. And in total, the three represent the global breadth of the coalition, Asia, Africa, and the larger Middle East, but also, two key components of the future actions in any war against terror.

South Korea is vital to whatever the United States does as it relates to North Korea, one of the nations mentioned by the president in his "axis of evil." And of course Turkey is crucial to whatever the United States may or may not do in Iraq. Incirlik Air Base would be a staging area for U.S. warplanes if any activity were taken against Iraq and also Iraqi opposition forces could base themselves in Turkey and move into Iraq from the north. Support from Turkey vital in any potential conflict there.

Support from the South Korean government also very important in whatever may happen in North Korea. And Nigeria was added to have a strong presence from an African nation. And the Nigerian ambassador went out of his way to express Africa's entire solidarity as a continent with the war on terror -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Major Garrett at the White House. Major, thank you very much -- Leon.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: For more on the U.S. military options in the war on terrorism, let's now turn to our military analyst retired General Wesley Clark who joins us from his spot in Little Rock, Arkansas this morning.

Good to see you again, General, how are you?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good, Leon, good.

HARRIS: Let me ask you first of all about that last comment that we heard Major Garrett here mention in reference to the countries that we saw represented on the podium this morning, South Korea, Nigeria and Turkey. Now Turkey we can understand their particular importance, especially with their participation in NATO, but Nigeria. What strategic role do you see that country playing, if any at all here?

CLARK: Well first, Nigeria is a strategic country. We have a huge interest in Nigeria. It's a very large country, and it's a very important source of oil.

Secondly, Nigeria has enormous problems with Islamic fundamentalism, radical Islamic fundamentalism in the north. And there's been a lot of fighting. There have been massacres up there and fighting between Christians and Muslims. And Nigeria is a front of the terrorists. It's a possible source. There are probably al Qaeda cells there. So Nigeria is very important in this. Africa is important.

HARRIS: Interesting. Well as we sit here and continue our attempts here to read the tea leaves, let me ask you again about those three countries, South Korea, Turkey and Nigeria. Did President Bush in any way tip his hand as to where we might see the next front in this war going? CLARK: Well I think he certainly laid the foundation for going against Iraq. He brought in the problem of weapons of mass destruction in a very clear and unambiguous way. And he said that while we would proceed deliberately, we weren't going to avoid action and that's a very, very clear indicator to me that Iraq is certainly up on the hit list.

Now there are other countries that have been named in the -- in the "axis of evil" speech, and we know that there is proliferation among other countries. North Korea may have nuclear weapons. North Korea certainly has delivery means for nuclear weapons. We believe North Korea has biological weapons and certainly chemical weapons. Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. We believe it has biological and chemical weapons. And there are others. So I think that what the president has done is link very skillfully the problem of terrorism with the problem of weapons of mass destruction. To me that's the heart of the message in this speech.

HARRIS: Well but the other word at the heart of this message was the word coalition. We heard that a number of times here. Do you see there having to be a need for another effort in rebuilding coalitions to go after those -- Iraq, for instance, in this particular case, because there's quite a bit of resistance in much of the current coalition about actually doing something in Iraq?

CLARK: That's exactly right, Leon, and there will have to be coalitions built. And I think that's one of the reasons the administration is emphasizing this. They've been talking in terms of floating coalitions. In other words, not using out standing alliances like NATO, but instead assembling coalitions for the tasks at hand. And Vice President Cheney is abroad today. We heard him speak with the Prime Minister. Clearly he's going to sound out possible coalition partners and try to bring them in line to go against Iraq and into other actions and other requirements that we will face in these operations in the -- in the future.

HARRIS: So finally, let me ask you this one, General Clark, you know when you look at the way this whole war effort is spiraling now into a more of a global war here, skirmishes in different pockets around world, at some point do you think there's a point of say a critical mass here if you get too many of these kinds of operations, even though President Bush said this morning that American troops won't be fighting in every single arena, they will be supporting every country that it will be fighting but there won't be there -- necessarily American troops fighting in every single pocket in these wars. Do you think there's some point in which there might be too many of these going on at one time?

CLARK: I think it's certainly going to be a challenge to manage and control and get the objectives for them.

But, Leon, there's another issue here. And we were told in the beginning after September 11 that this wouldn't be just a military operation, that there'd be lots of other things going on, that we wouldn't hear about all of them, and yet we continue to hear mostly about the military side of this. And I think it's very --it's very clear in Afghanistan, for example, were there is fighting today and where we do have to be concerned about out military, that it's not just a matter of killing al Qaeda there, we've got to really work and put stability in that country and that's going to require not only our coalition partners, but American participation and leadership over the long term. To me, it's the requirement to clean up after the military strikes and to get it right, to win the hearts and minds, as Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said the other day, that really is the larger burden we face.

HARRIS: General Wesley Clark, thank you very much for the insight. And as usual, have a good one. We'll see you later on down the road.

CLARK: Thank you.

HARRIS: All right.

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