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CNN Live Today

The Big Picture

Aired April 02, 2003 - 09:57   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.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: What will it take to win in Iraq? With elements of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division within 25 miles of Baghdad, CNN military analyst General Wesley Clark joins us with a big picture of what a coalition victory in Iraq might look like.
Good to see you in person for a change.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY: Thanks. Good to be here.

ZAHN: Welcome.

Now you heard our reports from Walt Rodgers, suggesting and he's allowed to report this, that some U.S. troops are within 25 miles of Baghdad. What's next?

CLARK: Well, it's looking very positive.

ZAHN: And when?

CLARK: We have to get all the way into Baghdad. So it looks like the airpower's done a good job so far. The resistance on the ground seem to be less than what anyone has anticipated. So it's time to move ahead, keep formations in good order, find the centers of resistance, get to Saddam's headquarters, take them out, locate the bunkers.

But here's the thing, Paula, we have to understand, too, about this. This is a bigger problem than simply winning a military victory. It's not the defeat of Saddam's forces that are ultimately going to give us the win in Iraq; it's really three sets of things. First, restoring the integrity of the international institutions we went into Iraq to help protect, like the United Nations. Remember, Saddam violated the U.N. Security Council Resolution, and secondly, it's the idea of doing a decisive victory, getting rid of the weapons of mass destruction, not letting them fall into other people's hands. And finally, we're going to have to handle post-war Iraq in a way that doesn't let it become a recruiting ground for Al Qaeda or seething guerrilla war. So we've got big work ahead.

ZAHN: Let's go through each one by one, restoring integrity of the institutions. How long of a process are you talking about here? And how do you do that?

CLARK: We don't know. I think first it starts with the personal chemistry between the leaders. Lots of broken China so far in the diplomacy. Colin Powell's already over to Turkey. He's coming back to Brussels. He clearly sees the problem. He's working it. It's going to take the full effort of the United States government to do this.

And I think our allies, even countries like France, want to help repair this breach. But it takes work on both sides of the Atlantic.

ZAHN: Then you talked about the challenge of getting in there and destroying weapons of mass destruction.

CLARK: We haven't found any yet.

ZAHN: Do you think coalition forces will, or do you think Saddam Hussein will destroy some of these materials before the troops get there, or do you think they have potentially been destroyed over the past couple of weeks?

CLARK: Or hidden somewhere.

ZAHN: Yes.

CLARK: There's some been some reporting that they were in Syria, hidden in Syria. But the honest truth is, when we get inside, we've got to go through these palaces, we've got to find the files, we've got to look at this special security organization that Saddam had, and we've got track down the individuals who actually have the knowledge of where this stuff is. This is a bureaucratic state. There are records. We will find it.

ZAHN: You have no doubts then that weapons of mass destruction will ultimately be found, whether you find them hidden in Iraq, or find them in Syria?

CLARK: I think they will be found. There's so much intelligence on this.

ZAHN: General Wesley Clark, always appreciate your perspective. Thanks for dropping by in person for a change.

CLARK: Thank you, Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 2, 2003 - 09:57   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: What will it take to win in Iraq? With elements of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division within 25 miles of Baghdad, CNN military analyst General Wesley Clark joins us with a big picture of what a coalition victory in Iraq might look like.
Good to see you in person for a change.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY: Thanks. Good to be here.

ZAHN: Welcome.

Now you heard our reports from Walt Rodgers, suggesting and he's allowed to report this, that some U.S. troops are within 25 miles of Baghdad. What's next?

CLARK: Well, it's looking very positive.

ZAHN: And when?

CLARK: We have to get all the way into Baghdad. So it looks like the airpower's done a good job so far. The resistance on the ground seem to be less than what anyone has anticipated. So it's time to move ahead, keep formations in good order, find the centers of resistance, get to Saddam's headquarters, take them out, locate the bunkers.

But here's the thing, Paula, we have to understand, too, about this. This is a bigger problem than simply winning a military victory. It's not the defeat of Saddam's forces that are ultimately going to give us the win in Iraq; it's really three sets of things. First, restoring the integrity of the international institutions we went into Iraq to help protect, like the United Nations. Remember, Saddam violated the U.N. Security Council Resolution, and secondly, it's the idea of doing a decisive victory, getting rid of the weapons of mass destruction, not letting them fall into other people's hands. And finally, we're going to have to handle post-war Iraq in a way that doesn't let it become a recruiting ground for Al Qaeda or seething guerrilla war. So we've got big work ahead.

ZAHN: Let's go through each one by one, restoring integrity of the institutions. How long of a process are you talking about here? And how do you do that?

CLARK: We don't know. I think first it starts with the personal chemistry between the leaders. Lots of broken China so far in the diplomacy. Colin Powell's already over to Turkey. He's coming back to Brussels. He clearly sees the problem. He's working it. It's going to take the full effort of the United States government to do this.

And I think our allies, even countries like France, want to help repair this breach. But it takes work on both sides of the Atlantic.

ZAHN: Then you talked about the challenge of getting in there and destroying weapons of mass destruction.

CLARK: We haven't found any yet.

ZAHN: Do you think coalition forces will, or do you think Saddam Hussein will destroy some of these materials before the troops get there, or do you think they have potentially been destroyed over the past couple of weeks?

CLARK: Or hidden somewhere.

ZAHN: Yes.

CLARK: There's some been some reporting that they were in Syria, hidden in Syria. But the honest truth is, when we get inside, we've got to go through these palaces, we've got to find the files, we've got to look at this special security organization that Saddam had, and we've got track down the individuals who actually have the knowledge of where this stuff is. This is a bureaucratic state. There are records. We will find it.

ZAHN: You have no doubts then that weapons of mass destruction will ultimately be found, whether you find them hidden in Iraq, or find them in Syria?

CLARK: I think they will be found. There's so much intelligence on this.

ZAHN: General Wesley Clark, always appreciate your perspective. Thanks for dropping by in person for a change.

CLARK: Thank you, Paula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com