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CNN Live Saturday

Is Peace Out of the Picture for Mideast?

Aired March 30, 2002 - 12:39   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get some military perspective now on the escalating conflict in the Middle East. CNN military analyst and former NATO Supreme Commander General Wesley Clark joins us from Little Rock, Arkansas to share his insight -- thanks for joining us this afternoon.

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

WHITFIELD: Well you may have heard from former Ambassador Pelletreau earlier who said he still has hopes for peace. But when Israel shows its military might, as it has in the past 24 hours, how in the world might there be diplomatic peace relations in your view?

CLARK: Well I think this is all part of an integrated fabric of conflict. In other words, the Palestinians are using -- and they decided to use after the negotiations that culminated in August of 2000 -- they decided to use arms struggle as a way of advancing their cause. Israel has responded and this struggle has seesawed back and forth.

We thought that after the events of 9-11, Yasser Arafat realized that terror was a big mistake. It looked like he was backing away from that. But he has resumed using terror against the Israelis. The Israelis can't use terror the same way, so they're using conventional means. It's symptomatic of a conflict like this that you will have an armed struggle that goes on, and the results of that struggle are likely to determine the terms of the peace that comes afterwards.

WHITFIELD: So when Israel says it is using its military might to isolate Arafat and not to harm him, do you see this as a prudent move?

CLARK: Well I think the Israelis are looking for a strategic objective to go after. And they've stopped short -- despite declaring Arafat an enemy, they've stopped short in their rhetoric, at least, of attacking Arafat with an intent to kill him. And so what they're trying to do is dismember the headquarters apparatus, which they feel has some control over the progress of the terror campaign against Israel. It is a legitimate military objective from their perspective.

WHITFIELD: Do you see this strategy as potentially dangerous in a hotbed region where other Arab states may say, "We don't like Arafat being pushed around like this militarily. We're ready to join in." How do you see the region responding to this act? CLARK: I think there is no doubt that the other Arab states will try to respond diplomatically and with military means at some point if it goes so far. What I'm hearing this morning is there's some activity on the border with Lebanon from the Iranian Hezbollah supported faction up there. The Israelis have struck back against this.

This is an indicator, yes, there's no doubt the escalation poses risks for both sides. But for the Israelis, this is a struggle really for the existence of Israel. And the greatest risk that Israel faces, speaking from that perspective now, would be if they were to terminate this operation prematurely without being able to cite any gains from it, and then it would appear as though it was a mistake and they didn't have a strategy.

So they're going to have to persist in this until they can show some gains as well. And, obviously, the Palestinians are going to strike back.

WHITFIELD: So you see part of this strategy as Israel ignoring the U.N. resolution, which says pull back. If they do that, then they send a message that they're being weakened?

CLARK: That's right. Israel will push as hard as it can against the U.N. resolution. It will ignore it for a certain period of time to try to show that it has military means to make a difference militarily. Because the military struggle here of the Israeli armed forces against the Palestinian terror and police and security apparatus is going to be a very important factor in the ultimate design and balance of the peace agreement that comes out of this.

WHITFIELD: General Wesley Clark, always good to hear your perspective. It will be interesting to see now whether the U.N. will have yet another response if that indeed is the case that Israel feels that this would be weakening their strategy. Thanks again for joining us this afternoon.

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