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American Morning

Discussion With Bill Bennett, Author of 'Why We Fight'

Aired April 11, 2002 - 08:48   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: September 11th was life-changing experience for every American, and according to author William Bennett, it was also a teachable moment for a country that has been focused on fighting terrorism ever since. And in his new book "Why We Fight," Bennett says Israel's current war on terror in the Middle East is America's fight as well.

And William Bennett, author and CNN contributor joins us now from Washington.

Welcome. Good to see you.

WILLIAM BENNETT, AUTHOR, "WHY WE FIGHT": Thanks, Paula. Good to see you.

ZAHN: First off, let's talk a little about something that's becoming more prevalent in newspaper pieces and television reports across the country, that there seems to be a feeling there are members in the Bush White House that might be losing patience with Ariel Sharon and they don't think he's the guy that's going to take the country to peace?

BENNETT: Yes, that's the report this morning in "The Washington Post," and some of the other newspapers. Losing patience with Israel seems to be the theme. But the question many of us have is, why is the president losing patience with Israel when Israel is doing in its borders exactly what we are doing in our defense?

The difficulty here for the president seems to me is he laid out this in his State of Union Address. He said you're either with us or with the terrorists. He said anybody who harbors or supports terrorism will be regarded as a hostile regime. Does Arafat, does the Palestinian Authority, harbor terrorism, support terrorism? The answer is, it does. This is, I think, a problem for the president in terms of articulating his vision of the war on terrorism. It's also beginning to become a very serious political problem.

ZAHN: All right, so, Bill, are you essentially saying in the president demanding that Israel withdraw from these incursion areas, that the president is violating his own doctrine?

BENNETT: Well, you know, it's hard to say, because there's so much winking and nodding, but yes, I would say this. I would say that insisting, if it's truly an insistence, and if this is being communicated directly apart from the airwaves to Sharon that he needs to stop. He is telling Sharon to stop doing exactly what we are doing, which is fighting terrorists, it's a contradiction, it's not helpful.

I was on Capitol Hill yesterday, and I overheard someone say something interesting. There's only one group that the president is really irritated and making very angry with all of this. That's his entire political base. A firestorm is starting to build, a firestorm of criticism. Monday, I've been told, there will be a major demonstration in Washington of major Jewish groups in the United States. They're expecting a lot of people to turn out.

ZAHN: How sensitive...

BENNETT: Many people believe -- sorry.

ZAHN: How sensitive to this kind of criticism do you think the Bush administration is at a time when the president is enjoying these stratospherically high approval numbers?

BENNETT: You're right, Paula, but you notice, those ratings have dropped about eight points in the last couple of weeks. And I think the president had very high ratings because of his leadership, his strength and his moral clarity. That's a word I use in the subtitle of my book, it's a term that Benjamin Netanyahu was using all day yesterday, and it's a term that the White House has used.

But you use the phrase "Bush administration." This is a question many of us have. A lot of us think that George W. Bush is still clear in his own mind and heart he will defend the cause of freedom in Israel, but the White House may be a divided house, a house divided against itself.

The State department, with Colin Powell going to meet with Arafat, is sending a very different message.

ZAHN: And that message is that in some folks' minds that it's OK to negotiate with a terrorist? I mean, the president hasn't gone that far. The president hasn't called him a terrorist, but he's called the acts of some of his people terrorist acts.

BENNETT: Yes, but this is really sort of straining the soup a little thin, don't you think? I mean, you know, if Arafat is not a terrorist, what does it mean to be a terrorist? He's got a pretty long record. The difficulty here, of course, is that you've got a history. Arafat was elevated during the Clinton administration. Bill Clinton met with him more than any other foreign leader. And so this has elevated his status. Look, if this is really the last meeting with Arafat, laying down e law and saying, you have got to call it quits, and you have got to make it plain you do not seek the extinction of the state of Israel, then maybe this meeting will be worthwhile.

But it does strain the principle when the president so clearly articulated: No negotiation with terrorists, and you're either with us or with the terrorists. ZAHN: Let me ask you this, given what you've just said, we all have to recognize how complicated the situation, too, is, as the administration tries to build any kind of support for potential action against the Iraqis.

Can the president in this environment afford to be patient with Ariel Sharon?

BENNETT: Well, I think he can, because at the end of the day, it will be the Israelis who will be with us, and perhaps no one else. You know, just remember two things here. The Israelis are -- have long been allies of us. They are not asking us to fight their fight for them. They're just asking to be let alone to fight their own fight. Second, and this in the context of 9/11, which I wrote this book about. On 9/12, the Palestinian streets were filled with people honking their horns and celebrating. The Israelis were flying their flags at half mast, and that should tell us something.

ZAHN: All right, Bill Bennett, thanks for your time. The name of your book is -- we'll put the full title out this time -- "Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism," now on book shelves. I hear it's selling pretty hot on some of the online sites.

BENNETT: We're doing OK. I don't want to jinx it. But thanks for noticing.

ZAHN: OK, so I won't wish you too much luck.

BENNETT: Thanks a lot. Take care.

ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.

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