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CNN Saturday Morning News

Should U.S. Attack Iraq?

Aired August 03, 2002 - 07:24   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And joining us now from Little Rock to discuss Iraq of this is retired general Wesley Clarke. He is the former supreme commander of NATO. This is a man who knows all about these kind of discussions that are going on.

General, thank you for getting up so early with us this morning.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: Nice to see you, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Good to see you as well.

This has to be the worst-kept secret of possible -- possible attacks from the U.S. on Iraq, that there's so many discussions going on about this. We've already heard Russia weigh in, we've heard Kofi Annan weigh in on this subject. You know, how many people are actually involved in this type of discussion? And is the U.S. really listening?

CLARK: Well, I think many of the states that are important around the world to the United States are involved in this discussion, and I think the consensus opinion of these states is, it wouldn't be wise for the United States to attack Iraq.

They don't see the specific nature of the threat. The United States, of course, is listening. The United States would like to have a coalition. But, as President Bush has said, I think it's been made very clear the United States is prepared to go it alone if necessary.

CALLAWAY: Well, now, it's my -- if I recall, Jordan did not back the coalition in the Gulf War, and I know King Abdullah was visiting with the president this week, and we've heard -- we certainly know his view on the situation, that there has to be other options before this happens.

But, you know, would we likely see another coalition like we saw before in the Gulf War?

CLARK: You probably will not see a coalition like the Gulf War, probably not that broad, unless Saddam Hussein does something that we could consider a cause of war, like reinvading Kuwait or using weapons of mass destruction against his neighbors, or maybe against some elements in his own country. But I think the pressure from the United States is having an impact. It is demoralizing the army of Iraq. I think it is putting Saddam in a box. And paradoxically, it's making him do everything he can to be a better neighbor to those around him.

CALLAWAY: That's a good point.

You know, how should the U.S. react to the offer so far from the -- from Iraq on allowing the chief weapons inspectors back into Iraq? I mean, is this another -- just another offer that we're not going to see come to fruition? Or, as we heard Butler say, they hear the drums of war beating, and they're just answering to try to avoid attack.

CLARK: It's a sign of Iraqi weakness. But on the other hand, it also represents one more chink in their defenses. And so we should not be enthusiastic about this offer. This offer doesn't put the inspectors back on the ground, it's just an offer for more dialogue about what the inspectors would look for.

And the U.N. and the United States have already rejected this. But I think we do need to have a very strong diplomatic push through the United Nations to put pressure on Iraq, to put pressure on Iraq's supporters. Nations like Russia, who have hailed this offer as something of a breakthrough, should be told very clearly that it isn't, that more pressure needs to be applied.

And I think in order for the United States to build a coalition, there has to be a much stronger press from the United Nations for some kind of presence on the ground there. Then the United States faces the dilemma of, if it accepts these inspections, how robust will the regime be? Will they have the authorities, the numbers, the equipment, the technology, the communications required to really go in and dig out weapons of mass destruction?

CALLAWAY: Right.

CLARK: Or is it going to be a farce?

CALLAWAY: All right, general. General Wesley Clark, I know you'll be back with us in just a little while. Thanks for getting up so early this morning.

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