Wesley Clark Stands His Ground - Defends Cindy Sheehan
Reported by Marie Therese - September 24, 2005
On last night's Factor, Bill O'Reilly, the the ever-contentious host, chided FOX News Military Analyst Gen. Wesley Clark because the General met with anti-war Gold Star Mom Cindy Sheehan, whom O'Reilly called an "outright radical." Kudos to Clark who stood his ground and didn't buy into the FOX News party line. He also said he believes there is a "small window before it's too late" in Iraq, but O'Reilly didn't want to talk about that, being fixated on the Sheehan story. However, Mr. Bill promised to schedule the General next week for a serious discussion of Iraq. Clark had the guts to go against the orders from Fox corporate to "Get Cindy Sheehan." My prediction? We won't be seeing the General on FOX News anytime soon. (Transcript follows.)
O'REILLY: Now, you mentioned Iraq and it's interesting. I'm gonna go away from the hurricane just for a second with the General because I was very surprised, General, very surprised when I heard today you met with Cindy Sheehan and ...
CLARK: Well, I don't know why you'd be surprised, Bill, because ...
O'REILLY (interrupts): Because she - she is ...
CLARK: ... she's a ...
O'REILLY: ... an outright radical. She's a radical woman.
CLARK: She's a mother who lost a son.
O'REILLY: Yeah.
CLARK: And I would meet with any mother who - or father - or brother - or sister - who lost a relative in the military whether they were in Iraq or anywhere else.
O'REILLY: Do you know how radical she is, General?
CLARK: Well, you know what I saw is a woman in a lot of pain. Now, my purpose in being there is to talk about my own prescription for Iraq. I haven't had a chance to talk about it on your show, Bill, but I think there's a small window before it's too late in Iraq.
O'REILLY: Well, let's get there. We'll - look ...
CLARK: If we do the diplomacy right, we can take the pressure off our troops.
O'REILLY: Let's get to that next week. We'll book you next week ...
CLARK: Alright.
O'REILLY: ... when we don't have a hurricane to deal with. But I, I was a little surprised that a man of your stature would go to meet with somebody who said the following: America's a bad country. We've been murdering people since we first stepped foot on the continent. That the insurgents who are killing our soldiers right now are quote-unquote freedom fighters in Iraq. I mean this is talkin' about Sunni fanatics and Al Qaeda.
CLARK: Well ...
O'REILLY: I mean. You lent - you gave ...
CLARK: By meeting with a mother, Bill ...
O'REILLY: By meeting her, with all due respect ...
CLARK: I'm not endorsing anything she says except for her grief.
O'REILLY: But you gave her credibility!
CLARK: I didn't give her any credibility at all. I was there ...
O'REILLY: Sure you do! You're a prestigious guy!
CLARK: Now listen to me. I was there with Charlie Rangel and a couple of other congressmen and we're trying to work on the right exit strategy, success strategy, for Iraq. It was a very serious meeting. I was in there Tuesday night with a bunch of them in the Iraq caucus with Congresswoman Maxine Waters. I've got traction. I think it's moving in the right direction for the country. Look. You cannot win this with military force alone. Everybody knows it. Ask any of the soldiers and they will tell you. The diplomats have to get to work. The President has to get to work.
O'REILLY: OK. And ... and...
CLARK: And as much as we dislike Syria and Iran, we've got to talk to them!
O'REILLY: Alright. And we will have you on next week to get into a very serious discussion about this.
CLARK: Good.
O'REILLY: But I will tell you we disagree about this, gentleman to gentleman. You gave her credibility. She does not like this country.
I feel bad for her loss. But her statements over the last month have ...
CLARK (shaking his head in disbelief): Well, I - Bill ...
O'REILLY: ... absolutely irresponsible and outrageous ...
CLARK (still shaking head): Bill ...
O'REILLY: ... and I - I am just flabbergasted. Go ahead. I'll give you the last word
CLARK: I can't imagine that she doesn't like the country.
O'REILLY: Well, she said we committed murder.
CLARK: She supported her son serving in the armed forces and I can tell ya' there's a lot of people who wear that American flag pin who wouldn;t let their children serve in the armed forces so I honor any parent whose son serves in the armed forces - or daughter.
O'REILLY: Alright, Gentlemen's disagreement but just go back and look at the things that she said, General. I don't know if this is the company you want to keep.
CLARK: Lets talk next week. I'll talk about the policy, not the company.
O'REILLY: We'll get - we'll get deeply into that.
CLARK: Alright.
