FOX "Studio B" - Interview

Interview

INTERVIEWER: SHEPARD SMITH

SUBJECT: GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS

MR. SMITH: More now on the confirmation hearing for General David Petraeus. The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved his nomination to lead the war in Afghanistan, and the full Senate is expected to do exactly the same.

I spoke a moment ago with the Democratic Senator Jim Webb about the general and the war. Now to another member of the Armed Services Committee, this one from the Republican side, Senator Saxby Chambliss from the great state of Georgia.

Sir, good to see you. Thank you.

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Thanks, Shepard. Good to be with you.

MR. SMITH: Great to be. I want to ask you exactly what I asked Senator Webb, and that is, what is the end game here? Why are we still there, and what do we think we can accomplish?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Well, there are very specific purposes why we are there. Number one, we need to make sure that the al Qaeda does not have a training ground and a ground which they can prepare terrorists to attack America the way they did on September the 11th. We know that that's where the training of the September 11th hijackers took place. That's where all of the plans were laid before they dispersed out to other parts of the world before they came to the United States.

Secondly, Shepard, you can't decouple Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan possesses a nuclear weapon. The government of Pakistan is not a very stable government, so it's critically important that we maintain a presence in that country that provides safety and security so that we can make sure that al Qaeda or any other terrorists group gets their hands on a nuclear weapon.

MR. SMITH: Senator, on the matter of al Qaeda, we now know from government reports, there are but 50 to 100 members of al Qaeda in the entire nation of Afghanistan. Further, we know that it's an organization that's spread all over the world. Do we have some sort of feeling that when we do leave Afghanistan, that a corrupt government, which is rife with drug corruption and well beyond, will in any way be able to control itself, and any sort of promise that they won't slip right into civil war?

What I'm saying is, are we fighting the last war in the last place, and this thing is getting away with us, and our people are dying out there?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Well, there's no question what the corrupt government in Afghanistan is one of the major if not the major issues that we face over there. Militarily, we can prevail. But, we've also got to make sure that when we do leave that we leave the government of Afghanistan in a position where it can sustain itself, and it has an army as well as a police force that can protect itself from external as well as internal forces, including al Qaeda.

Sure, there are not many al Qaeda operatives inside Afghanistan today, but the fact is, on any one day there are dozens and dozens and dozens of al Qaeda operatives who are going back and forth between the safe territories in Pakistan that border Afghanistan and Afghanistan itself. We know that they're aiding the Taliban and training and providing weapons and probably providing a significant amount of their financing.

So, al Qaeda has a presence, but it's not a large number presence in Afghanistan, but when we leave there, we need to make sure that they don't have the ability to regroup, rebuild, provide training grounds for operations to take place in other parts of the world to kill and harm Americans.

MR. SMITH: And you think we can do that?

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Why sure I think we can. I think we were almost in a position to say that was the case back in 2002, but unfortunately, we didn't finish the job back then. We got refocused on another part of the world. We do have the ability to do it, and now we have a good partnership with any number of our NATO allies that are carrying the fight to the enemy. And I think at the end of the day, we are going to prevail there. The difficult part though is what you mentioned, and that is, the corruption of the government, it does not have an economy that can be rebuilt like we saw in Iraq where we have an oil-based economy.

But, there are some positive signs in Afghanistan from an economic standpoint that can be built upon, that can give the people of Afghanistan the confidence that they don't need to grow poppies to earn an income, that they don't need bad people in there running that country. That they can have legitimate businesses that will sustain a quality of life that they would like to have. We're headed in that direction, but I will have to tell you, it's going to be a long, hard slug, and that's why this date of July 1 next year for withdrawal or beginning withdrawal is so negative and has such a negative impact on the people of Afghanistan as well as a positive impact on our enemy.

So, I really thought that Petraeus' testimony today was critically important from that standpoint. You've got the vice president, you've got Speaker Pelosi going around the country at Democratic fundraisers saying, we will begin coming out of there on July 1, 2011, and I think today General Petraeus said, if that is the case, then that will undermine our mission in Afghanistan. So, we're headed in the right direction, but it's going to be a long, hard slug, Shepard.

MR. SMITH: All right, Senator, thanks very much. Senator Saxby Chambliss from the state of Georgia, live on the Senate rotunda. Good to see you. Thank you.

SEN. CHAMBLISS: Always a pleasure.

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