Retired General Tommy Franks stops in Tulsa

Friday, August 20th 2004, 10:40 am

By: News On 6

Retired General and native Oklahoman Tommy Franks made a stop in Tulsa Friday. General Franks was the Commander in Chief of the US Central Command and led American and coalition troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

He spoke Friday to the downtown Tulsa Rotary Club. News on 6 anchor Terry Hood was there and says General Franks retired last summer, but he hasn't gone quietly.

He has a new book out this summer called American Soldier. And he has plenty to say about America's war on terror. "The president of the United States never asked me if I thought we should have removed Saddam Hussein from power. But if he had, guess what I would have said, uh huh."

General Franks says he believes we were right to attack Iraq because if America doesn't fight the war on terror abroad, we'll have to fight it at home.

Franks says he believes George Bush is a strong leader, but as far as politics goes, he is fiercely independent. And he hopes that in the next few months, voters can look beyond the election year hype. "I believe we can get beyond throw the medals over the wall or what about pay records for the National Guard and get ourselves into something where we think about the next 200 years of American history and our children and our grandchildren."