Michael Ware

Journalist

AAM: "There's a price tag to bringing the boys home. Let's hear them talk about how we're going to pay that."


Length: 5:15

LARGE (60.8 MB) ----- SMALL (6.3 MB)

Michael discusses Joe Biden's speech from last night, and what Biden offers in the line of foreign policy experience. He's still looking for specifics, although it's not likely that the American people really want to hear the unpleasant side of bringing the troops home -- and what politician in their right mind (an oxymoron if ever there was one) would be so blunt during a campaign. Well, at least we know Michael will never run for office -- he's too insistent on telling the truth!

(Oh, and I agree with Mr. Night Owl -- they are doing these interviews WAY too early in the morning!)



KIRAN CHETRY: Well, last night it was his number two, Senator Joe Biden, accepting the vice presidential nomination in front of a cheering convention. Biden used his speech to talk up the party platform and to tear down rival John McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Barack Obama knows that any country that out-teaches us today will out-compete us tomorrow. That's why he'll invest in the next generation of teachers, and why he'll make college more affordable. That's the change we need.

Barack Obama will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the average family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for every American.

Now, after six long years, the administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home. John McCain was wrong. And Barack Obama was right.

Again -- again, and again, on the most important national security issues of our time, John McCain was wrong, and Barack Obama has been proven right.

These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I am ready. Barack is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time.

God bless America and may God protect our troops. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And after his speech Barack Obama came out on stage to greet the delegates. And this was his first appearance at the convention. People were very excited about that.

You know, we just saw Joe Biden hitting his rival hard on national security issues. But what did Biden offer last night in terms of foreign policy? Here to help us take a critical look is CNN's Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware. He just got back as well from the Republic of Georgia and gives us his perspective.

Thanks for being with us. You know, it's interesting because there are things that just sort of become a roll off the tongue as you're covering the conventions and the debates and really the race in itself. And a lot of people have said these foreign policy credentials of Joe Biden. How is that playing though with some of the foreign leaders that you've talk to in terms of whether or not he has the right ideas for big things like Iran and Iraq?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, ideas or not, the relative value of his policies or not, there is at least one thing that I know that assuages foreign leaders and foreign governments. They know Joe Biden. He's a known quantity to them. So agree, disagree whether American policy is assisting, say, a particular nation: it doesn't matter. At least they know what they're getting. They know that they can engage in discourse.

CHETRY: They don't want any surprises.

WARE: Well, I'm sure Senator Biden -- or Vice President Biden, should that happen -- will always have a surprise or two up his sleeve. But nonetheless, he's a known player, he's been around the block, and he's someone that people can confidently feel they can engage with. And, like, I bumped into him in Pakistan, in Baghdad --

CHETRY: He's been around.

WARE: -- and in Georgia, so he's been around almost as much as we have.

CHETRY: Two interesting things, though. He loudly criticized Bush's foreign policy in Iraq. He was against the surge.

WARE: Yup.

CHETRY: And he also was for -- he put forth this plan of partitioning Iraq. Those are two things that haven't really turned out to be something that Iraq was into, either partitioning or drawing down troops at a time when they felt they needed more.

WARE: Right, that's right. So he's always had his view of what should happen in Iraq. Now, some of his policies, you could eagerly debate. And like last night in his speech, I guess a political convention is not the place where you expect to hear detail, but I was struck by the fact that there was nothing with regard to the foreign policy issues that was new or gave us any more sense of where this ticket will be going. I mean, to say that, yes, Senator Obama was right and McCain was wrong, Obama was right and McCain was wrong. But then not to say, well, here is something new.

For example, saying, I would love to hear, right, we're going to draw down our troops but we know that that has made Iran stronger, that we know that we have terrified our Arab allies and we know that we left the Sunnis vulnerable in Iraq, who we've built into a militia and now, once we leave, we'll make them more vulnerable again to al Qaeda. But this is how we'll manage that. That's what we didn't hear.

CHETRY: You want to hear more answers, more details about what happens after the withdrawal takes place.

WARE: Absolutely. Right. The focus is on getting the boys home. And look, who can blame anyone. But no one is talking about the consequences and no one is talking about how we'll fix that. So there's a price tag to bringing the boys home. Let's hear them talk about how we're going to pay that.

CHETRY: All right. Michael Ware, great to see you, as always. Thanks.

WARE: So early. Thank you, Kiran.

CHETRY: It's not early. It's 8:30 East Coast.

WARE: It doesn't feel like it

CHETRY: We're more than two and a half hours. Michael, thanks.

WARE: Thanks, Kiran.

CHETRY: He's a night owl. What can you do?