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Length: 3:35
JOHN ROBERTS: All of this
is happening in a vastly different political climate
than a few years ago here in the United States. There
is also a climate shift under way in the region, with
Iran's President Ahmadinejad reportedly inviting
Iraq's president for a sit-down in Tehran to talk
about the violence and how to end it.
Meantime, Iraq shows little sign of improvement --
five dozen bullet-riddled bodies, one IED, and a
mortar attack today. And that's in Baghdad alone.
As always, CNN's Michael Ware is on the ground there,
and joins us now.
Michael, Henry Kissinger says that military victory
in Iraq is not possible. He also adds that, if the
U.S. were to pull out now, it would be disastrous.
How does that square with what you're seeing and
hearing on the ground?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, given the
circumstances that former Secretary of State
Kissinger spelled out -- the creation of a state here
that can control its country, can get a curb on the
sectarian violence within a reasonable time frame
that the democracies can accept -- to be honest, has
to be said to be true.
Militarily, the U.S. is not achieving victory right
now. It is not defeating its enemy, or enemies, that
it actually faces here, be it al Qaeda extremists, be
it the main body of the Sunni extremists, or be it
the Shia militias.
Militarily, the U.S. forces are simply treading water
to keep their heads above the level -- John.
ROBERTS: Michael, a few weeks ago, toward the end of
Ramadan, Major General William Caldwell pointed to a
downturn in the violence there, suggesting that
things were getting better. What's the situation on
the ground there now, as we're well into November? Is
it any better than last month?
WARE: Well, we're still seeing the downturn that
General Caldwell and the U.S. military, I think
rightly, attributes to the aftermath of the holy
month of Ramadan.
What we saw, of course, during Ramadan was this war's
fourth Ramadan offensive. It's always been a time
when the insurgents step up their attacks,
particularly against Americans. We saw that back in
October, with 105 U.S. forces killed. This month,
however, so far, there's been over 40 killed, 44 U.S.
personnel.
So, on that front, it's certainly a better picture.
But even the military puts that in a broader context.
The insurgents have surged hard. Now they're
regrouping and taking their breath. No one's reading
this as any kind of a measure that the insurgency has
been curbed in any way -- John.
ROBERTS: And, Michael, what about that report we just
heard that the Pentagon is considering a plan that,
in the short term, would boost the number of U.S.
troops by about 20,000 to help in training up the
Iraqi forces, then cut the combat presence, in favor
of expanding those training efforts? Is that a viable
plan there?
WARE: Well, John, I mean, it's certainly one idea.
And, I mean, it depends upon whom you talk to here on
the ground among U.S. commanders as to just what kind
of a force strength it would take to really do this
job properly. But, by and large, the assessment is,
an additional 20,000 troops is really barely enough.
It'll only make a dent in certain areas.
I mean, look at Ramadi alone, where there's 5,000
U.S. troops in that city. Privately, U.S. commanders
say they need as up -- as many as 15,000 troops, just
for that city alone -- John.
ROBERTS: All right.