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1:36
ANDERSON COOPER: Those
are insurgents in Ramadi, practically owning the
streets. And all over the country, violence is
spiking. People in Baghdad now averaging about two
and a half hours of electricity a day. In other
words, they spend most of their time without power
and often living in terror.
The question tonight: What to do now that the plan
for first securing Baghdad and then the rest of the
country doesn't seem to be working?
We talked about that earlier with CNN's Michael Ware
and CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So Michael, General Caldwell says that the
increased violence is disheartening, and essentially
saying that this U.S. strategy of focusing on some
neighborhoods in Baghdad has been a failure, or
hasn't worked as they'd like. Was the policy itself
-- did the strategy just not work, or are things just
so out of control that no strategy would be working
right now?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, it's
a little bit of both, I would guess. I mean, let's
look at the so-called Battle of Baghdad plan: To move
through the city chunk by chunk, targeting areas of
volatility, surging, as the military calls it,
flooding these areas with American forces and Iraqi
forces.
The fundamental flaw in the plan is that after the
Americans would leave, they would hand over
responsibility to the Iraqi security forces. This
means the police, the national police, and the army:
the very people who are linked to much of the
violence, be it the death squad violence or the
insurgents.
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ANDERSON COOPER: Michael,
how dangerous is it in Baghdad right now? I mean,
General Caldwell said there are at least 23 militias
operating in and around Baghdad. You have these death
squads, often in police uniforms. I mean, when you
get stopped at a roadblock by Iraqi police, how
scared are you?
WARE: Well, this is the thing. You drive around a
street corner here in the capital, and lo and behold
suddenly there's a checkpoint in front of you.
Sometimes these guys aren't even in uniform, and when
they are there's absolutely no assurance whatsoever
that it's legitimate. I mean, every time you
encounter a checkpoint, in one way or other, whether
your life is in your hands or not, certainly your
security and your liberty is. You honestly don't know
who these guys are.
COOPER: Frightening days. Michael Ware, appreciate
it. Peter Bergen, thanks.
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ANDERSON COOPER: We made
a tough call last night when we chose to air a report
from Michael Ware showing sniper teams shooting at
American troops. We did it knowing that it might
disturb you. We know, because it certainly disturbed
us as well.
How can anyone look at the images of Americans
literally being hunted on the street in Iraq and not
feel terror and sorrow and outrage? Not to show it,
however, we think does a disservice -- not just to
the truth, but to the sacrifice of nearly 3,000 men
and women.
This is how the story came to us. We sent a list of
questions to a group of insurgents. They sent back
answers and this tape -- to establish, I suppose,
their credentials.
We did not sit down or spend any time whatsoever with
these killers, and the fact that the insurgency sent
us the tape does not change the picture it shows.
Besides, even if there weren't a single camera around
to record it, insurgents would go on shooting
Americans. They are the enemy, and that's what they
do.
Certainly not everyone sees it that way, however. A
debate is forming and a healthy one, we think.
Our viewers and emailers to the blog are weighing in
as well.
Debbie in Denham Springs, Louisiana writes to us:
"Honestly, I found it absolutely disturbing and
terrifying, but I needed to see it. CNN handled this
story in the best way possible and without watering
down the brutality of this war."
Joseph in Norwood, Massachusetts begs to differ:
"Sensational, shocking, in your face news. That's
what it's all about with CNN. It doesn't matter that
this video tears out the heart of a soldier's mother,
father, family and loved ones. I'm shocked, but more
sad that CNN would go this far."
There is also this from Rodney in Plano, Texas: "I
served in Iraq last year. I often said that, quote,
"to CNN, if it's not blowing up, it's not news." Now
I'm disgusted by CNN's decision to air this video. No
amount of spin can justify the damage you've done."
Tom in Chicago, also served in Iraq. He writes: "As a
soldier in the Army, I can appreciate the
professionalism that you have presented the real
story of so many Americans overseas. I believe that
many here in the States fail to realize the full
impact of the war on our service members fighting
that fight. Thank you for bringing to light, at least
in a small way, their sacrifices."
A very healthy debate, and we thank you all for
taking part of it, and no doubt it will
continue.