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ANNOUNCER: Reporting tonight from the CNN studios in
New York, here's Anderson Cooper.
ANDERSON COOPER: Thanks for joining us. And welcome
as well to our viewers watching on CNN International.
Two thousand, seven hundred eighty-three American
troops have been killed so far in Iraq. You can see
the faces behind me. Eleven deaths, we learned about
today alone.
They're numbers and names only to people whose
business it is to deal in such terms. They're not
number or names to their buddies or their COs, not to
their friends, their families, their loved ones.
We owe them a lot, including a clear and honest
accounting of what they are up against, today,
tomorrow, for the foreseeable future. To do any less,
to sugarcoat the reality, we think, dishonors their
sacrifice.
So, tonight, you will see how some Americans in Iraq
are getting killed. The killings were videotaped by
the insurgents, and made available to CNN. There is
no doubt the footage is disturbing to watch. Our
decision to run it has not been taken lightly.
This story, shocking as you may find it, is one that
we believe needs to be told.
It is reported tonight by CNN's Michael Ware.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A
sniper is watching these American soldiers. You're
looking at the unobstructed view from the sniper
team's vehicle.
And they are waiting for their moment, as the
soldiers mingle with Iraqi civilians.
"People are around them," warns the sniper's spotter,
who seems to be operating the video camera.
"Want me to find another place?"
"No, no," comes the reply. "Give me a moment."
And, then, the soldier falls forward. You hear the
sniper's vehicle start, and they slip away.
American casualties this month are tracking at near
record numbers. This video is a glimpse into an
enduring feature of this war. Ground commanders say
it is a growing and deadly tactic: insurgent sniper
teams.
U.S. military intelligence tells CNN it suspects some
of these teams are trained abroad. They make an
intimidating weapon.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST:
"Am I next? What about my buddy?" You're looking
constantly. Your head is on a swivel, they say, you
know, in windows, doors, looking in cars, rooftops.
It's a very effective weapon. And that's why our own
military uses them extensively. The best counter of a
sniper is another sniper team on your own side.
WARE (voice-over): CNN obtained the graphic tape
through intermediaries from the Islamic Army of Iraq,
one of the most active insurgent organizations in the
country.
It is titled "Latest Sniper Operations in Baghdad."
Accents, license plates and street signs seem to
indicate the sniper attacks in fact occurred here in
the capital. A careful review of the entire video by
CNN technicians found no evidence the images had been
electronically manipulated.
The tape documents 10 incidents, all of which appear
recent. But there's no way to confirm precisely when
or where the attacks took place, or which U.S. units
were involved, or what happened to the targeted
soldiers.
The tape comes as the Islamic Army calls to renew
talks with the United States, and as Islamist
internet postings call for a P.R. campaign aimed at
influencing the American public.
The images are markedly different from insurgent
sniper videos on the internet. On this one, we hear
the voices of the snipers selecting American targets.
Here, the spotter warns the shooter he only sees
Iraqis, until he's sure he's identified an American.
"I will read you his name."
We wanted to ask the U.S. military about the
insurgent sniper tactics, but no one was made
available to CNN in Washington or Baghdad. Officials
refused to discuss the sniper operations and related
casualties, citing the safety of U.S. troops, though
they acknowledge the menace is real.
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. ARMY SPOKESMAN,
COALITION FORCES IN IRAQ: That's something we always
stay very vigilant about. We take extreme precautions
against that, and we watch it very closely. It's
always a real threat. No matter where you go, any
kind of combat operation you're going to be on,
you're always looking for IEDs. You're looking for
VBIDs. You're looking for snipers.
WARE: As to a recent increase of the threat:
CALDWELL: I would not talk about that, for
operational reasons.
WARE: The insurgents' methods vary. The Islamic Army
video follows a team firing from a vehicle, precisely
the kind of team Lieutenant Richardson's men
encountered in the city of Ramadi.
(on camera): So, the insurgents do have accurate
sniper fire?
LT. RICHARDSON: Roger. Yes. To what I have observed,
two very good shots that were definitely more than
300 meters away and aimed to kill.
WARE: So, that's a trained sniper, probably working
in a team with an observer?
RICHARDSON: Yes, that -- one of the attacks, you
know, local communities, also, they talk to us about
what they see. And they said that they saw a car pull
up, a guy get out the back seat -- get out the front
seat, climb into the back seat, remove a panel from
off his car, and aim from the car to our rooftop
position, which, unfortunately, resulted in the death
of one Marine who was on a rooftop.
GRANGE: Well, you learn the tactics and techniques
and procedures that the enemy snipers use. And then
you come up with your own techniques to counter that,
to negate their effect. And then how you move in the
field, dispersal, and, again, alertness, and numbers
of people in different patrols. There's ways that you
work in this.
WARE (voice-over): And the implication in this
insurgent video is that the deaths will continue.
GRANGE: You only need a few guys to have a tremendous
effect, just like the improvised explosive devices,
same thing, or a suicide bomber. You can get a lot of
payback for just deploying a few resources. So, it's
very effective.
WARE: "Wait. Wait. He fell down. God is great," says
one of the team, as they disappear, until it's time
for the next strike in Iraq's sniper war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Just a production note: We dipped to black at
points in that report, so as not to show the moment
of a bullet's impact.
Michael Ware joins us now from Iraq.
Michael, how often are these snipers firing? How
often are U.S. troops getting killed by snipers?
WARE: Well, Anderson, they're constantly out there.
There is insurgent sniper teams operating across the
country, you could say with some confidence, every
single day of the week.
The question as to how effective they are and whether
there's been an increase in these particular type of
sniper attacks, most pointedly here in Baghdad, is a
matter of great question at the moment. The U.S.
military is not discussing it, citing the safety of
their troops, saying: We don't want to let the enemy
know whether their tactics are working or not.
So, just how many American troops are being hurt by
this is a closely guarded secret -- Anderson.
COOPER: When you see it through their video cameras,
you see how vulnerable U.S. troops are. I mean, you
have been out there embedded. You have been targeted
by snipers. Are those tactics pretty common?
WARE: Very much so. It's been a feature of this war,
Anderson, since the beginning.
I mean, there was an insurgent sniper in the northern
city of Tal Afar at the end of last year who was
extremely patient, who would sit for hours and hours
and hours, waiting for an American soldier in a tank
to shift just that little bit to find the narrow gap
that he could shoot between the soldier's body armor,
the plates in his body armor.
At that time, there was a Navy SEAL sniper team
hunting him. And they believe that he'd received his
training in Syria. So, this is throughout the
country, Anderson. And American troops face it every
single day.
COOPER: Michael Ware reporting. We will talk to you
shortly, Michael. Snipers, of course, kill from a
distance, but to the troops, incoming sniper fire
could not be more personal.
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ANDERSON COOPER: Well, the images you saw at the top
of the program of Americans being gunned down in Iraq
are, almost by definition, propaganda. They are
designed to send a message, in the starkest possible
terms, about what the insurgency can do.
But, as Michael Ware tells us now, they came to him
accompanied by another message that speaks to what
this particular insurgent group in Iraq wants.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WARE (voice-over): The men who say they blew this
American ammunition dump in Baghdad, shaking the
capital, who claim a hand in the killings of four
American security contractors in Fallujah in 2004,
the men who provided this sniper video to CNN are
from the Islamic Army of Iraq, a part of one of
Iraq's most powerful insurgent factions.
Drawn from Sunnis and former members of Saddam
Hussein's security apparatus, some of their leaders
were American allies in the 1980s, and hint they may
be willing to be so again, bringing with them a key
element of the insurgency.
Using Islamic Army intermediaries, CNN passed written
questions to the organization's leaders, and received
back the sniper footage, and this, a professionally
produced video featuring what is said to be the
group's spokesman, Ibrahim al-Shimary, his face
digitally masked by the insurgents, answering CNN's
questions, and speaking to the Western media for the
first time. It's a unique insight into what a large
chunk of the insurgency wants, including a renewed
willingness to talk with the U.S. military.
IBRAHIM AL-SHIMARY, SPOKESMAN, ISLAMIC ARMY OF IRAQ
(through translator): We, in the Islamic Army, as we
have announced many times, do not reject
negotiations, but only if the Americans are serious.
WARE: This faction has engaged in unsuccessful
discussions with the U.S. several times over the last
18 months, according to U.S. government sources and
Iraqi politicians.
Their conditions to restart the talks? A timetable
for troop withdrawal approved by Congress, formal
recognition of the insurgents as interlocutors, and a
third-country broker.
Even the White House is leaving the door open.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There have
been a number of conversations with people who have
said that they are willing to negotiate, and talk
about a peaceful path. And we're willing to do that.
But, again, the lead player in all this is the
government of Prime Minister Maliki.
WARE: But the insurgents don't want that, believing
the Iraqi government to be under the influence of
Iran.
AL-SHIMARY (through translator): Iraq is suffering
from double occupation, American and Iranian, because
Bush's war, fought with taxpayers' money and the
blood of Americans, has handed Iraq to Iran as an
easy bite on a plate of gold.
WARE: Despite common interests in overthrowing the
U.S. occupation, al-Shimary still draws a line
between his group and al Qaeda.
AL-SHIMARY (through translator): We are different to
them, because our agenda is local. Theirs is
international.
WARE: As for the prospects of civil war, he says his
group believes in religious freedom for Shia to
practice their faith freely.
AL-SHIMARY (through translator): We don't attack
Shiites who don't attack us. But we tire of what is
happening to our sons. And you should not count on
our patience.
WARE: In its attention to U.S. domestic politics and
public mood, this is perhaps the Iraq insurgency's
most finely tuned P.R. maneuver, a crafted and direct
message to the American people, making an offer for
talks, but, with the sniper video, also making a
threat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And I should just restate, that sniper video
and the interview with the insurgent that you just
saw are exclusive to CNN. While some sniper videos
have appeared on the internet and elsewhere on
Arab-language stations around the world, this video
has not.
It was provided to CNN's Michael Ware, who joins me
now in Iraq.
Michael, this insurgent spokesman calling for talks
with the U.S. -- have there been talks in the past?
And, if so, how serious have those talks been?
WARE: Oh, Anderson, absolutely. This has been a
long-running process.
I mean, we saw the first genesis of it, as a senior
U.S. diplomat met with members of the insurgency over
the issue of Fallujah in the middle of 2004. He did
that during then-Prime Minister Allawi's
administration. Prime Minister Allawi and others
continued to cultivate insurgent contacts,
particularly among the Baathists.
We then saw, under Ambassador Negroponte, the talks
continue apace. And this has also been furthered
under Ambassador Khalilzad, now the ambassador to
Baghdad.
So, these things have been ongoing. There has been
great limitations. Zarqawi's people have assassinated
and tried to disrupt anyone and anything to do with
these talks. And, also, both sides are coming from
very different positions.
However, the dialogue does continue. And this is the
Islamic Army of Iraq, representing one of the major
factions, saying: Despite the difficulties, we still
want to talk -- Anderson.
COOPER: Sending the message.
Michael Ware, thank you.
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JAMES BAKER, FORMER
SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no magic bullet for the
situation in Iraq. It is very, very difficult. So
anybody who thinks that somehow we're going to come
up with something that is going totally solve the
problem is engaging in wishful thinking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER: That's former secretary of state,
James Baker, today suggesting there's no easy way out
of Iraq. He co-chairs a bipartisan panel preparing
recommendations for the White House.
The president says stay the course, but others,
including some top Republicans, now say it is time to
consider other options.
Joining me from Palo Alto, California, is Larry
Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover institution
and an advisor to James Baker's Iraq Study Group.
With us again from Baghdad is CNN's Michael Ware.
Larry, let me start off with you. In terms of a time
frame, how much time does the U.S. have to act?
LARRY DIAMOND, SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTION:
Well, Anderson, speaking strictly for myself, I
think, you know, maybe a few months at most. The
situation is rapidly deteriorating. I think you've
had outstanding and very disturbing reporting from
Iraq tonight and throughout the previous weeks.
It's slipping fast. We're running out of time.
COOPER: What do you make of the idea of partitioning
Iraq?
DIAMOND: I think it's a terrible idea. I think it
would result in something similar to what happened at
the partition of India at independence in 1948. There
would be massive casualties.
The Iraqi people, for the most part, don't want it,
and it would bring about what it is meant to preempt,
and that is an all-out civil war, ethnic cleansing,
massive bloodshed.
COOPER: Michael Ware, since you and I first met back
in Baghdad, I think it was some two years ago, you've
been talking about U.S. officials' desire to drive a
wedge between insurgent groups. Are they any closer
to being able to do that?
WARE: No, not really, Anderson. In fact, in many
ways, they're further from that goal that they've
been seeking since the beginning of this insurgency.
The plan has been to separate the home grown Iraqi
insurgency, the nationalists, the former Ba'athists,
former allies of America from the '80s, and the
moderate Sunni Islamists from the extremists.
Well, we've seen with the rise in the sectarian
violence, or the civil war, that these people have in
fact been herded towards al Qaeda. So, no, that has
not been accomplished and in many ways is further
away -- Anderson.
COOPER: Larry, is the presence now of U.S. troops
making matters worse or is the prospect of the U.S.
troops leaving even worse to contemplate?
DIAMOND: Well, it's a paradox, Anderson, because both
statements are true. And I think the way to get at it
is through very intensive diplomacy that would
involve the United States, the European Union, the
United Nations and the regional partners, neighbors.
It has to begin with the Sunni-based insurgency. I
think Michael Ware has it exactly right. We have not
really made much progress with them because we've had
very little to lay on the table.
We should begin with a statement from President Bush
that unambiguously declares that we're not going to
seek permanent military bases in Iraq. In the context
of negotiations, we can talk about some sort of time
frame for withdrawal.
And we need to address the imbalance in the
constitution that was adopted last year that
threatens to leave the Sunni areas of Iraq with no
oil and no revenue to draw upon, isolated and
powerless. They can never accept this, and that
constitution is just not viable.
COOPER: Michael, how would that all play out on the
ground?
WARE: Well, obviously, everything would be very, very
messy, Anderson. As Larry rightly points out, the
U.S. is in a position where it's damned if it does
and it's damned if it doesn't.
I mean, very much this war has ground to a point
where America is facing a key moment. I mean, in the
past we've heard diplomats and military officials
talk about turning points, that we're just about to
turn the corner for the good. It's coming, it's
coming. Now we hear talk about critical point.
I think after the U.S. midterm elections, everyone is
expecting things to change here on the ground --
Anderson.
COOPER: Larry, what do you think will happen after
the midterm elections? I mean, what is the first
step, what is the second step? And is the U.S.
prepared to make those steps?
DIAMOND: I don't know. It depends on one man, George
W. Bush. I think the first step is we wait for the
report of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group. The
second step is I hope and honestly pray that
President Bush will really seriously ponder and adopt
most of its recommendations.
And frankly, I hope that he will then appoint James
Baker to be our principal policy official, if not
czar, for the entire Middle Eastern region. Because
unless we have a regional approach here, we're not
going to succeed.
COOPER: Larry Diamond, Michael Ware, appreciate your
expertise. Thank you, gentlemen.