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Length: 3:29
COOPER: There's also been
increasing violence in Iraq. CNN's Michael Ware is in
Baghdad. He was recently -- he just came off an embed
with the U.S. military. Michael joins me now from
Baghdad.
Michael, what was the fighting like?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, it
remains quite fierce. Obviously, it's continually
evolving, the fight here in Iraq. And where we've
just come from, we just got off the choppers from
Ramadi, in Iraq's western al-Anbar province. And we
see that it's al-Anbar and Ramadi in particular that
is the centerpiece of the war against al-Qaeda in
Iraq.
We heard President Bush earlier this week point to
that, referring to the words of Osama bin Laden and
Ayman al-Zawahiri themselves. And we also hear
al-Qaeda itself talk about the importance of Ramadi.
What -- to both sides, this is the front line. This
is the front line with al-Qaeda, and there we see a
fierce battle that continues to rage. Where in the
past we saw mass assaults by al-Qaeda, with wave
after wave attacking U.S. fixed positions, we've now
seen that evolve in the face of new American tactics,
where very much it's a sniper war. It's a war gone
back to the roadside bombs, to indirect fire, to
ambushes.
I mean, there's a constant drip feed of U.S. deaths
there, Anderson. I mean, on average, every brigade
that goes to Ramadi suffers roughly 100 U.S. deaths a
year. And the brigade that's there now has been there
about two and a half months says that, unfortunately,
they're on track to meet that rate -- Anderson.
COOPER: It's also become clear, Michael, that the
Taliban here in Afghanistan have learned from
al-Qaeda, have been watching what's going on in Iraq
and are adopting increasingly al-Qaeda-style tactics,
suicide bombings. There have been more than 70
suicide attacks in Afghanistan this past year alone.
There used to never be suicide attacks, really, in
Afghanistan.
Michael, the U.S. military has handed over official
control of the Iraqi military to Iraq's Prime
Minister. What kind of an impact is that going to
have? Are they ready to control their own military?
WARE: Well, technically, the Iraqi forces
constitutionally have been under the control of -- of
the Iraqi Prime Minister, but now we're seeing them
come under the command of American generals, at least
in word. They still cannot operate without U.S.
forces, Anderson.
So you know, to some degree, this is still smoke and
mirrors, but we do see Iraq trying to flex its own
muscles. The signing of the deal, the formal ceremony
of this handover was pushed back for several days as
there was behind the scenes negotiations about the
strict letter of the law of this agreement.
What it's going to mean on the ground, the effect
isn't going to be that much different. This is still
an American-led fight. As much as they try to put
Iraqi forces to the fore, as much as they try to put
an Iraqi face on it, without the U.S. military,
without the increasing numbers of American soldiers,
not decreasing numbers of American soldiers, this
fight cannot continue. So in many ways it's still
only in name -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Michael Ware, appreciate it,
thanks. Stay safe in Baghdad.