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Length: 4:27
JOHN ROBERTS: About 700
police officers have been pulled out of service
because of suspected ties to some of the sectarian
violence in Iraq.
With more on that and today's other developments,
CNN's Michael Ware joins me now from Baghdad.
Michael, how rampant is this problem of death squads
infiltrating the police forces and just being allowed
to operate with impunity?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, some of
these death squads, and we're talking about the Shia
death squads particularly here, are institutionalized
within the framework of government on the ground here
in Baghdad and beyond.
I mean, these are police units in legitimate police
uniforms with legitimate identification. They have
been going to Sunni neighborhoods, taking people away
and the next they're seen is dead on the street.
This has become a problem deep within the government
itself. And these anti -- these American raids
against the death squads, they have to use some of
these police and army forces as partners in these
operations. So, as soon as the Iraqis are told, the
death squads learn about these things.
And we're also seeing, as CBS reported tonight, even
in the hospitals the Sunnis have no safety. It's also
-- they're also run by a militia. So these death
squads are permeating so many levels of the
government -- John.
ROBERTS: What's the perception there in Baghdad,
Michael? Does the Nouri al-Maliki, the prime
minister, have the political will and the capability
to deal with these death squads?
WARE: Well, the American mission here is investing
all its eggs in the Maliki basket, so to speak.
Maliki is relatively powerless. He was a compromise
candidate settled upon by the Shia alliance after
they won government. He was seen as relatively
harmless and manageable by the larger blocks that
actually retain the true guts of power here in
Baghdad.
The Americans are trying to prop him up, develop a
popular support base among the people through this
Battle of Baghdad or Operation Together Forward, the
massive operation to reclaim the capital from
militias, death squads and insurgents and give the
prime minister the credit so that people support him
and give him a wedge against these militias which
truly hold the power -- John.
ROBERTS: Michael, you spend an awful lot of time
there with American forces. I talked to a retired
American general today with very close ties to the
Pentagon who says that the growing perception there
at the Pentagon is that this battle is being lost,
not won. Does that perception reflect what you're
seeing on the ground there?
WARE: Well, that's a very difficult question. But
there's certainly no sign that the U.S. forces are
winning this war, either militarily or in the hearts
and minds. So the question does raise, is this war
actually being lost?
So far, those who have gained most from this war has
been al Qaeda -- which the U.S. intelligence agencies
themselves say has become strengthened -- and Iran.
Iran has been emboldened enormously by this war. And
indeed, many elements of this government are much
more closely aligned with Tehran than they are with
Washington.
So we see two of this administration's sworn enemies
benefiting from this war, rather than the U.S.
troops. There's simply not enough troops here to do
the job that really has to be done -- John.
ROBERTS: Not enough troops, even though there's still
140,000 American troops there and some 300,000 Iraqi
troops?
WARE: Well, this is the thing. We're almost reaching
the point now where the targets for Iraqi troop
numbers that the U.S. military had set to put in
place, trained and in the field, has almost been
reached. Yet, there still is little if any, headway
against the insurgency.
And as you know, in the midst of this holy month of
Ramadan offensive, attacks across the board are up.
The killings of Americans and Iraqi civilians are at
extremely high levels. So just having these troops is
proving to be less than enough -- John.
ROBERTS: And a particularly deadly day today, as
well.
Michael Ware, in Baghdad, thanks very much.
And a grim reminder of the toll that U.S. service
members have paid in Iraq, here's the raw data. The
Pentagon says 2,727 U.S. troops have been killed in
Iraq. Of that number, 2,174 died from hostile fire;
and 20,687 Americans have been injured.