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Length: 5:29
WOLF BLITZER: Dozens of people died in bombings and
shootings today in Iraq and police found at least 26
more bullet riddled bodies in the capital alone.
But are Iraqi insurgents now offering to talk with
the United States?
CNN's Michael Ware is joining us now live from
Baghdad.
He's got some -- an exclusive report. Michael, you've
been in correspondence, shall we say, with a leader
of these Iraqi Sunni insurgents and he responded in
an extraordinary way.
Tell our viewers what has happened.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the
Islamic Army of Iraq is part of the -- one of the
largest and most powerful factions within the Sunni
insurgency. These are the people who are responsible
for the bulk of the day-to-day attacks against U.S.
forces, from roadside bombs to deadly sniper attacks
to all manner of ambush and roadside bombings.
These people offered us an opportunity to forward
questions to their leadership, which we did in
writing.
They responded to those questions in videotaped
answers, putting forward their official spokesman,
Ibrahim al-Shimary, to answer and respond to CNN.
And what he outlines is fascinating. He renews the
insurgency's long-running offer to negotiate with
U.S. forces. We've seen covert negotiations underway
since the beginning of last year. We've seen U.S.
officials go public with them at the end of last
year.
It's interesting that now they're renewing that offer
so publicly, so directly -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael, are these the same insurgents who
were responsible for blowing up the Samarra mosque
earlier in the year, which has caused, at least in
part, this escalation, this explosion of violence?
WARE: No, Wolf, this is not believed to be that
group. That group is believed to be al Qaeda in Iraq
or one of its affiliates.
This group represents a large bloc of homegrown Iraqi
insurgents. The Iraqis insurgency falls into two big
camps, Wolf. One are the nationalists and former
Baathists. The other are Iraqi Islamists, more
moderate than al Qaeda and more politically motivated
and focused solely on Iraq, as this spokesman from
the Islamic Army makes very clear. He goes out of his
way to assure the people of Iraq that, "we are no
threat to U.S. homeland security. We just want to
free our country."
So that's markedly different from the people who blew
up the Golden Dome in February, which essentially was
al Qaeda -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And that was an attack on the Shia.
Michael, what about the tortured bodies that are
popping up over Baghdad and other Iraqi cities?
Horrible, horrible gruesome details are being told.
The bodies are found. Clearly, these people were
first tortured. They used electric drills to torture
these people. Various parts of their body were
severed.
Which group is believed to be responsible for the
mutilation, the torture, the random assaults, as you
will, on these Shia?
WARE: Well, that's occurring on both sides, Wolf.
Now, as was explained to me recently by one Shia here
in Baghdad, the Sunnis -- led by Zarqawi and the
extremist al Qaeda fringe of the Sunni insurgency,
the hard line Islamists -- have provoked this civil
war or this sectarian violence. They went out
targeting the Shia in particularly provocative ways
-- suicide car bombs into marketplaces and places of
worship and the beheading of Shia.
So the Shia have responded in kind. And now that they
have entered the ranks of the government, it's the
security forces who are operating or assisting many
of these death squads.
Now, it's the Shia who are using the drills and who
are doing the torturing. The Shia here in Baghdad
explain that as, "the Sunnis attack us with mutilated
beheadings. We must respond in kind and send a strong
message back." Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael, stand by for a moment.
Jamie McIntyre is still at the Pentagon for us --
Jamie, what's the likely response that the U.S.
military or the political leadership would give to
these Iraqi Sunni insurgents, who are now effectively
reaching out in this dramatic video that Michael has,
asking for direct negotiations, if you will?
MCINTYRE: Well, you know, Wolf, it's a tricky
situation.
On the one hand the U.S. has a clear policy. It does
not negotiate with terrorists. On the other hand, the
U.S. has a clear policy that it needs to bring the
Sunni factions into the government and give them a
reason to believe that they have a future.
So, while they don't negotiate with terrorists, there
have been -- there's been a lot of contact over the
years between the U.S. military and the insurgents,
as Michael Ware notes -- he's reported on this last
year.
But one big thing has changed now with the elected
Iraqi government, that the U.S. military believes
that any negotiation with, perhaps not the insurgents
who have blood on their hands, but others, to try to
end this fighting, has got to be something that's
done by the Iraqi government, not the U.S. military.
And as part of that, then the U.S. military would be
able to withdraw as the violence goes down.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre and Michael Ware, thanks to
both of you.
And we're going to have a lot more on this story
coming up in the 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour right here in
THE SITUATION ROOM.