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Length: 4:17
JOHN KING: When it comes
to Iraq, you'll hear the president say he's
accountable, that there have been setbacks. What you
won't hear him say is that he's been wrong. Which is
what makes the following admission from a Republican
all the more surprising.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK KENNEDY: None of us like war. And we've made
some mistakes in Iraq. We're facing an enemy that
must be defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Again, that and our focus tonight, Congressman
Mark Kennedy. He's running for the Senate, says
mistakes have been made, and he insists the enemy
must be defeated. One problem: exactly who is the
enemy?
More now from CNN's Michael Ware.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing
an enemy that must be defeated. But first, you have
to know who the enemy is.
Here, a U.S. Bradley armored fighting vehicle, hit by
a roadside bomb.
Here, another bomb. This time triggered by remote.
So who is the enemy? Like their bombs, there are
many. Nothing unites the insurgents, but they share a
common mindset -- a readiness to kill Americans until
they leave Iraq.
As U.S. commander in Iraq General George Casey says,
the situation is difficult and complex.
GEN. CASEY: And I'm sure for the folks back in the
United States, trying to look at this, it looks very
confusing and very hard to understand.
WARE: America's enemies in Iraq can be divided into
two main groups: Sunni and Shia. But there are groups
within groups, factions within factions.
Shia militias attack British and American troops,
according to coalition intelligence officers, not to
defeat them but to keep them in a defensive mode, so
they'll worry about survival instead of the militia's
political control and their Iranian backing.
But the insurgents most Americans recognize as the
enemy are Iraqi's Sunnis. They are mainly former
military from Saddam's regime and account for most
U.S. casualties. They are divided into two large
categories: nationalists and Islamists, each
comprised of smaller groups.
As for the nationalists, their agenda is secular,
anti-Iranian and focused on liberating Iraq from
foreign occupation.
The Islamists, meanwhile, are more moderate than al
Qaeda. They don't call for a religious state. They
tolerate other Muslim sects and also vow to fight
until U.S. forces leave.
Both of these large insurgent blocs are willing to
talk peace with the United States. But there are
still those America cannot reach. The darkest heart
of the Sunni insurgency: al Qaeda and the many groups
aligned with it.
This is the group that sends out suicide bombers and
who once cut off westerners' heads. For them, there
will be no end until Osama bin Laden's plans for an
international Islamic state are fulfilled.
And most troubling, the longer this war goes, the
more Sunni groups drift toward al Qaeda, and the more
Shia embrace Iran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Michael, a fascinating look there at the
insurgency. Help us understand a bit more the point
you make in the piece. How willing are some of these
guys to talk to the United States?
WARE: Well, John, clearly some of them there's
absolutely no chance at all. Certainly with al Qaeda
and the groups most closely aligned with Iran.
But those in the middle have shown a willingness to
talk to the United States. Indeed, they've been doing
so, or certainly elements of these groups have been
doing so, for at least a year and a half.
And some of these men who are involved in these talks
are former top military officers from the Iraqi army
under Saddam who were American allies in the '80s
during the Iran-Iraq War -- John.
KING: A fascinating look at the challenge facing the
United States and the president in this election
year. Michael Ware, thank you very much.