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WOLF BLITZER: Anderson,
back to you.
ANDERSON COOPER: Wolf, the president says the U.S. is
winning the war in Iraq but are we really? Joining us
from New York for his point of view is Michael Ware,
Baghdad bureau chief for "Time" magazine.
Michael, in case some viewers did not see this piece,
I just want to play something the president said
about Iraq earlier tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The road to victory is the road that will take
our troops home. As we make progress from the ground
and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we
should be able to further decrease our troop levels.
But those decisions will be made by our military
commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Michael, you probably spend more time, have
more contact with insurgents than anyone I've ever
met. How do you think they read a statement like that
and all the talk in Washington about reducing troop
levels?
MICHAEL WARE, "TIME" BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well,
Anderson, this is all clearly from the president,
political gymnastics. Like a magician, he's
attempting to create something out of nothing. It's
very clear that U.S. policy on the ground in Iraq, is
not winning, it's not creating a victory. The
question is, can America get out of there with
anything close to a semblance of success of any kind?
I mean, let's look at Iraq. He refers to an inclusive
government. That simply does not exist, and is backed
and owned now by a member of the axis of evil, Iran.
Listening to commanders on the ground who have
described to me the "big lie," that, "we can't really
tell the truth of what's going on, we can't ask for
the resources that we need for fear of betraying the
true situation here in Iraq." And this is the policy
born of "success" that has seen U.S. administrations
now turning to the insurgents themselves, bringing
back the Ba'ath party.
In this war, all we have seen is an emboldening of Al
Qaeda, which has become stronger in so many ways, and
an emboldening of Iran. And the spillover of
democracy, we're starting to see that in Palestine,
with the coming to power of the Hamas Islamic
extremist government that we're seeing in Iraq
itself, which has brought to power a pseudo-Islamic
series of parties backed by Iran. And this is a
success that the president wishes to build upon.
The "great lie" of his address is the success of
Iraq. The great truth is that the only long-term way
out is developing alternative energy strategies. And
he talks about a battle of ideologies. Well, so far
in that test of wills, that test of ideas, we're
simply gaining no traction whatsoever.
COOPER: Sobering view on life on the ground. Michael
Ware, thanks, from "Time" magazine.