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Length: 4:19
JIM CLANCY: Well, let's go to Iraq now, where a
suicide bomber blew up his truck. It was outside
Iraqi army headquarters.
It happened in the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi. That
is the capital of the rest of Anbar Province. Police
say several people were wounded. The base is very
close to several U.S. military installations.
Now, Ramadi has long been a hotbed of insurgent
activity. And U.S. and Iraqi forces have struggled
time and again to try to take control of that city.
CHURCH: Well, the Iraqi government is taking serious
steps to tackle another major problem: the
infiltration of its police by Shiite death squads. A
brigade of up to 700 policemen was taken off the
streets of Baghdad. The move comes after the
kidnappings of two dozen people on Sunday. Now, the
past week also saw the highest number of car bombs
and roadside bombs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL
FORCE, IRAQ: In September we did see a rise in
sensational attacks. Last week we also saw the
highest number of vehicle-borne improvised explosive
devices this year that were both found and cleared,
and those that were detonated. The number of IEDs, or
improvised explosive devices, is also at an all-time
high. But Iraqi security forces and coalition forces
continue to find and clear a portion of these
devices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Let's take stock of this situation. We just
heard the general there saying all-time highs. All of
this comes as U.S. and Iraqi forces have been
carrying out district-by-district sweeps of the
capital. It started back in August.
What is the situation on the ground in Baghdad, in
Ramadi, across Iraq?
Let's go to CNN's Michael Ware. He joins us live from
Baghdad.
This doesn't look good. And the Iraqi people
themselves are saying, we frankly cannot believe that
the U.S. can't get a grip on the situation, the
security situation in our country.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, very much,
Jim. I mean, people believe that -- honestly, they
can see the violence spiraling out of control. And
what they are now getting a sense of is, this is the
first taste of the whole thing starting to unravel.
And there's great disenchantment clearly with the
U.S. forces, who Iraqis had hoped had come to
liberate them and then, you know, set their country
on a path forward. However, they saw the Americans
stay, and they've seen the situation deteriorate.
So that's where we are now. And this is the Ramadan
offensive. So violence is very much peaking.
This sensational car bombing in Ramadi, we had a
triple bomb attack this morning on a Ministry of
Industry convoy which killed at least 12 and wounded
as many as 70. I mean, the cycle of violence is just
getting greater.
Now we see U.S. forces and its Iraqi partner and the
prime minister of Iraq taking on one of the most
powerful factions within the government. Putting this
brigade of Ministry of Interior national police off
line, essentially quarantining them and going through
them for what an American spokesmen said was
complicity in sectarian violence -- Jim.
CLANCY: Well, you know, and you look at -- people
look on and Iraqis look on at this situation. They
have people in interior ministry vans and vehicles
pulling up, wearing the clothing of commandos, taking
hostages that are never seen or heard from again.
What is going on, Michael? Who is behind it?
WARE: Well, everyone's in it, basically, Jim. I mean,
this is the nature of the sectarian violence.
There's hair splitting over whether it's actually
civil war, but we are seeing on the street, as far as
people are concerned, this is civil war. It is akin
to ethnic cleansing.
When men in a gas station queue can be grilled about
their sectarian beliefs and removed as a result, when
police commandos can enter your house in the middle
of the night, haul you off, and the next your family
knows is you are dead on the street, that can be
factions within the government. Sometimes it's
associated militias donning those uniforms for that
night.
U.S. military intelligence talks about ministries
renting out their vehicles to death squads for the
evenings. It's also Sunni insurgents putting on
military uniforms. Everybody is in this game, so to
speak -- Jim.
CLANCY: And everybody is paying the price.
Michael Ware, as always, thank you very
much.