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WOLF BLITZER: Are Iraq's insurgents stepping up the
violence in a move to sway the American people?
Is this wave of bloodshed a calculated move meant for
a mass media audience?
And joining us now in Baghdad, our correspondent,
Michael Ware. Michael, how sophisticated are these
insurgents?
You're talking to some of them.
How sophisticated are they in trying to affect U.S.
public opinion through the media?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're
definitely seeing that stepped up, Wolf, that
campaign to reach out to an American audience at this
critical time. Put it this way: certainly not the
rank and file, the guys carrying the RPGs and the
roadside bombs. But the leadership, the upper
echelons of this insurgency, is very politically
attuned. They're aware how sensitive this time is
back in America in terms of domestic politics.
So they're playing to that. We've seen Jihadist Web
sites call for the P.R. campaigns in the West to be
ramped up. And now we're hearing directly, speaking
to us at CNN, one of the largest blocs within the
Iraqi insurgency, the Islamic Army, directly
addressing an American audience, littered with
American cultural and political references, calling
on people to question President Bush's record on the
war -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Some commentators, Michael, have compared it
to the Tet offensive during the Vietnam War, when the
Vietcong went on a major military offensive against
the U.S. in Vietnam, with one eye on U.S. public
opinion, to try to kill as many Americans as
possible, hoping that would demoralize the American
public, which, in turn, would put pressure on LBJ and
other administration officials to start withdrawing.
Are they sophisticated enough -- do they see a
parallel to what happened in Vietnam?
WARE: Oh, absolutely, Wolf. I mean we're seeing an
upsurge in violence. This is merely a part of the
fourth holy month of Ramadan offensive since the war
began. So it's an upsurge for this holy month. We've
seen this before.
But in terms of Vietnam, I mean the backbone of the
insurgency, Wolf, is not al Qaeda. That's the most
spectacular pocket of the insurgency. But the
backbone are the members of Saddam's former military
and security apparatus, some of whom were trained by
America in the '80s, most of whom were certainly
American allies during the Iran-Iraq War and the
beneficiaries of American satellite imagery.
Now, these fellows are behind the bulk of the
day-to-day attacks against U.S. forces.
I sat with these guys back in 2003. They said to me
then that they know they won't defeat the U.S. on the
battlefield; they will beat the U.S., they said, "on
that thing" -- and they pointed to a television. They
said, "we've read Ho Chi Minh. We've read Vo Nguyen
Giap," the Vietnamese general. They studied Vietnam.
They said that, "we believe we can wear down American
public stamina in support of this war because our
endurance for the bloodletting can out-sustain that
American political will."
So they're very, very closely watching the parallels
-- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Ware reporting for us from Baghdad.
Michael, as I always say to you, be careful over
there.
Thanks very much.
WARE: Thank you, Wolf.